Auction calendar
Heritage collection icon more than doubles top UK auction price paid
The Auto Auction sale of Mitsubishi Motors’ UK heritage fleet ended with a flurry of world record prices being paid, including £100,100 for a 10,000-mile Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition (TME) signed by the World Rally Championship winner himself – far surpassing the previous record for this limited-edition model.
The result achieved for the exceptional, low-mileage TME more than doubled the UK price record – £46,688, which Silverstone Auctions set in 2017.
The sale, which included a selection of cherished registration numbers, raised a total of £627,100 and attracted a total of 1287 bids across all 51 lots.
Among the rarest lots were two cars from Mitsubishi UK’s 1974 launch year, with a Colt Lancer 1400 (the first registered in the UK) achieving £15,000, while a Galant 2000 GL sold for £11,600. Classic 4x4s also did well, with a first-gen Shogun SWB selling for £16,000 and a MkII 3.0 V6 achieving £9600, while a rare 1983 Mitsubishi J27 Jeep, never officially imported into the UK in period, made £20,600.
Mitsubishi coupés also attracted interest, with a Starion 2000 Turbo achieving £21,100 and a 3000GT selling for £24,500, breaking UK records for both models. H&H managed £15,188 for a Starion last year, while Silverstone Auctions made £16,875 for a post-facelift VR4 model in the same year. A prefacelift car similar to Mitsubishi’s own pulled a top price of £6996 at Anglia Car Auctions in 2019.
Mitsubishi Motors’ PR general manager, Conor Twomey, said: ‘ We’re delighted with the response to the auction and the prices achieved, which should mean that the cars will be very well looked after by their new owners.’
CCW’s markets editor, Richard Barnett, added: ‘I’m not surprised by these prices – Japanese classics, and not just performance models, have a very strong following that’s not shy of stumping up big bucks when the time comes. Evos will always rake in the cash but regular models, like the Lancer, Galant and first-generation Shogun are seldom seen and it’s obvious that demand always outstrips supply.
‘Add in the fact that they came from Mitsubishi and their appeal was assured.’ Paul Guinness
] autoauction.co.uk