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Junkyard Gem: 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally Edition

Looked fast, wasn't.

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The Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally Edition looked fast, with sporty OZ wheels and some Evo-ish body moldings. In fact, it had the same sewing-machine-grade 120-horse four-cylinder under the hood, driving just the front wheels, as the ordinary commuter-appliance Lancer. Mitsubishi moved enough of these things that you see them from time to time; here's a used-up example in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard.



These cars must have been popular in Colorado, because this is the second discarded example I have seen in a couple of months, following this '03.



Rear drum brakes on a 21st-century car badged as a Rally Edition? Yes, rear drum brakes.



The original factory cold-air intake is gone, replaced by this innovative rain-gutter-downspout rig. Is there anything you can't fix with sheet-metal screws, zip ties, and duct tape?



The single non-appearance-related rally-ish bit here is the five-speed manual transmission.



Around the world, there were other faux-sporty versions of this generation of Lancer. For example, the Thai-market Lancer F-Style.

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