Colin McRae’s 1994 Subaru Impreza 555 rally car goes to auction

UPDATE, 5 October: The 1994 Subaru Prodrive 555 Group A World Rally Championship car driven by the likes of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz has sold over the weekend for $500,000.

"This WRC car was a needle in a haystack, uncovered in a barn in Victoria, and was originally thought to have an estimated value of $15,000-$20,000," said Lloyds Auctions COO Lee Hames.

"The new custodians are motorsport enthusiasts and are looking forward to enjoying all the benefits of the car and honouring the vehicle."

It’s understood the buyers elected to pay for the Subaru with around 7.5 Bitcoins – following Lloyd’s decision to accept the cryptocurrency around three months ago.

It’s believed to be one of the highest prices paid for a rally car, but falls short of the amount paid for the 2000 Subaru Impreza S6 WRC rally car of Richard Burns and Robert Reid, which was sold by Collecting Cars for £610,000, or AU$1.14 million.

The story to here

14 September: An original 1994 Subaru Impreza WRX Group A rally car, driven by World Rally Championship-winner Colin McRae, is going across the auction block in Australia.

Lloyds Auctioneers is offering this Prodrive-built Impreza WRX, originally commissioned for rally champion Carlos Sainz when he moved to Subaru for the 1994 WRC season.

It was the first vehicle to wear the famous L555REP number plates, celebrating Repsol’s sponsorship of Sainz and Subaru.

Repsol’s personal sponsorship of Sainz forced the driver to leave Toyota after Castrol became the title sponsor of the team in 1993.

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The Subaru – known as chassis 94.006 – is believed to have been driven by Carlos Sainz at Monte Carlo in 1994, in which he took third place.

The Impreza took a number of stage wins during its career, and is currently in its number seven 555 livery as driven by McRae in the car’s final rally for Prodrive at Corsica in 1994, marked as a DNF.

McRae went on to win the World Rally Championship in another 555-liveried Subaru the following year.

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The second owner retired this particular vehicle in 1996, before its current owner took possession in 2013.

The vehicle is still fitted with its original 2.0-litre turbocharged ‘boxer’ engine, marked as ‘94 PD.01’, and a six-speed manual gearbox only allocated to the team’s top drivers.

“When we originally saw this car, it was a barn find with an estimated value of $15,000-$20,000. Today it’s had a wash and a check of its history, and it may well be worth more than $1 million,” Lloyds COO Lee Hames told WhichCar.

“This is one of the most important rally cars in history – its history is unmatched.”

The 1994 Subaru Impreza Prodrive 555 Group A car is currently being auctioned on the Lloyds website, found here under lot 555.