Raced by World Rally Champion, Petter Solberg in his Championship-winning year
2003 World Rally Championship competitor at the Monte Carlo Rally
Fully rebuilt ‘0 km’ engine, 20 km gearbox, and presented in its 2003 Monte Carlo Rally livery
Complete with its period Nokia 6210 phone and cradle
Subaru and the World Rally Championship
The Subaru World Rally
Team made its World Rally debut in 1989, during the Group A era. The first car
used to compete was the Legacy, finished in the iconic blue with gold wheels
and 555 livery. From the start, the English motorsport engineering company,
Prodrive, were employed to design, test, manufacture and run the Subaru World
Rally Team. Cars were built in England, with Prodrive sending its team of
engineers around the world to compete in the World Rally Championship.
Success followed, with
Subaru winning the 1995 and 1996 Constructors’ Championship, with famed
Scotsman, Colin McRae winning the 1995 World Rally Drivers’ Championship.
When the regulations
changed to WRC for the 1997 season, success was immediate, Pierro Liatti won
the opening round in Monte Carlo, followed by Kenneth Eriksson in Sweden and
Colin McRae in Kenya (whose winning car we currently own)! Subaru dominated,
winning eight of the fourteen rounds, claiming another World Rally
Constructors’ Championship wit the Impreza.
The cars developed
year after year, 1999 saw a new active Hewland rear differential and a larger
turbo with improved anti-lag. The H-pattern manual gearbox was also replaced
with a Prodrive hydraulically operated semi-automatic paddle shift setup. 2001
saw the introduction of the ‘new-age’ four-door body shell, with Richard Burns
winning the 2001 Drivers’ World Rally Championship aboard the new ‘bugeye’
Subaru.
For the 2003 season,
Subaru introduced the car seen here, often referred to as the ‘Blobeye’ single
headlamp body. Internally known as the S8, this Impreza WRC2003 also featured a
larger intercooler, and improved anti-lag booster. Petter Solberg made his
Subaru debut in 2000, winning his first World Rally at Wales Rally GB in 2002,
and was known as one of the most talented drivers in the world.
This 2003 Subaru Impreza WRC
The car offered here,
chassis PROGDA03004 was assembled at Prodrive in late 2002, being
road-registered in the UK in December. The car was assigned the registration
‘S40 WRT’, with which it is still UK registered today.
Prodrive documentation
on file shows this car was first tested at the MIRA (Motor Industry Research
Association) test track on the 14th January 2003. Even the weather
is noted, light rain then sunny with an ambient temperature of 9˚C. These
records show every aspect of the shakedown, with sections including the engine,
transmission, electrical and suspension. The mileage covered at MIRA is also
noted, along with a job list once the car returned to Prodrive headquarters. Documentation
such as this is so rare and important with these great cars, very rarely do we
see such detailed levels of documentation.
The Subaru World Rally
Team unveiled their latest challenger, the Impreza WRC2003 in Monte Carlo, on
the eve of round 1 of the 2003 World Rally Championship, the Rallye Automobile
de Monte-Carlo. Widely considered the most famous rally of them all, 2003 was
the 71st running of the Monte Carlo rally, with Petter Solberg and
co-driver Phil Mills assigned race number 7. Friday morning started well with
the pair immediately on the pace, running either second or third overall, until
retirement after a kiss with a guard rail.
Petter Solberg and the
Subaru Impreza WRC2003 went on to win the 2003 Drivers’ World Rally
Championship, a sign of just how competitive this car was.
Once its World Rally
Championship days were over, this WRC2003 returned to Prodrive before being
sold to its first private owner, Mike Oates in England. Over the next ten
years, PROGDA03004 competed around Europe and Barbados in various rallies,
changing hands along the journey with highlight results including eight event
victories in England and Barbados.
The car has always
been well maintained by specialist mechanics and race teams. Invoices on file
confirm engine and gearbox rebuild by Subaru specialists Autosportif
Engineering in 2016, since which the car has been used very little. Dom Buckley
Motorsport also maintained the car, again many invoices are available on file.
In late-2018, S40 WRT
returned to England and was handed over to rally and competition car
specialists, BGMSport. Run by Ian Gwynne who comes from a famed family in the
rallying world, BGM Sport has a huge experience working with World Rally cars,
with many members of the team having previously worked at Prodrive.
The car was stripped
to a bare shell, sand blasted and measured on a jig to ensure it matched the
original factory dimensions and specifications. Using many detailed period
images from the 2003 Monte Carlo Rally, S40 WRT was repainted in the iconic
blue, with various sections of the interior being correctly finished in matt white,
as per period. All components were meticulously cleaned, inspected, refurbished
and replaced where necessary. The engine was fully rebuilt and has covered 0
kms since being refitted to the car. The gearbox, which encases the centre and
front differentials, was also inspected and rebuilt, with new parts including
dog rings, hubs and drop gears and has covered 20 kms since rebuild. The rear
differential was inspected with the crown wheel, pinion and bearings found to
be in good condition, new hydraulic differential seals were also fitted. The
turbo was disassembled, inspected and a new wastegate and shaft fitted, with
the clutch also being rebuilt. The race livery was even recreated by the same
people who did it in period for Prodrive.
Now being offered
fresh from these works, and looking resplendent in its 2003 Monte Carlo rally
livery with gold wheels, this Subaru World Rally car offers the rare opportunity
for you to own one of the most iconic rally cars in history. Retaining its
semi-automatic paddle-actuated transmission, and UK V5 with the original
registration ‘S40 WRT’, this car is ready to hit the rally stage, or just as
easily be taken for a Sunday drive.
Who doesn’t
want to take their World Rally car to Sunday lunch? We’ll meet you there!
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