WEEKLY MOTOR FIX: 1991 MITSUBISHI GTO

It’s

not often you get to drive, let alone own, the car that you’ve idolized since you were a teen. But NZ Performance Car’s Rene Vermeer is able to do just that with his 1991 Mitsubishi GTO.

I’ve owned a lot of cars in my short time on this various-coloured globe called earth. I’ve owned most Japanese makes and models, and even a couple of European icons, such as the Audi 90 Quattro that I had for my first car. Given I’ve owned at least 30 cars, you must be wondering why I’ve ended up with such a behemoth vehicle — this 1991 Mitsubishi GTO twin-turbo manual.

If you’re reading this, you’ve most likely played the iconic and original Gran Turismo One on the first PlayStation platform released, and you’ll have a good understanding of how sought after these Japanese supercars were. The sleek coupé wasn’t short on power for its time: its large 3000cc V6 engine with two TD-04 turbos, two intercoolers, and four tailpipes all helped the GTO churn out an extremely impressive 206kW, and a monstrous, diesel-like 427Nm of torque at 2700rpm and a measly 7psi of boost. What this torque equates to is a 1600kg-odd vehicle that can accelerate to 100kph in 5.5 seconds and run the quarter mile in 13.8 seconds, which is not bad going for a factory brick ...