A few months back, we couldn’t help but start salivating at the thought of getting our hands on Colin McRae’s prototype Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B when we saw it was going up for auction.
By the look of it, punters at the Silverstone Festival were equally enthused, with the final price far exceeding expectations for McRae’s STI 22B prototype rally hero, after a 1997 P2 WRC set high expectations going to the auction block a few months earlier.
The hammer fell on the Rex in question with the final price standing at a staggering USD $606,042 – awfully close to the $1 million mark with its AUD price tag of $935,625 with today’s exchange rate.
Its heritage was two-fold, being one of just three pre-production 22B prototypes created ahead of the official production run that saw 421 units produced in total.
Of those 421 units, the lion’s share stayed in Subaru’s domestic market of Japan, with five making their way here to Australia and 16 heading over the ditch to the UK.
A clear sign of its barely-believable history comes in the form of the 000/400 build plaque installed on the centre console.
There’s also the fact that its previous owner wasn’t just your average Joe, but one of the most iconic rally drivers that sadly met his fate too early in a freak accident.
Subaru offered McRae the opportunity to buy the 22B after he scored a World Rally Championship driver’s title with Subaru and helped Subaru secure three consecutive WRC constructor titles.
