Rare Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution SUV has sold in New York auction after only being discovered recently

A rare Dakar Rally-style Mitsubishi Pajero Evo just sold for $28,000 in New York.

It’s a Japanese import, but fully street-legal in the US as well.

This is a very rare vehicle, by the way, as only 2,700 were made, and most are either lost or in worse condition than this.

But we have a theory to explain why the price was relatively low.

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This Mitsubishi Pajero Evo is a rare gem

Somebody listed a rare iteration of the Mitsubishi Pajero in New York.

The vehicle in question is a Pajero Evo, which comes in with 135,000 miles on the clock.

That’s not exactly what you’d call showroom mileage, but it’s nice to know that collectors do occasionally drive their vehicles.

And this is definitely a collector’s item.

Launched in the 1990s for homologation reasons related to the Dakar Rally, Mitsubishi only built 2,700 units, most of which are long gone.

The vehicle is in pristine condition, with silver grey paint on the exterior and black fabric upholstery for the interior.

Even so, the SUV only fetched $28,000 at auction – which is a seriously good deal for the buyer.

But there are two things to bear in mind that potentially explain the low price.

One, this is a right-hand drive vehicle, so not exactly a first choice for the average American driver.

And two, it’s a hidden gem – but a hidden gem only a true hardcore gearhead can maybe appreciate.

To most people, this is probably just an old 1997 vehicle.

The reason why you can drive this in the US

The vehicle is now street-legal in the US thanks to what everyone knows as the ’25-year import rule’.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, any vehicle over 25 years old, including cars that were originally not street-legal in the United States, can be imported and driven as a ‘classic’.

This is a useful loophole because it automatically makes almost any vehicle legal, provided it’s 25 years old and shows some form of historic value.

This is how a YouTuber managed to import an ultra-rare Nissan Skyline in Midnight Purple to America.

And that’s the reason why we have timeless classics such as the 1990 BMW M3 Sport Evolution III or even the Lotus S1 in the US.