MODEL HISTORY
Just like the Legacy, the British Prodrive was developing the upcoming Impreza model. However, its introduction was far from simple. The order from Japan was clear: the Impreza would not debut until the Legacy secured a victory. Fortunately, in 1993, Colin McRae won Rally New Zealand, giving the Impreza the green light. It immediately made its debut at the following rally in Finland, where Ari Vatanen finished an impressive 2nd place overall. For the 1994 season, Subaru introduced a driver line-up consisting of Sainz and McRae. The Impreza’s first WRC victory came at the Acropolis Rally courtesy of the Sainz/Moya crew. At the end of the year, the pair finished 2nd overall behind Auriol. However, Possum Bourne managed to secure the title in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. The 1995 season started brilliantly for Subaru with a victory for Sainz at Monte Carlo. After FIA disqualified Toyota, Subaru swept the podium, taking the top three spots in Spain. Many will surely remember the famous clash between Sainz and McRae when Colin refused to obey team orders to let Sainz win his home rally. The team managers even went as far as stepping into McRae's path during the final stage in an attempt to slow him down. In the end, after a discussion with team boss David Richards, McRae deliberately took a penalty at a time control, handing the victory to Sainz. Piero Liatti completed the podium in 3rd place. The drivers' championship title came down to the final event, the RAC Rally in Great Britain. The lead changed hands several times during the first leg, with a pair of Mitsubishis leading the Subaru duo. However, by the end of the second day, Sainz was leading with McRae in 2nd. McRae stormed into the lead during the final stage of the third leg. He maintained his advantage through the final leg to secure his only World Rally Championship title. At 27 years old, he became the youngest world champion in history at the time—a record that stood until Kalle Rovanperä broke it in 2022. In the following 1996 season, Sainz moved to Ford, while McRae continued with Subaru. Subaru successfully defended the manufacturers' title and repeated their Asia-Pacific championship triumph with Kenneth Eriksson. In the drivers' standings, McRae finished runner-up after being beaten by Tommi Mäkinen in a Mitsubishi. For 1997, Subaru introduced their brand new WRC-spec car.
OUR CAR
Our car has chassis number 94-016. Carlos Sainz drove this exact vehicle in the 1994 Rally Finland, finishing 3rd overall. In 1995, Prodrive sold the car to Belgium, where it competed in a Crack livery. In the following years, it moved from this Belgian team to France, joining Cilti Motorsport. The car later surfaced in Spain, where it underwent a complete restoration; during this process, the original Subaru 555 blue paint was discovered beneath several layers of paint. The car has been part of the collection since 2018. We were visited by Paul Howarth, an expert on the history of Prodrive-built vehicles, who prepared a report confirming its origin.
