Mitsubishi Enters Outlander into 2021 Rebelle Rally

Back in 2018, Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) started a new campaign – “Small Batch – Big Impact”. The idea was simple. Mitsubishi Motors would produce a small number of every model in the lineup, say a handful. Each unit, instead of being sold, is donated in some way to the community or a group within the community to enrich the lives of others. Mitsubishi recently donated an Outlander PHEV to the Charis Health Center in Tennessee, following many other vehicle donations to charities such as the Las Vegas-based Goodie Two Shoes Foundation. It’s all a part of MMNA’s Community Utility Vehicle (CUV) Program, and this kindness continues with the 2021 Rebelle Rally.

The name may be familiar. After all, the Rebelle Rally is the first all-women’s off-road rally and the longest competition of its kind in the lower 48 states. A 2000-kilometer race of off-road navigation in the United States, with the race spanning from Lake Tahoe to San Diego, the Rebelle Rally has been taking place annually. The 2020 pandemic couldn’t stop it, and for the last three years (2021 included), MMNA has gotten involved with a competing team, Team Record the Journey, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans process their military and combat experiences and successfully transition to civilian life.

Not only has MMNA donated a modified Eclipse Cross in 2019 to be driven by seven-year U.S. Air Force veteran Karah Behrend who lost mobility of her lower extremities due to a degenerative neurological disease. She was joined by Record the Journey charity founder and team navigator Rachael Ridenour, a U.S. Army combat veteran with 31 years of service, and together they raced Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross in the 2019 Rebelle Rally. Afterwards, MMNA donated the modified vehicle to Record the Journey for keeps, now named “Rosie the Riveter”. This was the first act of the MMNA CUV Program.

In 2020, the Rebelle Rally expanded its horizons and decided to open another version of the race, this time letting hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles compete. Of course, Mitsubishi took this as a chance to show off what the Outlander PHEV can do. Again, founder and navigator Sergeant Major Rachael Ridenour was navigating the race while driver, Master Sergeant Kristie Levy, a 25-year U.S. Army combat veteran and current federal law enforcement officer, got behind the wheel. Not only this, but these ladies landed in the winner’s circle with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in the 2020 Rebelle Rally.

This year, Mitsubishi will be entering the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander into the Rebelle Rally, taking place in October 7-16 2021. For the 2021 race, the Outlander has been painted with a special look to pay a tribute to a history-making Dakar Rally win made twenty years ago, when Jutta Kleinschmidt drove a Mitsubishi Pajero to victory in 2001. She became the only woman ever to win the world-famous Dakar Rally. In addition to the commemoration for the 20th anniversary of Kleinschmidt’s win, MMNA is also celebrating the brand’s 40th anniversary in the United States. This will be the third-consecutive year MMNA also partners with military veterans charity Record the Journey.

Want to check out the new Mitsubishi Outlander? Find out what it can do when you come to University Mitsubishi.

Photo Source/Copyright: Mitsubishi Media