Dealer Wants $75,999 for a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR With 21 Miles
Want a practically new Evo? It’s gonna cost ya.
A California dealership is asking the eye-watering price of $75,999 for a low-mileage 2006 Lancer Evolution IX MR. In other words, more than twice the amount of its original MSRP of $35,189.
In case you grew up in the post-Lancer Evolution era, you must know that the Evo (as it is known) was a long-lived line of sports sedans produced by Mitsubishi between 1992 and 2016. Its history of competition in the World Rally Championship (WRC) would've made the Evo noteworthy on its own, but what really made the Evo stand out was Mitsubishi's secret sauce: the 4G63T. This turbocharged 2.0-liter engine was known for being shockingly receptive to tuning; so much so that the automaker even licensed Hyundai-built unites that could handle 30 pounds of boost and belch out over 500 horsepower with stock internals. And not to mention that the agile sedan became a video game legend thanks to Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo for Play Station.
With that in mind, it's obvious why the manual, all-time all-wheel-drive Evo was a hit with the tuning and racing communities, which have since blown up, crashed, or otherwise ruined most good Evos out there. Such a rarity is a stock, unmodified Evo that Road and Track reported in 2017 on the sale of a nine-mile Evo IX by Californian dealer South Coast Mitsubishi for $138,000, or over $100,000 more than its original sticker price of $35,814. That dealership—which reportedly overstocked itself on Evo IXs with the intent of selling them for insane profits—is the one that now lists this car for sale at $75,999, or more than double the $35,189 price listed on the car's window sticker.
As a result of apparently sitting in a showroom for 13 years, this Evo IX has a mere 21 miles on its odometer, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's in peak condition. Like with most cars kept in storage, its rubber components surely have dry-rotted, meaning its engine belts, some seals, and tires will most likely require replacement.
Of course, if $76,000 is ten grand too much for you, or you're more of a Subaru fan, consider this car's closest competitor, the 341-horsepower Subaru WRX STI S209. It'll have just as much street cred, and you can squirrel away that extra several thousand dollars to replace your head gaskets when the time comes (and trust me, the time always comes).
