First UK Mitsubishi Evo VI TME Sells For Predictably Huge Figure

It was only in May that a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Makinen Edition was last in the headlines, but that car’s eye-opening £100k sale price has already been topped. The £100k TME was a cherished part of Mitsubishi UK’s heritage fleet, so this one’s got to be pretty special to sell for nearly half as much again.

It is, because this was the first UK-registered Evo VI TME to be produced. Chassis number 001. That’d make even the most humble car worth more than its counterparts, but especially so on such a sought-after rally weapon. Only 250 TMEs officially came to the UK, and just 50 were painted in the iconic Passion Red you see here.

It’s only covered 11,000 miles since new, and the second of its two owners has kept it for the last 18 years. In that time it’s been meticulously maintained. That it’s UK registered helps, too, because it means it has all the proper paperwork, a speedo measuring MPH and a cold-climate battery. In truth, it’s worth every penny of the £146,250 (around $203,000) it reached.

These images of this pristine car will send many of you straight back to the year 2000. If you’re not old enough to remember the Tommi Makinen Edition the first time around, they’ll give you a glimpse of a golden age of rallying - without the grainy VHS screengrabs.

The Tommi Makinen Edition wasn’t just a badge, like some dubious motorsport-inspired special editions. A titanium turbo was fitted to improve response, the suspension was lowered, upgraded and fettled to give the best possible launch on tarmac, while a new ECU and exhaust were also fitted. It rides on proper WRC Enkei 17-inch alloy wheels and has an exclusive front bumper.

The red cars were the only ones to get the Special Colour Package, which adds the famous side stripes and a smattering of Mitsubishi and Ralliart logos. Plus black door handles, so as not to upset the flow of the stripes. Only 212 red TMEs were produced worldwide, but you could also choose blue, white, silver and black shades - presumably only if you’d missed the boat on red ones.

TME cars celebrated Makinen’s four consecutive WRC titles between 1996 and 1999, won with his mindset of ‘maximum attack’. Mitsubishi’s success led to a huge number of Evo sales - in 1997, the Evo IV had chalked up 6,000 sales just three days after it launched.

What do you think of this record-breaking Evo VI? Tell us in the comments.