The legacy Colin McRae and his gung-ho, no-holds-barred, seat-of-the-pants driving style forged cannot be downplayed. Virtually single-handedly, he made rallying a household sport in the 1990s, inspiring a generation. And he did so thrashing a blue and yellow Subaru Impreza.

While Subaru’s exquisite rollcall of drivers over the years – including Tommy Mäkinen, Juha Kankkunen, Petter Solberg and Richard Burns, to name but a few – led the marque to three Drivers’ and three Constructors’ World Championships, it’s the McRae period from 1997, when the new era of ‘World’ cars were introduced, which remains closest to our hearts.

When the World Rally Championship regulations drastically changed ahead of the 1997 season, putting an end to the Group A era, Subaru and its trusted technical partner Prodrive were well prepared. The two-door WRC97, which was styled by the renowned automotive designer Peter Stevens and built using the latest GC8 bodyshell, proved to be a tour de force. It clinched eight victories from 14 events to easily dominate the 1997 World Rally Championship and win the Constructors’ title by a staggering 24 points.

Today, these early ‘World’ Imprezas are brilliant and surprisingly accessible cars to own and use, not to mention significant pieces of history from a time when you didn’t need a laptop and a squadron of electricians and data scientists to start and run them. We’ve famously championed the ex-McRae Impresas, of which this car is among the most famous…

For the 1998 World Rally Championship, Prodrive made a number of modifications to the Impreza WRC97 using the knowledge gleaned from its 1997 campaign. The lion’s share of the engineers’ attention was the powertrain. The manifolds were reshaped to enhance the packaging of the engine bay, a new turbocharger was fitted boosting power and the anti-lag system – internally amusingly known as ‘push to crash’ – was refined to improve throttle response.

This white Impreza WRC98 was built by Prodrive for the Subaru Allstars team. Operated by Prodrive, Allstars was essentially a secondary Works Subaru team conceived for two main reasons. Firstly, it allowed privateer drivers to compete in the leading rally series around the world and earn points towards the constructors’ title. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it provided an arena in which Prodrive could train up-and-coming drivers for future factory first-team duties.

A full Works WRC98-specification example, this Impreza was registered under Prodrive’s name on 11 March 1999 and assigned the number ‘T291 BFC’. It was earmarked for Toshihiro Arai, the well-known Japanese driver who’d not long joined the Prodrive family – with a little financial assistance from Subaru Technica International and Endless brakes. The latter became the main sponsor of the car and indeed the title sponsor for the team. Sidenote: this was the very first time Endless’ brake pads were used in international rallying.

The punishing gravel special stages of Portugal are where this Subaru made its competitive debut

This car made its competitive debut in TAP Rallye de Portugal, round four of the 1999 World Rally Championship (WRC). Its FIA Gold Book, the log validating a car’s WRC competition history, was issued the day before the rally began in Porto. Satisfyingly, that original FIA Gold Book remains with ‘T291 BFC’ today. For his first rally in top-flight machinery, Arai was joined by Roger Freeman, the former British champion navigator who brought welcome experience to the cockpit. Despite showing early promise in the first special stages away from Porto and mixing in the overall top 20, Arai and Freeman were forced to retire with frustratingly minor damage after an off-road excursion.

This Subaru returned to Prodrive to be prepared to tarmac specification for its next outing: 1999 Rallye Catalunya. On this new hard surface, Arai had much to learn on the rally’s opening leg. Sheer grit prevailed: he and Freeman moved into the overall top 20 by leg three and, despite a two-minute time penalty on the final day, finished the rally in a commendable 21st position.

Arai finished a commendable 16th overall in the legendary Tour de Corse after a mature drive across the three legs 

The legendary Tour de Corse followed, Rallye de France on the mountainous island of Corsica. And having banked precious tarmac miles in Spain, Arai felt somewhat less anxious ahead of ‘The Rally of 1,000 Corners’. However, with a bumper entry comprising a wealth of factory entries across multiple categories, this was going to be the greatest challenge yet for the crew of ‘T291 BFC’. As Arai fought valiantly across all three days, so he was able to capitalise on a number of key retirements towards the sharp end of the grid. You know, names like Bruno Thiry and François Delecour… Arai and Freeman crossed the finishing ramp 16th overall.

The fourth and final round in Toshihiro Arai’s 1999 Allstars campaign was  the Acropolis Rally in Greece. And the best was yet to come. In spite of a drama-filled rally that tested both the mettle of Arai and the resolve of the Prodrive team, the Japanese driver was driving the best he ever had. On the second leg he scored his career-best special-stage finish of fifth overall. And on the following he day he one-upped himself, putting in the third-best time on SS16! Arai and Freeman finished ninth overall – a remarkably impressive feat given the Acropolis is arguably among the most challenging rallies on the calendar, with its stifling dust, punishing terrain and gruelling heat.

The gruelling Acropolis Rally in Greece was the final quasi-Works Subaru Allstars outing for 'T291 BFC' 

As per the Allstars plan, Toshihiro went on the become a fully-fledged factory Subaru World Rally Team driver, scoring his career-best WRC finish of fourth overall at Rally Cyprus in 2004. He also earned three Japanese Rally Championship titles and won two FIA Production Car World Rally Championships. Fittingly, the latter titles were won in Subarus.

‘T291 WRC’ was sold by Prodrive to a privateer outfit in the Czech Republic, which campaigned the car in the domestic championship in 2000. In the hands of Tomas Hrdinka, the Subaru finished 3rd overall, earning three victories throughout the year.  Partway through the 2001 season, ‘T291 BFC’ was part-exchanged at Prodrive for another newer World Rally Car and returned to Prodrive to be prepared for its next owner. In the years that followed, this Impreza WRC98 was campaigned sparingly in small domestic events in France and subsequently in Ireland. In keeping with the rallying tradition in Ireland, ‘T291 BFC’ was converted to right-hand drive.

Most recently, ‘T291 BFC’ was acquired by an English collector who commissioned the Oxfordshire-based competition Subaru specialist Autosportif Engineering to comprehensively restore this Impreza to its factory specification, both mechanically and cosmetically. Steve Goddard’s SGM Race Paint was charged with applying this Subaru’s signature shade of white – fitting, as it painted (and continues to paint) almost all of Prodrive’s competition cars. And the striking Subaru Allstars Endless Sport Tour de Corse livery was reapplied in perfect period-correct detail.

Retaining its period Prodrive UK registration, its FIA Gold Book and its original Prodrive seats, ‘T291 BFC’ is a top-flight rally car which was race by one of Japan’s most successful racing drivers Toshihiro Arai at the beginning of his successful rally career. This Subaru Impreza WRC98 is the perfect avenue into the fast-appreciating world of ‘World Rally’ cars, whether you want to enjoy it on the road or at any one of the number of prestigious events for which it’s eligible, including Rally Legend and the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

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