Every once in a while, a used race car pops up for sale on the internet. And we are not referring to “regular” vehicles driven in competitions by just any driver, but cars that were pushed to the limit and beyond by racing legends.
In this case, we are talking about a 1997 Subaru Impreza WRC driven by the legendary Colin McRae. The exhibit in question is now up for sale at Mohr Klassik GmbH in Boblingen, Germany.
The '97 Impreza WRC has chassis number 3 and made its first public appearance in January 1997, at that year’s Monte Carlo Rally, where it was raced by the famous McRae/Grist duo.
The 1997 year is important for WRC history, as it was the first season in which the FIA replaced the Group A class with a new formula, called World Rally Car. This Subaru Impreza WRC97 was a completely redesigned car, and delivered 300 HP at 5,500 rpm, in accordance with the FIA restrictions at the time.
The vehicle is ready to race and was used in many other rally events once the 555 Subaru World Rally Team replaced it with the revised Impreza WRC98. The latter was the last rally Impreza not to use steering-wheel-mounted paddles to shift gears.
Unfortunately, Colin McRae retired from the 1997 WRC event in Monte Carlo with this vehicle, so this unit will not carry the premium of a car which won the Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of a racing legend. However, the number four Impreza WRC won the 65th edition of the famous event, known for sudden weather and grip changes. Back then, Italian driver Piero Liatti won the race, followed by Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Finnish legend Tommi Makinen.
McRae would win the first WRC event of the 1997 season two months later, at the 45th Safari Rally Kenya. The Scottish driver was followed by Richard Burns, but managed to get a seven-minute lead on the other WRC star, whom the world lost too early. The 1997 season marked a second place finish for Colin McRae, at just a one-point difference from Tommi Makinen and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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