I do manage to find the occasional discarded Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution during my Denver-area junkyard explorations, but such cars— like their Subaru WRX rivals— are always far too crashed and/or stripped to be worth documenting for this series. When it comes to the Mitsubishi Lancer O-Z Rally Edition, though, I get the impression that just about every Lancer sold here during the first part of the 2000s had that all-show-and-no-go package; after shooting several examples, I no longer pay attention to the O-Z Rally. The Ralliart Lancer, on the other hand, was a genuine factory hot-rod, with much more power and a stiffer suspension than the ordinary Lancer. We saw a used-up bright yellow '05 Ralliart last year, and now here's a black '04 in a different Denver yard.

It was a sad day for petrolheads around the world when Mitsubishi killed off the iconic Lancer Evolution.

Twenty years have passed since Mitsubishi first launched the Lancer Evolution in the UK. Five of the nameplate’s ten generations were sold officially in the UK between the year 2000 and 2015, marking a total of 5,728 units.

It's easy to forget that Mitsubishi was once upon a time brave enough to offer a wagon bodystyle with its iconic Lancer Evolution. These longroof versions were created for the JDM market only and finding one outside the land of the Rising Sun is pretty surprising.