It’s impossible to think of Subaru’s historic motorsport achievements without Colin McRae. The two are inextricably linked forever thanks to that glorious stint in the '90s. Like Tom Kristensen in Audi sportscars, Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes F1 cars or Valentino Rossi on Yamaha motorbikes, Colin and an Impreza are one of motorsport’s dream team pairings. What happened before and what came after, certainly to a UK audience at least, pale in comparison.
McRae was Britain’s first World Rally Champion; only Richard Burns has equalled that feat in the 30 years since 1995. Without the distractions of today, motorsport was an ever bigger draw; touring car and rally car drivers were household names, championship wins front page news (back when people bought papers). From not long before being an obscure Japanese car maker, Subaru was flung into the mainstream thanks to McRae’s incredible exploits and the road car redefining what a 2.0-litre sports saloon should be capable of. So the special editions came thick and fast after 1995, and anything McRae-related and Subaru-shaped has been hugely covetable ever since.
This must be one of the most special McRae Subarus. Most will see his name alongside Nicky Grist’s on the door, indicating that, yes, this is a WRC Impreza rallied by the man himself. But more than that, this isn’t a tarmac-spec car, or a dirt-prepped machine, instead a Subaru Impreza rally car built for the unique demands of the Safari rally. Back when the Safari took in hundreds of miles of Kenya and really lived up to its reputation as the toughest rally on the calendar. So that meant a raised ride height, a carbon snorkel, a roof scoop and a 120-litre fuel tank for those long and gruelling days in the desert. Just two Imprezas were ever driven by McRae on the Safari; this is the later, 1998 car, his final year at Subaru.
Despite showing considerable pace, including four consecutive stage wins on day one, R7 WRC didn’t finish the rally as the oil boiled (!) in the extreme Kenyan heat. Which is quite the story to tell. If anything, though, the Impreza’s post-WRC career is even more interesting, having competed at RallyLegend in San Marino and featured at this year’s Festival of Speed with Colin’s nephew Max behind the wheel.
A two-year restoration was undertaken in 2017, with a lot of the special Safari details reinstated with some help from Prodrive like the wing-mirror spotlights. The more you look, the more you can see that this isn’t the usual Impreza rally car. Having recently had some chips tended to and the paint detailed, R7 WRC looks as good as it ever has. Perhaps better, in fact, and guaranteed to garner all sorts of affection whether on display or in the dirt.
It’s being sold by Girardo, who have rehomed the Impreza on a couple of occasions previously. They’re big fans of McRae-era Subarus, having previously featured them in Christmas videos (and sold the 1997 Safari car), adding that it’s an ‘exhilarating and remarkably accessible beast… to own and drive’. There’s even an MOT for it running until next July, if you really want to live the true rally car for the road life. Given the enthusiasm for all things '90s in the collectors market, to say nothing of the tangible motorsport history and McRae association, this probably isn’t the Impreza rally car for affordable thrills on the clubman rally calendar. But WRC heritage doesn’t come much more epic. And it could be the perfect thing for local bumpy B roads…
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