Car Feature>> Chito Solomon’s 1973 Lancer Gsr

Many of you know that the Japanese Classic Car Show recently took place in Irvine, CA. I didn’t have too much time to spend at the show – we were out late at Irwindale the night before (for the Formula D Finale), and was pretty surprised to find out that JCCS ended super early – at 3pm!!! Since most of the photos I took at the show centered around old school Toyotas, I thought it would be cool to show you all these photos that my good friend Chris Manacop shot.  For those of you not familiar with Chris Manacop, he is an automotive photographer that also shoots for the SpeedLounge and Performance Auto Sound Magazine. Thanks to Chris for the top quality photos! These are the type of pics we need to see more on Speedhunters, don’t you guys think?

Now let’s take a look at the car above -it’s a 1973 Mitsubishi Lancer, owned by Chito Solomon. For those of you who think that name sounds familiar, you may have seen his 3-rotor FC3S in magazines before, or at car shows! Chito is an old schooler from the San Fernando Valley; he’s been building cars that snap necks for a long time.

Inside, the car is pretty much original, in the same state it was in when he bought it from a Japanese car importer. I dig the period correct vinyl seats and the center console and all that – the car is very clean inside, and is very cool to see, for those who have never seen a 1973 Lancer in person. I’ve been to many places, shooting many cars, and Chito’s car was the very first 73 Lancer I ever saw in real life. This car is rare!

The Lancer has a satin black hood, as found on many early 1970s race and rally cars – the shine from a glossy hood often puts glare into the eyes of the driver, so people used to paint their hoods with flat or satin paint to prevent glare. Kind of the same idea as putting black flocking (velvety material) on the dashboard of a modern race car.

The tall fender mirrors and big round headlights make me think this car looks sort of like an insect or an alien up front. What do you guys think, am I trippin?

Apparently, Honda wasn’t the first company to use the GS-R designation on their cars. I think this Lancer GS-R has very cool emblems, emblem placement and cool looking trim on the rear end. I think the white splash graphic and pinstripes on the car really add to the vintage sporty look of the car as well. Kind of reminds me of the car from Starsky and Hutch!

I can’t get over how clean this engine bay is! Damn! Apparently, Chito says, “this is the original engine, and it only has 25,000 kilometers on the clock! Since it’s been in this condition and running condition for over 30 years, there really isn’t a need to change or upgrade the engine. All this car needed when I bought it was some new tires and an oil change.”

Check out the old school Mitsubishi OEM head unit! Nice! I wonder what radio stations you could get with THOSE channels! Check it out! haha! I think Chito’s car gets more points for having this clean vintage head unit, no doubt!

Clean, stock, original seats, in awesome condition. Looks like these back seats haven’t seen any action in a long, long time.

Dig the Minilite wheels, which complete the retro look of the entire car. I really like this car – sometimes I just like seeing rare cars in near-stock condition, especially when the car is rare. I’m glad Chito didn’t try to put a 4G63 or something crazy in this car, it would certainly ruin the OEM value of this gorgeous, clean Lancer! Respect!

-Antonio Alvendia

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1

I love seeing stuff on old mitsus, you just dont see to many anymore. These are great pics, and no the front end kinda looks like a 1st gen civic..you know the kinda monotone frog look...maybe im trippin..lol,

2

i <3 Mitsu's!!! ..this particular model was one of the OG rally cars to whip on rally porsches =] TNT Motorsports in Granada Hills is where a bunch of these old school mitsu fanatics hang out.

3

im a big fan of old skool japanese cars. :)



this one IS actually rare on our area as well. we do have plenty of old skool lancers here but most of them are the L-Type and the Bar-type (they are distinguished by the design of the rear tail lights.),



kudos for posting this one up. defenitely my type of eye candy. :)

4

This is a GREAT find.

5

glad you guys like it! yup the guys from TNT Motorsports are awesome! very nice guys!

6

My old neighbor drove in such lancer GSR up till 6 years ago but that one never looked as clean as this one! ;)

7

hmm thats an L-Type but the lights are straight. aye AEkyuni, are you in the PI?

8

ProTree and AEkyuni: Can you guys pls educate us on the differences on the L type and the bar type lancers? Got any links to pics of the differences?

9

Old school rules! Looks great!

10

the L-Type and bar type lancers have the same front (with different grills), but the tail lights are different. the L-Type have L shaped tail lights. the bar type have brick shaped tail lights. ill try to find pics. L-Types were sold in the PI from 73-75 and bar types were sold from 76-79.



the L-Type and bar type names are what locals here in the PI call them, but im not sure if those are official Mitsubishi names.

11

dope thanks alot for the edumacation ProTree! i had no idea

12

Sweetest Ride!!!!!!

13

This is a C-type Lancer. this is rare in the PI. WOW.

14

i love this car

15

Awesome ride- I have one myself in Sydney and its a 2dr LA with those lights, but not a GSR .

Good to see! What are the differences between std and GSR?

...LSD and different carby setup + gear ratios??

Cheers :-)

16

nice!!! Rare car in awesome condition!!! those are pretty rare in Philippines... i'm currently restoring a 76 lancer (l-type as we wolud call it). i've thrown some cool vintage parts in it and i wish i colud make it look like this one! Great shots!

17

any comments with this set-up??

1400 4g33 chain-drive, shaved oval port heads, ported and polished, dual valve-springs, 4-2-1 headers... still undecided if i should use mitsu works cam 3, 4, or 5... any comments would help :-) thanks!

18

Beautiful car. It is a Saturn Engine? Used to have a 79 with an Astron engine.

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