After a year off as part of its biennial schedule, the Japan Mobility Show returned this week at the Tokyo Big Sight. Amid the concept cars and historic vehicles on display were three from the rally raid world.

Both Team Mitsubishi Ralliart had both the old days and today represented as they brought Patrick Zaniroli’s 1985 Dakar Rally-winning Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution and Chayapon Yotha’s Mitsubishi Triton that won the Asia Cross Country Rally in August. HINO Motors, who also ran a booth to discuss the company’s new releases, had the HINO 500 that Yoshimasa Sugawara drove in his 36th and final Dakar in 2019.

The Pajero was the result of a week-long rebuild by Ralliart, which included overhauling the engine, gearbox, and suspension while mostly doing touch-ups on the exterior. While the team says it’s been restored to how it looked when Zaniroli crossed the finish line in Dakar, eagle-eyed fans might notice it doesn’t have the Samsonite decals that Zaniroli and Jean da Silva affixed behind the window for each of their four stage wins.

After a disappointing 2024 AXCR, Ralliart went back to the drawing board and created a new Triton for 2025 that is shorter but has more torque and power. Although Yotha didn’t win any stages, he held off defending winner Mana Pornsiricherd of Toyota to score his second AXCR victory.

Yotha autographed the Triton’s steering wheel before it was shipped off to Japan. The Triton is expected to stay in Japan and be put in a museum there following the JMS rather than returning to Thailand. Still, Yotha hopes to see it again when he gets to visit.

Sugawara retired from the 2019 Dakar with the HINO 500, which had been used by HINO Motors since 2010. It has since been replaced by the HINO 600 driven by his son Teruhito. The older Sugawara, now 84 years old, still races today in the Africa Eco Race and was in Tokyo for JMS.

Featured image credit: Yoshimasa Sugawara