Ex-McRae, Burns And Vatanen WRC Subaru Impreza Crossing The Auction Block (Probably Sideways)

Subaru’s new 2022 WRX doesn’t go by the Impreza name these days, but in spirit it’s every inch inspired by the WRC-winning rally Imprezas from the 1990s.

And now the very first Subaru Impreza to score points in the World Rally Championship is heading for auction where it’s expected to sell for a hefty €450,000-650,000 ($520-751k).

Chassis 93.004 finished in second place in the 1993 1000 Lakes Rally in Sweden with 1981 WRC champ Ari Vatanen behind the wheel, the first of many podiums for the Impreza, which would win the WRC series outright in 1995, 1996 and 1997.

And Vatanen wasn’t the only big name to slide into that carbon-fiber Sparco bucket seat and gun the 2.0-liter boxer motor hard. Richard Burns (whose Rally GB-winning Impreza sold for $831k/£610k in May) and ’95 WRC champion Colin McRae also took turns behind the wheel.

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McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer campaigned it in the 1994 Rally of Portugal, but were forced to retire when a damaged steering pipe caused the car to catch fire. Then Richard Burns and his sideman, Robbie Reid, took it to Indonesia and New Zealand for more WRC rounds, but they were forced to retire on both occasions.

So this isn’t the most successful WRC Impreza ever, but it’s one of the most important ones, and it did go on to achieve success later in life, scoring three consecutive victories in the Australian Rally Championship between 1996 and 1998. And perhaps surprisingly, given the hard life these cars led, it still has its original 1993 bodyshell and remains in Group A spec.

If you’ve got supercar money to burn and would rather spend it on a piece of Subaru WRC history driven by some of rally’s biggest stars, this Impreza is being auctioned by Artcurial in France on October 24.