Mitsubishi Rally Car Models by Trofeu / Vitesse

Mitsubishi Galant VR4
MOTORPRO- Back in 1991 a company based in Nottingham, England called Motorpro were producing amongst other models, Code 3 Trofeu models of the Sierra RS Cosworth as used in the British Rally Championship. This developed further and they produced the die cast moulds for the then new Mitsubishi rally car the Galant VR4. Their first model, MP001 was the Ralliart car used by Penti Arikkala to win the 1998 Lombard RAC Rally, this was produced in a special liveried box. They continued to produce a number of other versions, which are detailed in the table below, including special editions for Yokohama tyres and Morkens of Belgium. Portuguese model maker Trofeu purchased the moulds for the VR4 from Motorpro in 1992, modified them slightly, and then started producing their VR4 models.

Mitsubishi Galant VR4 models from Motorpro

Model No.Sponsor / Rally
MP001Ralliart 19-RAC 89
MP002 Ralliart 9-1000 Lakes 89
MP003Yokohama 36-RAC 89
MP019Ralliart Belgium 14-Ypres 90


TROFEU- They added the Galant VR4 to their model range in 1992 after the purchase of the Motorpro moulds. The basic shell remained the same, but the add on pieces were improved. An improved interior was added, flush fitting glazed windows, door mirrors, wheels and tyres. As well as the rally car models listed below, a number of road cars and Portuguese taxis were also produced. The numbering system for the models changed during the mid 90's, with a 3 prefix being added before the model number. Most of these models were limited to 2000 models each, except the rarest, 036 & 037 which were limited to only 500.

Mitsubishi Galant VR4 models from Trofeu

Model No.Sponsor / Rally
031-034Road cars: Red, Brown, Sand, Green
035Ralliart 5-RAC 88
036Citizen -1000 Lakes 89
037Citizen 19-RAC 89
038Ralliart 9-Monte 92
039Ralliart 6-Portugal 92
040Ralliart Germany 2-Deutschland
041.1Road car: Portugeese Taxi
041.2Road car: Madeira Taxi
042Yokohama 19-RAC 92
043Varta 36-Sweden 93
344Motul 22-Australia 90


Vitesse / Skid Mitsubishi Lancer EVO'S
EVO's 1 to 3 - The Lancer Evolution was debuted on the World Rally Championship on the 1993 Monte Carlo Rally, it did not start winning events until the EVO 2 was debuted on the 1994 Acropolis, the EVO 3 came along on the 1995 Tour De Corse and was rallied until the 1996 Rally Great Britain, with a total of six wins. The first version modeled by Vitesse was the EVO 4.

EVO IV - The fourth evolution of the Lancer was debuted on the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally, it had six wins to its credit, before being pensioned off after the 1998 Rally Portugal. It brought Tommi his second consecutive World Championship Drivers Tiltle. This was the first model that Vitesse brought out as a model in 1/43 scale. This article will only concentrate on the Ralliart works prepared Group A / WRC cars. Vitessse have produced many of the more noted Group N cars, prepared by the likes of Ralliart Germany, Top Run and Race Rent. Ralliart do not sell their old Group A cars to be used for further competition, with the exception of those in the private collections of past drivers, they are all cut up as scrap after their competition life is over. Thus the versions that have been modeled are all the works cars. As a general rule, there were between 2500-7000 models of the each Ralliart works car produced, dependant on the driver / rally combination. For obvious reasons, the Makinen cars were the more popular versions. Most of the Group N cars were limited to 2000 only. For many years the Ralliart team did not have a title sponsor, and thus the cars would run in a very much standard livery, Makinen's car was badged the Lancer, while Burns' car in defiance to the European market was badged the Carisma. For Rally Australia in 1997 / 1998, the team was sponsored by Winfield , thus the cars were turned out in the red colours of that cigarette brand. Vitesse actually modeled these two cars, the 1997 car of Makinen was V98089, while the 1998 car was SKM99009. A Code 1 Special Edition was produced by Minipartes in Portugal, for ACP Auto Club Portugal, part of a set of all the Rally Portugal winners over the years. This was the 1997 winning car of Makinen, in a special sleave and stickers on the base plate. The table below charts the EVO 4 works cars modeled by Vitesse / Skid for the 1997-1998 season.

