Rallied in the 2000 World Rally Championship
The most original and unmolested Subaru Impreza WRC99
Only ever maintained by Prodrive and BGMSport
Accompanied by its original FIA Gold Book Technical Passport
Subaru
and the World Rally Championship
Subaru is one of the most successful and iconic brands to
have competed in the World Rally Championship, winning three consecutive
Constructors’ World Championships from 1995 through to 1997, along with the
1995, 2001 and 2003 Drivers World Championships. Forty-seven World Rally
Victories were scored by the Subaru World Rally Team, with drivers including
World Rally Champions Colin McRae, Tommi Makkinen, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos
Sainz, Petter Solberg, Markku Alen and Richard Burns.
World Rally regulations changed in 1997, with a new era of
cars being introduced. Subaru and Prodrive entered the Impreza, now in two-door
specification using the latest GC8 body shell. The 555 Subaru World Rally Team
dominated the 1997 World Rally Championship, claiming eight World Rally
victories from fourteen events, and winning the Constructors’ Championship by
twenty-four points over the Ford Motor Co, and Team Mitsubishi Ralliart.
For the 1998 World Rally Championship, Subaru and Prodrive
developed the already reliable and competent Impreza, unveiling the WRC98 at
the opening round, the Monte Carlo Rally in January. Over the season, Colin
McRae claimed three victories in his Impreza WRC98 to finish third overall in
the Drivers Championship, with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team finishing third
in the Constructors’ Championship.
1999 saw further development and refinement of the Impreza,
now fitted with a new active Hewland rear differential and new, larger IHI RX6
turbo charger with anti-lag. Over the fourteen-round World Rally Championship,
Subaru and Prodrive claimed victory in five rounds, missing out on the
Constructors’ World Rally Championship by four points!
Over the course of its life in the World Rally Championship
with the works 555 Subaru World Rally Team, the Impreza scored an impressive
forty-six victories and one hundred and twenty-two podium finishes in one
hundred and ninety-three World Rallies, claiming six World Rally Championships
in the process!
This Subaru Impreza World Rally Car
The 1999
Subaru Impreza WRC99 being offered here, chassis PRO GC8-99.014 was built in
late 1999 by Prodrive. Frederic Dor was a wealthy and enthusiastic rally
driver, having previously competed in Prodrive-built BMW M3 E30’s, before
getting behind the wheel of several Prodrive-built Subaru Impreza’s in the
World Rally Championship. Dor was a very successful businessman, allowing him
to finance competing with the very latest works-specification World Rally Cars,
being maintained and run by the Prodrive Subaru World Rally Team. Dors passion
was competition, even paying a higher price to compete in a completely plain
white works specification Subaru WRC99! For Dor, there was no financial
restriction to his World Rallying.
Prodrive built this Subaru Impreza WRC99 alongside its blue works cars
at its Banbury headquarters in late 1999, with this car being first registered
in December 1999 to Prodrive. The car was assigned English registration number
‘V863 TWL’, which it retains to this day.
The first event this Impreza entered was the 2000 TAP Rally de Portugal,
round four of the 2000 World Rally Championship, being driven by Frederic Dor,
with Didier Breton as co-driver. Wearing race number 24, the pair completed the
twenty-three gravel stages to finish 19th overall.
The second World Rally this car entered was the 2000 Rally Argentina in
May, with Dor accompanied by Englishman Kevin Gormley. After nearly
four-hundred kilometres of gravel stages, Dor and Gormley finished 14th
overall.
A month later and Dor was reunited with Breton to compete in the
Acropolis Rally, round seven of the 2000 World Rally Championship. This was to
be the best result in the World Rally Championship for this Subaru Impreza
WRC99, with a sixth-place finish on stage fifteen, Dor finished in 8th
position overall, even beating the works-entered Peugeot 206 WRC of Francois
Delecour.
In August 2000, the World Rally Championship headed to Finland for round
nine of the championship, with Frederic Dor again partnered by Didier Breton in
this Impreza WRC99. The pair finished 34th overall. Round ten of the
2000 World Rally Championship was the Cyprus Rally, with Dor and this WRC99
retiring on stage ten with mechanical issues.
Dor also used this car in six rounds of the 2000 French Gravel
Championship, where he finished on the podium every time, claiming second
overall in the championship! In 2001, Frederic Dor entered this Impreza WRC99
in the Rim of the World Rally in California, before retiring it from competition.
Once its
competition days were over, this WRC99 was stored by Frederic Dor, alongside several
of his other World Rally Cars, where it remained unused and unmolested for
nearly fifteen years. Regularly, once rally cars end their competition life
with a works factory team they are sold to amateurs or lower-tier teams and
drivers, often resulting in poor or incorrect maintenance, and even damage.
This is the most important detail with this WRC99, it has remained in the
custody of one man until 2015, having been cared for and maintained only by the
works Subaru team, Prodrive.
In December
2015, Frederic Dor was convinced, after years of pleading, to sell the car to Steve
Rimmer, a huge rally car enthusiast and collector. During this ownership, the
car has been maintained by rally and competition car specialists, BGMsport in
England. Over these following four years, the car has been maintained in fully
operational condition, and stored alongside Rimmers expansive and diverse collection
of historically significant rally cars.
Today, the
originality of this Impreza WRC99 is unmatched, with Ian Gwynne of BGMsport
commenting “This is without doubt the most original, and unmolested 1999 Subaru
Impreza World Rally car I have ever seen, there is nothing else like it.” This
car even retains its original radio marked ‘Frederic Dor’, seat cushions marked
‘FD 99 CAR’, 2001 UK tax disc attached to the front roll bar, co-drivers tool
kit notes attached to the inside of the roof, USA paperwork from the 2001 rally in California
wrapped around the rear roll bar, spare wheel, warning triangle, ratchet and
socket, first aid kit and even its original tow rope!
Maintained without financial limitation throughout its competition and all subsequent years, this Subaru Impreza WRC99 offers the next custodian the most original and correct experience of what a Prodrive-built 1999 Subaru World Rally Car actually was. If originality is important to you, this is the World Rally Car you’ve always been looking for!
Want more details on this car?
Our passion, knowledge and expertise gained from over 40 years of experience offers you a subjective opinion when considering either the sale, or purchase of a car potentially costing millions of pounds.
We are a dynamic, young, friendly team, focused on ensuring our clients always receive the unrivalled service they have come accustomed to from the Girardo & Co. team.
Consign your car