1999 Impreza Turbo 2000 (aka ventures into financial ruin)
Discussion
(Long time lurker and that because I signed up, lost my password, then had nothing interesting to post. I still don't, but welcome anyway! This might be a long one so sit comfortably)
Here it is then, a culmination of growing up in the Gran Turismo age, some helpful nudging from the girlfriend's colleague and a reasonable pinch of optimism. My 1999 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000:
Lack of non-potato camera and decent weather means these are taken straight from the ebay advert, but you get the jist.
What's the story then? Well, without this turning into a Michael Aspel special (it would be unremarkable), due to various moves and a house purchase, I had been without a car for a couple of years with use of a 1.25 fiesta (zetec, no less!). Not that I'm knocking it (in case her indoors is reading, hi!) but a mighty 75bhp wasn't always inspiring...
An impreza of some sort had always been on my list and my first saviour came in the form, oddly, of a colleague of the better half who has a very loud, very much rally stickered blob eye. After giving her indoors a lift in it one day, the words every man wants to hear were heard when asking how the lift was: "yeah, pretty good that, you can have one if you want". Interesting...
Then we bought a house.
Long story short, one day out of the blue her indoors forwards me a link from said colleague for a reasonably priced RB5 that needs going fast. Hello, I think, what have we here? After much back and forth, a deal is done (with she who must be obeyed, otherwise this thread would be about an RB5) and an offer made towards said RB5. It falls through, as does the next classic I express an interest in. And the next one. Although that was modified to a silly amount, so probably best. Then all goes quiet.
One casual afternoon at work, this one pops up (see, we're getting there). Enquiries are made, seems genuine and then the seller mentions "yeah had a full restore, I'll send some pics". Turns out all the rot (boot floor, rear arches, sills and rear turrets) had been replaced in early 2018 with pictures to prove it. Well, there are pics of the turrets being replaced and the paintwork, plus of a massssssive hole in one of the sills. This is accompanied by a second folder of service history, showing it has been fed a diet of the finest parts throughout its life and receipts for all. Including the alloy wheel nuts. There's also mention of a mysterious 'full mechanical refresh' which despite having zero evidence, instantly means a winner in my mind. Did I mention it's on 166,000 miles at this point?
Bravely, a deal is struck and the following Friday I jump on a 3 1/2 hour train to collect. At this point, you're probably thinking the penny must have dropped, surely he's realised this is a bad idea yet onwards I charge. I arrive and.... actually it looks pretty good! Paintwork is very tidy (yes, I know the photos make the bonnet look a different colour, it's not) and all seems to be in order. Quick nosy doesn't reveal anything alarming. It's also cold (the car) so first start will reveal any gremlins.
There are none. The usual subaru crank-and-a-half and it coughs into life, immediately I can think of nothing other than that burble from the exhaust, which has been tastefully enhanced at some point in its life. Pulling myself back to reality, it's good. No sign of piston slap or knocking from the big end. Quick test drive fails to reveal any hidden nasties and reveals that despite it's age and mileage, all 217 odd horsepower appear to be present and in good health at that.
Now just to get it home, simple matter of 4 1/2 hours (as it turned out) from Surrey to South Wales. £60 of VPower in the tank, we hit the A roads and the grin that's been plastered onto my face since the test drive remains. Seriously, people must have been thinking what's up with that guy, but I couldn't help it. Still happens actually.
A roads reveal the handling to be excellent and threading it along at a lick is a pleasure I just don't think many other cars can match. Willing to try others if you think you have a better one mind
Soon, a realisation that my 10+ years of clean licence could come to a very swift end means it's time to calm down and enjoy getting it home. It does pull well this thing.
The rest of the journey goes pretty uneventfully. A couple of bits of traffic reveal that it's not the most happy grumbling along in start stop traffic, a fact that's probably not helped much by the very responsive throttle. Going from a fiesta which needs around 1/3 of the travel to get the revs to move, to this took some adjusting. Proper 'flex your big toe' stuff, lovely!
