Mitsubishi Lancer 1995 News

"I like to say I sell pre-loved cars not second-hand cars. Unfortunately I love too many of them," the 44-year-old Southport dealer principal says. "That's the problem with being a dealer principal; you are in the shop with all these lollies coming in through the front door. You say, 'will I buy it to keep it or sell it?'. What do you do? It's hard when you love cars. You end up with a collection."Dean's collection is mainly made up of cars that have come down from the bedroom walls of his youth into his garage. They include: a 1966 Austin Healey Sprite, a "black, lowered and lovely" 1970 Fiat 124 BC Sport, a 1982 Lancia Beta Coupe which "not surprisingly has rust in all the wrong places", a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III, a 1970 Honda Civic that's only done 20,000km, a 1972 one-owner VW millionth edition Beetle, a 1968 Meyers Manx beach buggy, a 1990s Nissan S-cargo mini van "my wife calls Daisy", a 1988 Corolla hillclimber and a rare 1988 Lancia Delta Integrale HF 4WD eight-valve."I just bought another Integrale from Japan which is basically rust free," he says. "But I'll have to give up some of my other toys like the Beta, Veedub and the Civic."He plans to strip back the second Integrale and make it into a replica white Martini rally car like the ones driven to six World Rally Championships in the 1980s and '90s by drivers such as Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion. It's got the 16-valve, two-litre turbo engine but even though it has a smaller turbo than my eight-valve, it doesn't have as much lag. "You can get about 700 horsepower (522kW) out of them which I imagine could be quite scary."He plans to drive the Lancias in historic sprint meetings such as the Tweed on Speed, Leyburn Sprints and recent Cootha Classic. Meanwhile, he seriously campaigns his Corolla in the Queensland hillclimb championships which he won a few weeks ago."I got into it about three years ago through a friend of mine with a little Alfa who kept hounding me and hounding me," he says. "I kept putting it off because you have to be committed, but I did it one day at Mt Cotton and I was hooked. They're a great bunch of blokes. It's not exactly a blood sport."His Corolla has a 4AGE blacktop 20-valve Toyota four-cylinder naturally aspirated improved classified category race engine developing 89kW at the wheels."But it has a lot more torque which is great for hillclimbs," he says. He bought it for $1500 and has turned it into a $28,000 project racer. This is just a car that was supposed to hold me over until I got into the Evo monster," he says. "But you just can't jump in and hit the track with something that has 350kW at the wheels. It's a bit dangerous. I bought the Corolla to step up to the Evo, but I've fallen in love with it and the Evo is still sitting there. And in the interim I've come across the Integrale and now I'm getting another one. It's a sickness."He bought the 134kW Delta from Western Australia for $15,000 after "hunting one down" over several years. "It's got coil-over springs, it's been chipped, I've replaced the manifold and exhaust, and it's had tender loving care...  and about $5000 spent on it. I only use it for special exhibition events, not serious competition. I worry a little bit. I don't want to put it into a wall."

The boosted Lancer, expected to carry the Ralliart name, will slot into the line-up below the red-hot EVO model. The range will be similar to Subaru's Impreza stable, which has a turbo AWD WRX as the main performance model with a faster, more expensive STI as the hero car. It will be the first time Mitsubishi can offer an affordable WRX rival since the cult GSR Lancer more than 10 years ago. The Japanese carmaker has adopted a "bang for your bucks" approach, kicking-off with the Ralliart version of the Colt baby car. Apart from giving the struggling model some positive publicity, the turbo model has added about 40 Colt sales a month. Mitsubishi added to the build-up of the next-generation Lancer -- the brand's best-selling model in Australia -- by releasing a sketch of the car to be unveiled at the Detroit motor show in January. More aggressive, it bears similarities to the Concept X at Frankfurt last year. The Lancer, which will be bigger than current models, is to arrive in Australia next September. A standard model will be the first to go on sale with a new generation 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine that is expected to produce about 120kW. A 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a diesel will be offered in Europe, but are unlikely here initially. The performance turbo AWD model, to compete with the WRX, joins the range in the first half of 2008 along with full-on EVO model. Mitsubishi offers a wagon version of the Lancer, but it is unclear whether a similar load hauler is part of the next Lancer plan. JAMES STANFORD A classic for everyone Classic cars owned by a mystery collector attracted $1.1 million last weekend at a Sydney auction. Some 95 cars went to a new home, while a further 58 are being referred to the vendor. The top sellers were a 1959 Jaguar XK150, selling for $79,100, a Ford V6 Capri RS3100, which went for double what was expected at $72,320 and a 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III, for $50,850. The cheapest model to sell on the day was a 1978 Opel Rekord, which attracted $678. About 700 people attended the auction with a further 70 customers bidding by telephone. The collector, a businessman who wishes to remain anonymous, amassed the 153 vehicles during a 30 year period, storing them in garages around NSW. It was the biggest private collection of classic cars offered at a public auction in Australia, outdoing both the Lindsay Fox and John Laws collections. A 1981 De Lorean sold for a tasty $45,200, a 1953 Riley went for $25,000 and a 1981 Holden Brock Commodore fetched $32,700. "There were so many different marques on offer within diverse price ranges," says Bonhams and Goodman chief executive officer Tim Goodman, who conducted the auction. Base commitment Hyundai will cement its commitment to Australia with a new $70 million headquarters in Sydney. At a groundbreaking ceremony this week Hyundai chief executive Steve Yeo says the new building will house Hyundai's Australian operations into the future. "It is a very substantial investment for us but it was an opportunity that we simply could not miss," Yeo says. Yeo says the multi-storey building in Macquarie Park, North Ryde, will provide enough space for Hyundai with an opportunity for future growth. Hyundai cars have been in Australia since 1986 with the marque adopting manufacturer/importer status in 2003.