Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS MITSUBISHI GALANT VR4: RETRO RACING
Taking back an old vehicle to give it a new life is always good news. Working on it is the goal set by Juan Navarro and Montse Flores, the founders of Catcom. A company for the restoration and modification of classic competition that is presented with Mitsubishi Galant VR4. One of the most performing Japanese of the late 80s, which with this unit has a good track record in Spanish territory.
Driven by the artisan passion that feeds so many fans of the world of rallying, Juan and Montse have recovered the Galant VR4 to return it to competition. And they are succeeding. His first participation was in Trasmiera 2016, to which more national events are being added as they approach the goal of going to Germany.
Curiously, that was where the Galant VR4 got its tune-up after being manufactured in Japan. Anyway, since more and more coordinates are being added, his will be to start at the beginning. A story that takes us thirty years to tell us some of the most interesting pages of Group A and Canarian rallies.
All this supported by the explanations of those responsible for this recovery, recorded by the same channel that a year ago surprised us with a good interview with Manuel Juncosa. RetroRacing.
MITSUBISHI GALANT VR4. BRAND IMAGE IN GROUP A
Spurred on by the desire to increase its sales in Europe and America, the Japanese Mitsubishi designed an advertising plan for the 80s. Beyond billboards or television advertisements, the aim was to promote their image in the competition. In short, the hackneyed -but always successful- idea that if the public sees your cars triumph in the races ... They will trust the technological development of the brand, thus acquiring the series models.
Thus the things, the engineers of Mitsubishi put in sport mode. Little by little good news began to arrive from the Dakar, where the new Pajero off-road vehicle - renamed in Spanish-speaking countries as Montero due to obvious corporate image reasons - reaped striking results. In fact, gravel racing was going so well for Mitsubishi that a version of the Starion Coupé was even proposed for the rabid Group B.
However, the ban on this category in 1986 truncated the project. Moment in which those responsible for the brand looked at their Galant saloon with different eyes, deciding to make a sports version with the idea of homologate it in Group A. Thus the Galant VR4 was born, a whole "Wolf with sheep's skin" endowed with Four-wheel drive and a 2-liter turbo engine improved to around 200CV in street versions.
DIRECT TO THE RALLYES. THE UNIT OF JAPAN MOTOR SA
Despite its large dimensions, the Galant VR4 established itself as a good rally car thanks to victories such as the 1000 1989 Lagos. More and more teams were made with VR4 units, including the canary Japan Motor. After a process of adapting the car in a workshop in Germany, this unit finally ended up being one of the most famous cars on the active rally scene in the Canary Islands.
Something that his power up to 420CV. This doubling the original power required a significant reinforcement of the gearbox, although now it seems that it has been left in 321CV and 475 Newton of Par. A reduction in power that, although it limits the kick, makes this Galant VR4 a very balanced car in terms of chassis, engine, suspensions ...
His moment of maximum splendor came with the pilot Ricardo Avero, which garnered numerous victories with the Galant VR4 arriving to run in 1992 the Spanish Championship. Then the car was sold to Toñi Ponce, who used it for the popular ascension races in the Canary Islands until 2001 when it passed into the hands of Óscar Martínez. From there it jumped to La Rioja, where Roberto Iglesias ended up keeping it in a garage after using it in various tests.
Fortunately this Galant VR4 found a new life in 2016 in the hands of Catcom Racing. Now it is back to racing and, moreover, with a practically original configuration. An exercise in passion for classical mechanics, even more so if we take into account that the shortage of spare parts for this model forces to manufacture by hand not a few elements. In short, pure motorsport history back on asphalt. And besides, it doesn't sound bad at all ...
