With the recent announcement of the Integra and the 2022 Subaru WRX launching, JDM cars are now almost as popular as they’ve ever been. Yet in a world filled with Teslas, it’s harder to imagine how magical Japanese cars were in the 2000s. They were the apex predators, evolved to pray on the weakened heard of ponies roaming continental America.
To remind us of that era, rendering artist DomesticMango (aka dm_jon) has mashed an R34 version of the GT-R with the Mitsubishi Evo VIII. The artist has a certain slightly retro style to his work and often likes to do GTA mods, so that takes you right back to being a teen. Suddenly, you’re right back in your bedroom, jamming to GTA radio and trying out mods. Also, it’s what they’d drive in a bootleg version of the first Fast and Furious movie.
Anyway, the two cars in the mashup have almost nothing in common other than being Japanese and legendary. It’s like combining a gun and a sword in an RPGโฆ which they do. But anyway, the two performance vehicles went about delivering said go-fast goodies in different ways.
The GT-R is one of the most coveted Japanese sports cars, about as desirable as the carbon-draped Lexus LFA. This has to do with its cult status and certain laws that prohibit you from shipping the JDM love of your life. But at its core, you’re talking about a nice Japanese premium vehicle that received a big engine, kind of like a BMW M5.
Fast and Furious GTA version
The Evo is more like the Audi RS3โฆ if the quattro car was made out of the cheapest materials possible. No, really, the base Lancer was always one of the most inexpensive cars in America. However, the Evolution showed Mitsubishi’s ambition on the world rally stage. Modders loved the four-cylinder turbo engine.
To make his rendering monstrosity, the artist kept the body of the Evo VIII sedan and added front and rear elements from the R34 Nissan GT-R. It’s something that couldn’t be done in the world because of the size difference. But we love the Lancer Evo even more with the trademark quad taillights of the Skyline model. And a giant “fart cannon” exhaust fits the personality of both cars.
At the front, the bulging hood of the Nismo-spec R34 and new headlights add a touch of class to the Evo. It makes you wonder how the tuned Lancer would have looked if Nissan was behind the project.