It’s time to devote some time to a Lancer chassis that not a lot of people may be familiar with. Most of us associate the 4G63 with the latest crop of Lancer Evolutions, starting from the Evo I in 1992, but it was actually first used in the Lancer EX2000 Turbo, which came out in 1981. This angularly designed Lancer was never sold in the US but it sure made a name for itself in Japan and Europe. Most notably it helped Ralliart’s initial success in the world rally scene as Pentti Airikkala drove one in the 1982 1000 Lakes rally in Finland, finishing in third spot.

Its success made it an instant hit in Japan, just as the turbo era began to take off.

During the AE86 Matsuri and Skyline Meeting in Tsukuba a small group of Lancer and Starion owners came to show off their immaculate cars and, since we haven’t really featured too many of these rides before, I got busy snapping away.

Just like all the Lancer Evos that came after it (let’s not forget the Galant VR4 that kind of bridged the gap in MMC’s performance car line up) the EX2000 was a sedan.

Under the hood was a longitudinally mounted SOHC 4G63, driving the rear wheels. The engine was good for 170 HP, however this particular silver car has obviously been modified with a top-mount aftermarket turbo.

You can’t help but love the simplicity of these cars…

…and they look so hot when lowered and fitted with vintage rims.

This is what the stock motor looked like. The big deal about the EX2000’s powerplant back in 1981 was that it was fuel injected (you can see the embossed ECI Turbo logo on the intake plenum)

How cool it that…

…an RC replica of the EX2000!

Along with the Lancers were also a few Starions…

…a great addition to this Mitsubishi side of the event!

Like the EX2000 the Starion was also fitted with the SHOC version of the 4G63 (US cars and later “Conquest” versions ran the G54B 2.6L 4-cylinder, as did the GSR-VR in Japan)

Both the EX2000 and Starion are very rare cars in Japan, you hardly see any on the street.

The Starion was quite the hit in the tuning scene that was quickly developing during the eighties.

With a bunch of AE86 lined up opposite the MMC gathering, I felt like I was a little kid back in the 1980’s!

That about wraps up the coverage from the unexpectedly varied AE86 Matsuri. Hope you enjoyed seeing so many cool modern day classics!

-Dino Dalle Carbonare