Evo bows out
Not that anyone noticed, but the very last Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was sold at an online auction last week, with proceeds being donated to two charities.
The auction took place in the US where, ironically, only a couple of generations (well okay, evolutions) of the performance sedan were sold.
The winning bid of US$76,400 netted the bidder the very, very final example of just 1600 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Final Editions that were built by the carmaker.
The car is based on the 10th-generation Evo, which was first released in 2007.
The Evo still has a loyal following among Mitsubishi fans and was the platform upon which the manufacturer competed in the World Rally
Championship through the 1990s, with steely eyed rallyists such as Tommi Makinen and Richard Burns racing for the factory team until its withdrawal from the sport in 2005. In 2014, the company announced the current 10th-generation Evo X would be the last, citing a brand-wide change in focus to more environmentally friendly plug-in electric vehicles, meaning continued Lancer Evolution development is no longer neither fashionable nor cost-effective.
So, a glorious fanfare and tearful goodbyes to mark the sale of the final iteration then?
Hardly. The end of production wasn’t even noted by Mitsubishi distributors in our part of the world, who turned their collective back on the model some time ago.
VW Beetle sets speed record … for a Beetle
‘Old’ Volkswagen Beetles aren’t strangers to motorsport. In fact, Google “Volkswagen Beetle rallying” and you’ll be introduced to a weird alternate reality of European rally action from the 1960s and 70s when they were competitive weapons.
But the New Beetle? We haven’t seen them tuned for out-and-out performance that often. Until now.
A specially built — and very yellow — Beetle has smashed a speed record that has stood since 1988 at the World of Speed event at Lake Bonneville, Utah.
The Beetle LSR (Land Speed Record) features a 2.0-litre TSI turbo which produces a colossal 410kW (550bhp) and features mods such as a new turbocharger, different pistons, camshafts, connecting rods and cylinder head rework.
It wears special “moon disc” style wheels wrapped in ultra-durable “let’s drive very, very fast” tyres and
sits closer to the ground.
A limited-slip differential is also used for improved traction.
All this running gear helped the Beetle (or “Bug”, as they rather annoyingly refer to the model in the US) reach an impressive 326.195 km/h over a distance of 1.6km.
The record for the world’s fastest Beetle was previously 281.6km/h, which amazingly stood for nearly 30 years until this yellow streak turned up.
We can only imagine they removed the plastic geranium from the dash to save weight.
Britain’s most ill-suited police pursuit car for sale
Here at The Good Oil we like an unusual police car. There’s something diverting about a Lamborghini Gallardo or Lexus RC F or Mini Cooper JCW wearing sirens and the long decals of the law.
But ’ello, ’ello, what’s all this then? A 1962 Triumph TR4 high-speed police pursuit vehicle? You’re ’avin’ me on, son.
No, it’s legit. There really was a 1962 Triumph TR4 used by the Southend-on-Sea County Borough Constabulary of Essex. There were a couple in fact.
Originally purchased as a “fast pursuit car”, the worryingly open TR4 is equipped with illuminated signage front and rear, two front-mounted fog lights, a PYE police-spec radio communications set, mirrors, a spotlight and air horns.
Back in the 1960s the TR4 racked up more than a 1600km every week on patrol duty, although it would have come into its own chasing down transit vans full of crims on their way to their next bullion heist.
It was decommissioned in 1970, its police-spec equipment taken out and sold to a private owner. Now, after a fastidiously thorough restoration in the early 2000s, which saw all of its period-correct tech re-installed, it’s for sale.
The sale site, petrolicious.com, features more on its history and lots of lovely photos of the car, as well as photos of it and its brethren in the fleet during the 1960s. Images taken at the time show it alongside Ford Zephyrs in the fleet with a hard-top hood fixed; a much more practical pursuit set-up you’d have to agree.
The Triumph is being offered for US$79,000 ($108,000) and will — no joke — be sold with a period policeman’s helmet, too.
There’s no word on whether there are any 1960s-era jam sandwiches under that helmet though.
Number Crunching
2
STATION WAGONS Are official Evo models — based on Evo IX models and the only ones made
1
HOLLYWOOD EVO - Evo IX from Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift was an Evo VIII in disguise
206
KILOWATTS - Output limit of Japanese-spec Evos; the result of a gentleman’s agreement
1992
YEAR - First Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution went on sale