Chassis number 000/399 will go under the hammer this August, and is likely to become the most expensive road-going Impreza ever sold
What we have here is the ultimate example of the ultimate Impreza. As chassis designation ‘000’, it’s not one of the 399 Subaru Impreza 22B production cars – instead, it’s one of three pre-production prototypes, and this particular Scooby was delivered to none other than World Rally Champion Colin McRae in November 1998.
If you’re well-versed in WRC history, you’ll know that was around the time McRae left Subaru for Ford. The 22B was reserved for McRae as thanks for his service with the team, while the other two went to his co-driver Nicky Grist and the other to David Lapworth of Prodrive, which ran Subaru’s WRC team. It wasn’t a gift, though: according to Silverstone Auctions, McRae had to pay for his. He’s quoted as saying this “hurt as a Scotsman”.
He’ll have paid a whole lot less than this car is worth today, however. 22B auction results have been getting increasingly silly in recent years, but with such provenance, McRae’s prototype 22B is set to be by far the priciest of the lot, and thus the most expensive road-going Impreza ever. The auction estimate is £400,000 – £500,000, so it could end up costing even more than the eye-wateringly expensive Prodrive P25.
It’s the same spec as the 399 JDM cars rather than one of the 16 official UK cars, so you get a gauge cluster in kilometres, with a mere 12,000 of them (around 7,500) showing on the clock. Other differences include a 4.444 final drive ratio to improve acceleration, fog light covers and a lack of ‘Type-UK’ badges. It has a non-standard exhaust, but otherwise, it’s completely original.
Present and correct is the famed seam-welded two-door bodyshell with its blistered wheel arches, closely following the shape of Subaru’s Impreza WRC of the time. Under the bonnet is a 2.2-litre, bored-out version of the EJ20 turbocharged boxer four found in other hot Imprezas, designated ‘EJ22’. Other upgrades compared to lesser Imprezas included forged aluminium lower suspension links, and inverted dampers from Bilstein with Eibach springs.
McRae did, judging by comments he made in interviews about the car, drive the 22B pretty hard. It’s been well cared for, though, as documented in a comprehensive history file which “includes every invoice for parts, maintenance, and servicing” since the current owner bought the car in 2008.
If you happen to have the cash spare to put in a bid, or if – like most of us – you’re merely curious as to what it’ll sell for, the key date is 26 August, when the 22B will go under the hammer at the Classic Sale during Silverstone Festival 2023.
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