In short, this is irretrievably a boy-fantasy car no matter what you say to your wife about being able to strap the babies in the back. It’s a rally car for the road. Like Vin Diesel’s movie, it’s spawned an indecent number of sequels, almost to comic effect, with the IX being issued in five sub-variants – the FQ-300, FQ-320, FQ-340, FQ-360 and finally FQ-360 MR, the final initials denoting (guess!) “Mitsubishi Racing”. And let’s not forget the preceding eight Evolutions and their many sub-variants, which began with the Evolution I in October 1992. Clearly, Mitsubishi wanted its 99% male customer base to have a limitless stream of conversational topics that would never have to veer towards emotion or child rearing.

I should add that the Evolution X was released at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year. Based on a whole new Lancer that looks every bit as confused and Japanese as the old one, it’s part Audi front grill, part Volvo C30 viewed from above, and part unresolved Japo-box everywhere else.

The FQ-360 is a curiously Anglo-Japanese creature. Japan is a right-hand-drive culture and so is the UK, while the UK also allows special single-vehicle-type approval for vehicles imported in small quantities, of which the Lancer is one.

The result, however, is that the car is not available in left-hand drive and is not approved for the EU.

Whether you buy one will depend on your self-perception and your wallet. The mainstream alternative is undoubtedly the latest Porsche 911 Turbo, offering the exact same 0-100 km sprint time of 3.9 seconds but for three times more money.

The Evolution comes from a company headquartered in Marunouchi, Japan, that makes scarcely any profits and remains almost completely baffling to Westerners. Like company, like car – the Lancer Evolution is an enigma, but also a cult.