Just when you buy a Legacy rolling shell another Subaru comes up you can't say no too. I was actually on the hunt for a rusty Subaru i could take the running gear from, however this one has potentially too much going for it, it needs to be restored and loved to preserve part of the history of one of the most iconic British drivers of all time who piloted one of the most iconic rally cars of all time.
This might just look like a forgotten project and it is, but we think its not just any 1995 UK2000 Impreza. The car has been at a pals yard for some time after a friend and customer gave up on it. He was aware of its previous owners but hadn't gone out his way to prove it, which I will be. As you will see on the 01/01/96 the car was registered to Subaru UK, It has an MY95 chassis code. Now usually a car is registered to a dealer before its sold as new i believe. After Subaru UK this car was registered to McRae Motorsport. Now its miss spelt on the old document, however it is their address. This coincides with Colin winning the WRC title just before in 1995. We think this car was a gift from Subaru to McRae for winning the constructors title. The family seemed to have owned the car for around three years and the car was MOT'd at their most local station.
I'm lucky to have worked in the industry and for Prodrive briefly so i put the word out that i had bought the car and i have some great people with good connections trying to find out what the score is. Even if this car was used my the family to grab a newspaper from the shop on a Sunday thats good enough for me. My Dad owned a red UK2000 when Mcrae and Burns were ripping up the stages so i can't really describe how this project is going to make me feel.
Assuming that this car would have been factory spec when owned by the family our intention is to put it back to stock. Its and a lot of facelift parts fitted so we need to go back to original 95 spec. It also has a blown engine but thankfully ive teamed up with my mate to buy this and he builds Subarus and engines for a living.
The car had gone in for a load of work a couple of year back, briefly used and then the engine blew up due to injectors washing the bores. I'm hoping to restore the engine so we can have a matching numbers car. these pics are from when it was having work done. It had new brakes, polybushes and exhaust system as far as i can see.
Anyway I'm chomping at the bit to get confirmation this car was actually in the McRae family. And tbh if its not it can be sold in bits for how much we bought it for or i can transplant it into the 92 legacy instead.
This might just look like a forgotten project and it is, but we think its not just any 1995 UK2000 Impreza. The car has been at a pals yard for some time after a friend and customer gave up on it. He was aware of its previous owners but hadn't gone out his way to prove it, which I will be. As you will see on the 01/01/96 the car was registered to Subaru UK, It has an MY95 chassis code. Now usually a car is registered to a dealer before its sold as new i believe. After Subaru UK this car was registered to McRae Motorsport. Now its miss spelt on the old document, however it is their address. This coincides with Colin winning the WRC title just before in 1995. We think this car was a gift from Subaru to McRae for winning the constructors title. The family seemed to have owned the car for around three years and the car was MOT'd at their most local station.
I'm lucky to have worked in the industry and for Prodrive briefly so i put the word out that i had bought the car and i have some great people with good connections trying to find out what the score is. Even if this car was used my the family to grab a newspaper from the shop on a Sunday thats good enough for me. My Dad owned a red UK2000 when Mcrae and Burns were ripping up the stages so i can't really describe how this project is going to make me feel.
Assuming that this car would have been factory spec when owned by the family our intention is to put it back to stock. Its and a lot of facelift parts fitted so we need to go back to original 95 spec. It also has a blown engine but thankfully ive teamed up with my mate to buy this and he builds Subarus and engines for a living.
The car had gone in for a load of work a couple of year back, briefly used and then the engine blew up due to injectors washing the bores. I'm hoping to restore the engine so we can have a matching numbers car. these pics are from when it was having work done. It had new brakes, polybushes and exhaust system as far as i can see.
Anyway I'm chomping at the bit to get confirmation this car was actually in the McRae family. And tbh if its not it can be sold in bits for how much we bought it for or i can transplant it into the 92 legacy instead.