SOLD - 1997 Mitsubishi RVR - Hyper Sports Gear R

We did an extensive deep dive on this rare and unusual Mitsubishi over on our youtube channel. Check it out for all the details!

1997 Mitsubishi RVR HSG R

This is the 1997 Mitsubishi RVR Hyper Sports Gear R, one of only 700 examples every produced featuring the rally-stage winning 4G63T AWD manual drivetrain of the Lancer Evolution 3. This forged internal, turbo charged, 2 liter generating somewhere between 230 and 250 hp pushes this future-tech soccor-mom van from 0 to 60 in under 7 seconds.

The R variant was equipped with a very Mitsubish Lancer Evo looking interior. Factory Recaro buckets, the classic Mitsubishi Grey plastic dash, and even the same climate control stack. Flipping into the back, a 2 seat bench which folds flat into a bed.

This factory body kit is shared with the more common Hyper Sports Gear Z, which, while featuring a 4G63T and all wheel drive, did NOT have the same forged internal powerplant, and was rated for only 150 horsepower. The dead giveaway for an R versus the Z is this absolutely monstrous factory front mount intercooler.

If you happen to have been born in Japan in the late 80s, you may have been lucky enough to have a parent that carried a certain need, a desire not easily defined in words, but found in the whirring of the revolutionary turbo tech of the early 90s.

Compromise is what makes most relationships work, as many parents will know, but sometimes, a relationship isn't held together by compromise, but instead by a resonant synchronosity that seems to transcend traditional limtis. Today, among humans, we call this a "power couple". In the 90's, among cars, we called it the RVR Hyper Sports Gear R.

But if the car is so good, then, it makes you wonder, why haven't we seen one before?

In early 1990, Japan experienced the infamous Asset Bubble Crash, where the Japanese stock market and real estate market lost over half it's value in a very rapid period of time. Moving forward into 1995, the Japanese economy started to move again, and out of this second era, some of the greatest skunk-works projects in the Japanese automotive world came to light.

This RVR was a product of that resurgence of future-tech optimism, built on the back of the rally winning Lancer Evolutions. We began to see the penultimate versions of hero cars who's development had started prior to the Asset Crash in 1990. The likes of the Mark 4 Supra, the NSX-R and NSX-T, the Subaru STi 22B, and of course, the Tommi Makinen Lancer Evolution 6, considered by many to be the peak of Mitsubishi rally heritage.

But the golden era was not to last. As the dot-com crash of March 2000 loomed, Japan's economy took a second blow from which it would not recover for years. Major halo car projects continued, though in lower numbers, epitomized by the R34 GTR and RX-7 Spirit R. But to support these kinds of ambitious and history making platforms, other projects needed to see their end.

This car is unlike anything I've had the pleasure of driving before. With it's unusual proportions and killer combination of 90s turbo power, all wheel drive, wild styling, and surprisingly nimble driving dynamics, the RVR Hyper Sports Gear R is a car I won't soon forget. And while owning the only example of a super low production vehicle is usually an intimidating prospect, the RVR is fortunately one of many, many, MANY different cars with the same underpinnings, giving you the chance to own something that is both entirely special and also entirely reasonable to drive every single day.

1997 Mitsubishi RVR Hyper Sports Gear R

• 1 of 700 ever made, 1 of 350 with a manual
• N23W5411589
• 2.0L Turbo Charged 4G63T 4cyl
• All Wheel Drive
• Manual Transmission
• SLIDING DOOR!
• Air Conditioning
• 155500km (96k mi)
• Legally Imported JDM
• Right Hand Drive
• Clean Florida Title
• Nationwide Shipping Available