It's at this point another realisation dawns on me. This is a pretty much unknown, 20 year old car that's been driven fairly hard for a couple of hours and is now sat stationary. Nervously, I glance at the temperature needle. It's not moved. Now unable to take both eyes off the temp gauge (good skill for fighter pilots that) I creep along in traffic, anxiously looking for the hard shoulder and ready to put the heating on full. At some point I put it on anyway, but the additional sweating wasn't helping matters. Eventually, things get moving again, my heart rate drops back into double digits and bar a window down blast through the tunnels (mmmm.....) we make it back.
Anyway, that's part one what could be a rambly series or just this post. Part two involves leather and knobs, plus a continually over-optimistic attitude (seriously, there's water in the boot)
Here it is then, a culmination of growing up in the Gran Turismo age, some helpful nudging from the girlfriend's colleague and a reasonable pinch of optimism. My 1999 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000:
Lack of non-potato camera and decent weather means these are taken straight from the ebay advert, but you get the jist.
What's the story then? Well, without this turning into a Michael Aspel special (it would be unremarkable), due to various moves and a house purchase, I had been without a car for a couple of years with use of a 1.25 fiesta (zetec, no less!). Not that I'm knocking it (in case her indoors is reading, hi!) but a mighty 75bhp wasn't always inspiring...
An impreza of some sort had always been on my list and my first saviour came in the form, oddly, of a colleague of the better half who has a very loud, very much rally stickered blob eye. After giving her indoors a lift in it one day, the words every man wants to hear were heard when asking how the lift was: "yeah, pretty good that, you can have one if you want". Interesting...
Then we bought a house.
Long story short, one day out of the blue her indoors forwards me a link from said colleague for a reasonably priced RB5 that needs going fast. Hello, I think, what have we here? After much back and forth, a deal is done (with she who must be obeyed, otherwise this thread would be about an RB5) and an offer made towards said RB5. It falls through, as does the next classic I express an interest in. And the next one. Although that was modified to a silly amount, so probably best. Then all goes quiet.
One casual afternoon at work, this one pops up (see, we're getting there). Enquiries are made, seems genuine and then the seller mentions "yeah had a full restore, I'll send some pics". Turns out all the rot (boot floor, rear arches, sills and rear turrets) had been replaced in early 2018 with pictures to prove it. Well, there are pics of the turrets being replaced and the paintwork, plus of a massssssive hole in one of the sills. This is accompanied by a second folder of service history, showing it has been fed a diet of the finest parts throughout its life and receipts for all. Including the alloy wheel nuts. There's also mention of a mysterious 'full mechanical refresh' which despite having zero evidence, instantly means a winner in my mind. Did I mention it's on 166,000 miles at this point?
Bravely, a deal is struck and the following Friday I jump on a 3 1/2 hour train to collect. At this point, you're probably thinking the penny must have dropped, surely he's realised this is a bad idea yet onwards I charge. I arrive and.... actually it looks pretty good! Paintwork is very tidy (yes, I know the photos make the bonnet look a different colour, it's not) and all seems to be in order. Quick nosy doesn't reveal anything alarming. It's also cold (the car) so first start will reveal any gremlins.
There are none. The usual subaru crank-and-a-half and it coughs into life, immediately I can think of nothing other than that burble from the exhaust, which has been tastefully enhanced at some point in its life. Pulling myself back to reality, it's good. No sign of piston slap or knocking from the big end. Quick test drive fails to reveal any hidden nasties and reveals that despite it's age and mileage, all 217 odd horsepower appear to be present and in good health at that.
Now just to get it home, simple matter of 4 1/2 hours (as it turned out) from Surrey to South Wales. £60 of VPower in the tank, we hit the A roads and the grin that's been plastered onto my face since the test drive remains. Seriously, people must have been thinking what's up with that guy, but I couldn't help it. Still happens actually.