EVO No.Driver / Rally
V98053Makinen Catalunya 1997
V98064Burns Portugal 1997
RP97Makinen Portugal 1997
V98089Makinen Australia 1997
V98096Makinen Safari 1998
V98106Burns Safari 1998
V98108Nittel Portugal 1998

EVO V - This was debuted on 1998 Rally Catalunya, during its competition life it won 7 rallies, and brought Mitsubishi the 1998 World Rally Championship for makes and Tommi the Drivers title. A special limited edition was produced to celebrate Mitsubishi winning the 1998 World Rally Championship, this was SKW99001, Makinen's San Remo 98 car complete with figures to place on the bonnet, and a start/finish ramp. The non Marlboro EVO 5's produced by Vitesse are tabled below:

EVO No.Driver / Rally
V98132Makinen Catalunya 1998
V98151Burns Argentina 1998
SKW99001Makinen Sanremo 1998
SKM99003Burns Network Q 1998
SKM99009Makinen Australia 1998

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart

The EVO 5 continued to be used for the rallies up until Catalunya 1999, when the EVO 6 was debuted. The Ralliart team had a title sponsor in the form of tobacco brand Marlboro. Previously they had supported Freddy Loix in his Celica and Corolla WRC's. But, when Richard Burns moved to Subaru for the 99 season, Loix took his place, and brought Marlboro with him. Thus the teams cars were now in the red colours of Marlboro. Due to the tobacco advertising laws, on many events the team were not allowed the full branding, varying from white squares or black hashes on some events, to the words "TOMMI" or "FREDDY" in place of Marlboro on others. For this reason, some of the Skid models were not 100% accurate. But we do convert them to the correct branding, have a look in the Shop section of this web site for more details.

1999 SEASON- Team drivers were Tommi Makinen and Freddy Loix, but due to a big accident on the Safari Rally, Marcus Gronholm replced Loix for Portugal. By Australia, Mitsubishi were World Champions again. To celebrate this, SKID released a special boxed set, complete with finishing ramp, and driver and navigator figures to fit on the bonnet. This was SKW015 and limited to 6000 .

Model No.Driver / Rally
SKW0028 Makinen Monte Carlo 1999
SKM037 Loix Monte Carlo 1999
SKW0003 Makinen Sweden 1999
SKM070 Gronholm Portugal 1999

EVO VI- The "6" was debuted on Rally Catalunya 1999, its aerodynamics were refined to bring it in line with current WRC regulations, it was now sporting a twin wing rear spoiler amongst other tweaks. Tommi again won the Drivers title, making it his fourth in a row, which was a record. To celebrate this fact, the EVO 6 Tommi Makinen Special Edition EVO6 road car was produced, the actual car went on sale in January 2000, and limited to 2,500 versions world wide. Vitesse / Skid produced many variants of the teams cars, these are tabulated below. Also, they modeled as VMC048 the red Tommi Makinen road car.

Model No.Driver / Rally
SKW009Makinen New Zealand 1999
SKW012Makinen Sanremo 1999
SKW015Makinen Australia 1999
SKM122Makinen Sweden 2000
SKM125Makinen Kenya 2000
SKM144Loix Kenya 2000
SKM153Makinen Catalunya 2000

EVO VI.5 - this was debuted on 2001 Monte Carlo, it was produced as an interim car prior to the introduction of their first new car built fully to WRC regulations, which will be the EVO 7, which was debuted on Sanremo 2001. As Vitesse ceased trading during 2001, the 6.5 was modeled by IXO to a very similar standard. A special Mitsubishi Limited Edition Twin Set was produced late in 2001, to celebrate their victories in Monte Carlo and Paris-Dakar during the year, the set, model number SKW029 was limited to only 1000 models. It comprised the respective winning vehicles, in a twin display box, complete with dioramas. To date the following have been produced:

Model No.Driver / Rally
RAM003Makinen Monte Carlo 2001
SKM194Loix Monte Carlo 2001
SKM024Radstrom Sweden 2001
RAM005Makinen Portugal 2001
SKW029Makinen/Holderoid Monte /Dakar 2001

EVO VII - Watch this space !!

The EVO roadcars

Model No.Description
VMC019EVO 6 White
V98035EVO 6 Silver
V98036EVO 6 Ralliart Presentation
V98104EVO 5 White
VMC048Makinen road car