Subaru Impreza P8 WRC By Porter Press

June 1, 2024

The iconic factory blue and yellow Subaru Imprezas that challenged for honours in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 2005 have transcended rallying. The Prodrive-developed and run cars took three consecutive manufacturers’ titles and were the mounts of Britain’s only two World Rally Champions, Colin McRae and Richard Burns, as well as Norwegian Champion, Petter Solberg. There were many notable victories for the Imprezas, but perhaps the one that stands out is McRae’s win in the 1997 Safari Rally.

It was a victory achieved against the odds, as it was thought that the all-out temperament of the Scotsman was ill-suited to the demands of the event, which traditionally demanded guile and patience. Yet win McRae did and in emphatic style, navigated by Nicky Grist.

The Impreza that McRae drove in Kenya was registered P8 WRC. It was the car’s debut event, and it would only ever be used twice more by the factory, in Argentina, where Colin would finish second and in Indonesia, where he dominated before crashing out. P8 WRC would pass into private hands after the 1997 season and continued to compete in national and local rallies for many years, albeit with extensive changes to its original Safari configuration.

This book tells the story of P8 WRC, from the dust and heat of Kenya to an extensive
restoration by Prodrive to its original Safari specification, which was completed in 2023.

Story Highlights

The design and development of the rallying Impreza.
The background and history of the Safari rally.
The story of Prodrive – the team behind the car.
The full story of the 1997 Safari rally, plus Indonesia and Argentina.
Biographies of Colin McRae, Nicky Grist, and members of the McRae rallying dynasty who have demonstrated the car in recent years.
Brief profiles of P8 WRC’s rival cars and drivers from 1997.
P8 WRC’s privateer European rallying career in Italy and Hungary, including drives by Ivan Capelli and Markku Alén.
The later years of Subaru Impreza rallying, from 1998 to 2008.
A detailed, illustrated description of the car’s restoration.
Interviews with the McRae family, Nicky Grist and key members of the Prodrive team who originally ran P8 WRC and carried out the restoration.
Over 350 colour photographs, documents and technical drawings detailing the car’s period rallying career, demonstration appearances and restoration, plus a portfolio of specially commissioned photography.