1996 Subaru Impreza Series McRae

This Series McRae is number 188 of 200 and is particularly notable for its miniscule mileage, rather neatly reading 11,111 miles on the day of our shoot. The Impreza was supplied new in July 1996 by Brandon Motors of Edinburgh. The original owner, a Mr Ali, appeared to retain the Series McRae up until 1999 when it was sold in a BCA Fleet and Finance Auction without a V5 registration document. The buyer at that point was a Subaru enthusiast and collector. No V5 was applied for at that stage, with the collector using it very sparingly (approximately 500 miles in 20 years). 

Upon the collector’s death the Subaru was entered into the 2019 Brooklands Motor Museum auction as a probate sale, still without a registration document. The Subaru was bought by the trade at that point who used Thursley Motors to fully recommission the Series McRae. A V5 registration document was obtained at this stage, accounting for the two previous keepers currently registered against the car. By this time the Subaru had been parted from its special edition plaque. Thursley Motors obtained written confirmation from Subaru that it was number 188 of 200 and the paperwork confirming that is on hand. 

Current owner Grahame acquired the Impreza in November 2020 to become the third registered keeper. The mileage at this stage was 9,720 miles. The Impreza was still on its original set of Pirelli P Zeros when Graham had the current Cinturatos fitted. He did retain the originals for posterity, however, and these are included in the sale. Graham also acquired a replacement special edition plaque via the Series McRae owners club. The club are authorised by Prodrive to issue replacement plaques following the appropriate due diligence. During his ownership Graham has added just a further 1,400 or so with the Impreza now ready and raring to make indelible motoring memories in the hands of its fourth lucky owner.  

 

McRae’s 1995 title winning car, L555BAT, was distinctively finished in Rally Blue mica and rode on gold finished wheels. The instantly recognisable yellow 555 livery would be substituted with yellow, banana-like curves in geographies that restricted tobacco advertising. The Series McRae cars aped this look, bar the sponsor’s branding of course. 

This example looks superbly presented courtesy of a full respray in 2020, just a few hundred miles ago. It looks to be a very professionally executed job, too. The finish is admirably smooth and appropriately thick and free from blemishes or imperfections. A high shine is evident throughout.

The Impreza benefits form a raft of sporting cues which take what was a fairly anonymous compact saloon and do enough, but not too much, to elevate it to sporting-superstar status. These adornments include a pair of bonnet mounted, slatted vents, the generous side-plate sized driving lamps and the generous boot lid spoiler. Then, of course, there are those special Series McRae decals on both wings and boot lid.

The 16-inch, eight-spoke Speedline Safari alloy wheels are finished in an anodized gold finish with the “speedline,” lowercase script picked out in relief. The condition of these appears every bit the equal of the bodywork and the Prodrive wheel centres being one of the only acknowledgements of the Banbury firm’s involvement. These are shod with the matching set of Pirelli P7 Cinturatos from 2020 and in a 205/50 configuration. 
 

Given the Impreza’s sensible family saloon heritage, the cabin is an unsurprisingly practical and durable environment for such an admired and esteemed performance car. The Prodrive treatment helped to nudge the ambiance over the threshold from “a bit bland” to “quite fun.” Much of this heavy lifting is done by the multi-coloured seat fabric with both “Recaro” and “Series McRae” embroidered into the front seat backs. These are also noted for their interesting, horizontal headrest infills. The rear bench is identically trimmed and in an equally fine condition.

The straightforward gauge set is familiar Impreza fare, consisting of white calibrations on a black faces combined with numerous warning lights and housed under a hooded binnacle. These sit behind an original, four spoke Subaru steering wheel. The centre console houses the original, Subaru branded, 4 x 30W radio cassette head unit. This sits above the all-important Series McRae enamel plaque, declaring this as number 188 of a mere 200 of this special edition.

The sight of the original radio cassette head unit helps to underline what a highly original car this is. Unmodified Imprezas of any vintage are hard to find indeed, with the interiors seeming to particularly suffer from the attentions of the modifiers. This one couldn’t be more stock and much the better and more desirable for it.

The practically sized boot is finished in hard wearing grey carpet and is home to the Panasonic CD changer and original space-saver spare wheel and original and untouched tool roll.

 

This, of course, is where the Impreza really shines courtesy of a technical specification wrought in the heat competition. Power is provided by the revered 1,994cc EJ20 Subaru four-cylinder boxer engine. With multi-point fuel injection, turbocharger and accompanying intercooler this modest capacity unit originally delivered 208bhp at 6,000rpm and 214 Ib-ft of torque at 4,000rpm. Whilst modest figures by today’s standards, these combined with permanent four-wheel drive and a featherweight 1,235kg kerb weight to endow the Subaru with compelling performance in all conditions. Originally quoted performance figures suggested a six second 0-60mph time and a 140mph plus top speed.

Under the louvred bonnet the recurring theme of astounding originality continues. The inner panels are straight, true and clean and the expected Fuji Heavy Industries data plate is present as expected. From a time before engine covers became de rigueur, the EJ20 is a nest of pipes and wires. There is some minor tarnishing noted to some of the alloy surfaces but this only to be expected for the age of the car and leaves potential for some improvement. The underside of the Impreza looks very straight and seemingly entirely consistent with the car’s decidedly modest mileage. 

As already detailed, the Impreza benefitted from a full mechanical recommissioning just hundreds of miles ago so is understood to be in an excellent mechanical order.
 

A concise but interesting paperwork archive helps to underscore that impression, too. This starts with the V5 registration document in the name of the current owner. The current, advisory free MoT is on hand in hard copy showing validity until July 2025. A number of earlier MoT hard copies are also present, helping to validate this car’s remarkable mileage history.

The original Subaru book pack is included. The original service booklet forms part of this and documents four earlier services and the original delivery details of the car. A number of invoices are included with the 2020 item from Fairmont Sports & Classics detailing the recommissioning. A hard-to-find copy of the original Series McRae sales brochure is also included.

 

The Subaru Impreza’s huge reputation has been earned primarily on gruelling rally stages the world over. This win on Sunday, sell on Monday ethos has helped to ensure that the Impreza remains a highly sought after and increasingly desirable hero car of iconic proportions. Some of the special edition cars are the most sought after, of course, with the numbers available immediately restricted. Of the 200 Series McRae cars, only around 110 are thought to still survive.

Most modern classics’ stock is determined by a small number of key factors. Factors like supply, originality, condition and mileage tend to top the hierarchy. This example of the Series McRae Impreza is hard to fault in any of these respects. Firstly, there is that 11,111 mileage. Remarkable! Then you have the 200 hard ceiling on supply, now much lower thanks to the passing of time. Both condition and originality are excellent with nothing detrimental to report. Sure to prove a highly desirable lot, with the JDM market seemingly buoyant, this is a car that should demand your urgent attention and bids.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £28,000 - £38,000.

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