I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been looking for a consistent source of rally models to replace the much-missed CMs brand. Inno64 and Tarmac Works continue to look the most likely, albeit at a higher price point and often without CMs- or Mini GT-style rollability.
Before Christmas I ordered in a couple of new Mitsubishi Evos from Tokyo Station to go with another I’d recently acquired. I thought it would be fun to show them here, along with a few other rally Lancers from my collection.
Here are the three newcomers, all Tommi Mäkinen rally-winning machines. At the back is a Tarmac Works Evo VI (1999 Rally New Zealand), with an Inno64 Evo III (1996 Rally Australia) in front and another Tarmac Evo VI, this time from Monte Carlo in 2000, to the right.
Let’s start with the Evo VI from New Zealand. There’s lots of detail here, as you’d expect from Tarmac – you just have to handle it carefully because of those easily damaged aerials and mudflaps.
The cleaner-looking 2000 Monte Carlo car is a nice complement to the gravel-spec 1999 Lancer. If you were nitpicking (and I am!), you’d say that it should be on a tarmac-coloured base rather than a ‘muddy’ one – or perhaps an icy white base would be appropriate for the Col de Turini!
You’ll have noticed that neither this model nor the New Zealand one sports the Marlboro sponsorship that Mitsubishi Ralliart carried at the time. This is correct, as it was not permitted in NZ or France, but for the 2000 car, Tarmac has thoughtfully included a decal sheet. You can add either the full Marlboro logos (as seen at Sanremo later in the season, for example) or the ones without writing. Here’s how Mäkinen’s car actually looked on the 2000 Monte:
I chose to replicate this exact look and added the appropriate waterslide transfers to the rear doors, rear wing and roof-mounted air scoop.
The decals are of good quality and were relatively easy to apply, even if those tiny ones on the rear wing end plates are as fiddly as you’d expect!
(find Tarmac Works Evos on eBay)
Inno’s model represents the earlier Lancer Evolution III. Both ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ versions of the 1996 Rally Australia are available. I went for clean just because it fits better with the rest of my collection but they’re both pretty cool. See my Lamley colleague Will’s article from last year for more of this Evo III casting.
I love the colourful Petronas livery on this car and there’s not much to choose between the detail and finish between this Inno and the two Tarmacs. I’d rather they all rolled better (or at all) but it’s not like I play with them all the time!
Together they make a great trio.
Before these three went on display, I decided to pull some other rally Lancers out of the cabinet for a group shot. Clockwise from bottom left, they are: regular Tomica Evo IV, Tarmac NZ Evo VI, Hot Wheels Evo VIII, Tomica Limited Lancer Turbo and Tarmac Monte Carlo Evo VI, with the Inno Evo III sitting in the middle.
Here are some individual shots of the extras.
The original Lancer Turbo, a forerunner to the later Evolution series, is one of my favourite Tomica castings. This Tomica Limited release from 2010 is billed as a Lancer EX 2000 Turbo, which was the version used in rallying in Europe. The Limited model represents Pentti Airikkala’s car from the 1000 Lakes (Rally Finland) in 1982, where he finished third behind the Quattros. There are some cool regular-range versions, too. At 1:60, it’s a little out of scale alongside the Tarmacs and Inno.
(find Tomica Lancer Turbo on eBay)
The Tomica Evo IV also came with a set of rally stickers, I just haven’t applied them.
This Hot Wheels Evo VII was in the 2005 World Rally Championship series. It’s plastic-bodied and a toy through and through but is nevertheless quite sought-after now. The deco appears to represent Kristian Sohlberg’s 2004 rally car, even though by then the team was using the WRC04.
(find Hot Wheels Mitsubishi WRC on eBay)
Having taken the group photos, I realized I’d forgotten all about my CM’s Lancer WRC04 (nominally based on the Evo VIII). Here it is on its own and alongside the similarly liveried but much bigger Hot Wheels Evo VII.
(find CMs Mitsubishi WRC on eBay)
Hope you’ve enjoyed this ramble through Evo-land. Mitsubishi has no plans to make another Evo rally car at this point so I guess any future acquisitions will be to backfill gaps in the lineage. But that’s fine – I still have space for an Evo I, II and V, WRC05, the later Group-N cars, a Galant VR-4 and probably more I haven’t thought of. Funny how there’s always more to buy… Happy collecting!
(follow me on Instagram @diecast215)
Cool that you presented all this Lancer/EVO information in such clear and complete manner. Once again, I have learned not only about the diecasts but also about motorsport history. I’ve really enjoyed it – thanks, Graham!
Ah, man, that Tomica Evo IV rally car. I used to have them and even had them all gussied-up with stickers, but soon after lost them to forces unknown. Had 7-year-old me realized it earlier, I’d have probably boxed it up earlier. Now second-hand prices are through the roof. Yeesh.