1997 Subaru World Rally Car with Colin McRae connection hits the market

A 1997 Subaru Impreza World Rally Car is being offered for sale, with links to one of the sport's most beloved drivers.

Scottish rallying ace Colin McRae debuted the Subaru 'WRC97' alongside co-driver Nicky Grist at the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally – ushering in a new era of World Rally Championship (WRC) regulations.

But in the first event, McRae was caught out on an icy corner and slid the Impreza into a tree, damaging the vehicle and causing their pair to retire from the event.

While McRae's teammate Piero Latti claimed victory at the event in the ‘P3 WRC’ car, Prodrive – the British outfit responsible for designing and building the iconic rally car – transferred the ‘P2 WRC’ registration off McRae's broken car to a new right-hand-drive Subaru chassis, before putting it up for sale.

This car – which has been used by privateer teams in competition since the car was sold by Prodrive – is now up for sale again, with its current owner purchasing the car 18 years ago.

Despite not having the original chassis, the vehicle is recognised as being the first two-door Subaru Impreza campaigned by McRae in the WRC – an iconic car and driver combination that spawned multiple video games, as well as the most desirable road-going model from the marque: the 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B.

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Exactly 25 years after Latti’s Monte Carlo victory in the sister car, Prodrive unveiled the P25 – a limited-edition road-going version of the famous vehicle.

Pricing hasn’t been listed for ‘P2 WRC’, but in 2017 the first WRC97 chassis built by Prodrive sold at auction for £230,625 – or just shy of $AU400,000 at today’s exchange rate.

The 1997 Subaru Impreza World Rally Car is being advertised privately on Motorsport Auctions, and can be viewed by clicking here.