It would have been interesting to test drive an Evolution VIII 260 which didn't come with a personalised number plate. The car I found myself at the wheel of was 3CCC. Was that for Cool Cat's Car, or maybe Coppers Can't Catch? No, Mitsubishi told me, it stood for Colt Car Company, and they also own 1CCC, 2CCC and 4CCC. All week I caught people giving me curious backward glances, trying to work out why such an ordinary-looking bloke (he doesn't look famous, and he certainly doesn't look rich) should be driving a car with plates that must be worth, oh, thousands.
But it wasn't me they should have been looking at, it was the car. You see, if any vehicle deserves a second look, this is definitely it. From the outside it is so unassumingly modest, so uninspiringly ordinary, that you would guess it was nothing more than a shiny new fleet car, a slightly tweaked boy racer's pride and joy. On the inside, however, it's a race-tuned, rally-honed speed freak which is so exhilarating to drive it should come with a health warning advising pregnant women and overweight men with heart murmurs to take the bus.
If it were to audition for Stars in Their Eyes, it would be the quietly spoken postman from Manchester who returns through the dry ice as a fully pumped up Meat Loaf. One touch of the accelerator unleashes such force from beneath the bonnet you expect to hear a deafening 'kaaaboom' as you smash the sound barrier between sets of red lights. I'm not joking. This rather sober saloon boasts wheel-smoking, Ferrari-type acceleration, yet it only costs £23,999. In many ways it would make the perfect getaway car - four doors, sensible boot, innocuous looking on the street... and a top speed of 152mph.
The car owes its pedigree to Mitsubishi's ambition to dominate rallying and, since the car's launch in 1993, the 'Evo' has won four World Rally Championships. The street car hasn't left behind its muddy past. Red Brembo calliper brakes glint through the 17in Enkei wheels; the steering wheel and gear stick are stitched leather, and the seats are top of the range Recaro buckets. All very impressive, but the car is no oil painting (despite the fact that Mitsubishi gives each a limited-edition number - this one was No 0003). It's brawn without beauty. Think John Prescott. The money has all been spent on raw power. For you number crunchers, the engine is a 2-litre, 4-cylinder, 16 Valve DOHC twin-scroll turbocharged and intercooled ECI-Multi 4G63 engine ... (I had to copy that out from the manual). In layman's terms that translates as 'probably the most phenomenally quick car you'll ever drive'.
The Evo is aimed at 'married men in their forties', which, again, roughly translates as 'good purchase for family men having a mid-life crisis'. The unflashy exterior means it's also ideal for the gasping mid-lifer who doesn't really want anyone to know he's having a crisis.
So, having saved a fortune on not splashing out on that Ferrari, you can now buy an Evo and spend the difference on personalised plates.
Braking news
Film-loving motor nuts recently nominated their favourite car stars. The winner, with a third of the votes, was James Bond's Lotus Esprit in the Spy Who Loved Me. And in last place? Del and Rodney's Reliant Robin.
