Overview

The Mitsubishi Pajero is a SUV that launched in 1982. With roots tracing back as far as the 1934 PX33 prototype, the first generation Pajero was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1981, with the latest (fourth) generation discontinued in 2018.

The earlier generations were popular among hardcore off-road enthusiast. The Pajero holds a total of fifteen titles from the Dakar Rally – the most wins of any vehicle. During its peak in the nineties and noughties, the Pajero won a total of 11 Dakar titles out of 19 (in 2008 the event was not held).

The Pajero Evolution (also called the PajEvo), based on the second-generation Pajero, was introduced in October 1997, having been developed in response to new entry requirements for the Dakar Rally's T2 Class. The Evolution came as standard with a 3.5-litre 24-valve DOHC V6 that featured a variable valve timing system – MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control), similar to the Honda VTEC or Toyota VVTI. A total of 2,500 vehicles in three different colours (white, red and silver) were manufactured for homologation purposes.

Mitsubishi not only dominated the T2 class with this model, they dominated the whole Dakar Rally. PajEvos took the top three spots in 1998, even beating the supposedly faster T3 class cars. They covered over 10,000 km in 18 days, and finished five hours before the next closest competitor.

Among other extras, the street version of the Pajero Evo features Recaro front sports seats; wider front and rear wheel arches; rear spoiler with side airdams; a carbon interior trim; an aluminium bonnet; and a nearside wing mirror.

Our PajEvo is a fully documented (both ownership and service history-wise), low-mileage car with Ralliart mud flaps, side decals, spare tire cover and the original complete Mitsubishi toolkit in the rear door. The car had one owner in Japan, from the date of its first registration on 15/06/1998 to March 2018, and has only had one owner since – us at V12 Classics, in the EU.

The car has covered 98,000 km and has been fully serviced throughout its lifetime, with 23 entries in the service book over the period of 20 years. The timing belt, tensioners and water pump were replaced at 95,411 km in 2015.