Description

Very rare Barn Find ex Shinozuka / Dunkerton Group A Mitsubishi Starion rally car offered publicly for the very first time after being in dry storage for 35 years.

Winner of the famous 1987 Himalaya Rally with the late Kenjiro Shinozuka.

Not often do you get the chance to take ownership of a genuine ex Works rally car, hand crafted by Tusk Engineering in Japan for the Mitsubishi factory and a real Group A classic from the dawn of that era.

This Mitsubishi Starion (KNY 53 HI 3980) has a history like no other….

Painted in the iconic red and black Yokohama colours, it was first sent to the UK in 1985 to compete in the RAC with Japanese driver Shinya Yamauchi & Co-ordsport founder, Brit, Peter Collinson alongside. After an early exit, it was brought out for yet another attempt at the RAC a year later in 1986, again with Yamauchi/Collinson as part of a 3-car Japanese factory team.

Returning to Japan for a tidy up, the Starion was sent to India in 1987 where the late Kenjiro Shinozuka and Fred Gocentas took outright victory with Ross Dunkerton right behind in 2nd place in a sister car from the factory.

Ralliart Australia owner, the late Doug Stewart, then cut a deal to bring the car onto Australia where it was used by former Australian Rally Champion, Greg Carr on a several Australian Championship events during 1988 before he stepped up to a Group A Lancia Delta Integrale.

The culmination of its fabulous Works history was the drive by multiple Asia Pacific and Australian Rally Champion, Ross Dunkerton, in 1988 Rally Australia held in Perth, coming home 5th outright against modern high performance 4wd cars now starting to infiltrate Group A on the WRC.

A local Australian driver briefly owned the car for around 12 months before being put into storage for over three decades, only now seeing the light of day.

This lovely ex Works Group A Mitsubishi Starion rally car remains of the era with only a couple of minor changes since built in Japan. The original alloy roll cage was replaced with a steel cage conforming to the regulations in Australia at the time and a larger fuel tank was fitted to cover the longer distances experienced Down Under, both of which can be easily reversed by the new owner.

Still on the original wheels,hard-to-get iconic parts remain intact including but not limited to reversing light, battery isolation switch and metal cover panel beneath the glass hatch at the rear; wind up windows and fabricated door pockets; dash board; PIAA spotlights with original light bar, etc…

The new owner will also get 2, yes you read that correctly, 2 Mitsubishi Starion road cars with the purchase.

Vendor can arrange shipping and documentation at buyer’s expense.

Price AU$79,500 for all 3 cars

No time wasters please. This is not a fire sale, I am simply reducing the number of rally cars in my collection that require restoration.

Action photos from various sources.