A roads reveal the handling to be excellent and threading it along at a lick is a pleasure I just don't think many other cars can match. Willing to try others if you think you have a better one mind
Soon, a realisation that my 10+ years of clean licence could come to a very swift end means it's time to calm down and enjoy getting it home. It does pull well this thing.The rest of the journey goes pretty uneventfully. A couple of bits of traffic reveal that it's not the most happy grumbling along in start stop traffic, a fact that's probably not helped much by the very responsive throttle. Going from a fiesta which needs around 1/3 of the travel to get the revs to move, to this took some adjusting. Proper 'flex your big toe' stuff, lovely!
It's at this point another realisation dawns on me. This is a pretty much unknown, 20 year old car that's been driven fairly hard for a couple of hours and is now sat stationary. Nervously, I glance at the temperature needle. It's not moved. Now unable to take both eyes off the temp gauge (good skill for fighter pilots that) I creep along in traffic, anxiously looking for the hard shoulder and ready to put the heating on full. At some point I put it on anyway, but the additional sweating wasn't helping matters. Eventually, things get moving again, my heart rate drops back into double digits and bar a window down blast through the tunnels (mmmm.....) we make it back.
Anyway, that's part one what could be a rambly series or just this post. Part two involves leather and knobs, plus a continually over-optimistic attitude (seriously, there's water in the boot)
Thanks all, good to see they're still popular! I was originally looking at a newage but once I started looking at classics, there's just something about them...
Rossub/Cheesesliceking - thanks, suspect you're both correct. Living in tropical Wales I should really follow that up soon...
Can only imagine just how insane they must have seemed back when they were released. I may get it on some rollers before too long. Seems like the most sensible next step given it's current mileage and apparent originality of the engine!
aaron_2000 said:
Been watching this one on eBay for a while. I love the Speedline ST2's on silver. I thought the price was a bit strong for the miles, but you'd probably end up spending it doing all the work yourself anyway. Nice buy
Thanks! I've heard from a few people who looked at it or were watching it. Price I paid in the end was reasonable enough (I think anyway!). I looked at a couple that were around the £5k mark but with no evidence of any work being done and being sold by owners who refused to believe that there was a possibility, just maybe, that it might be full of rust... Xcore said:
My classic wrx’s where probably my favourite cars I have owned! Finding a decent one for reasonable money is a big challenge these days
Yep! Also finding something standard(ish). Which is strange considering the numbers they built but a lot are in the great scrapyard in the sky. Absolute bargain compared to Evos of the same vintage, although I don't know much about these, assume they are a bit more 'rally'?!Rossub/Cheesesliceking - thanks, suspect you're both correct. Living in tropical Wales I should really follow that up soon...
cheddar said:
- snip* still quick today, bombastic back then.
Can only imagine just how insane they must have seemed back when they were released. I may get it on some rollers before too long. Seems like the most sensible next step given it's current mileage and apparent originality of the engine!
Cracking thing. I had a Turbo 2000 wagon from 2008 to 2011 and it remains my favourite car. With an aftermarket panel filter and a freer exhaust (Hayward and Scott) it sounded great, without being antisocial and ended up dynoing at 231.
Mine died from rust around the windscreen after the last years were spent in Aberdeen. Shame. Would love another.
Mine died from rust around the windscreen after the last years were spent in Aberdeen. Shame. Would love another.
Smitters said:
Cracking thing. I had a Turbo 2000 wagon from 2008 to 2011 and it remains my favourite car. With an aftermarket panel filter and a freer exhaust (Hayward and Scott) it sounded great, without being antisocial and ended up dynoing at 231.
Mine died from rust around the windscreen after the last years were spent in Aberdeen. Shame. Would love another.
I had an S reg Turbo wagon in the Aberdeen area, dark blue with gold wheels, obviously. Must have sold it around 2003/4, as our daughter had arrived and despite it coping with all the baby paraphernalia and a black lab, we wanted something more sedate for family life. Definitely up there among the best cars I've owned, would love another stashed away.Mine died from rust around the windscreen after the last years were spent in Aberdeen. Shame. Would love another.
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