The car world is filled with all kinds of special vehicles, from classics to concepts. Rally cars are some of the most impressive when it comes to speed and performance, with Prodrive having built some of the most successful competition vehicles. The Banbury-based company is known for being associated with Subaru and Aston Martin racing. Prodrive have built some beautiful rally cars over the years and here are five of the most striking.
Porsche 911 SC RS
Prodrive’s first car was the 1984 Porsche 911 SC RS, which was designed for speed. The engine originated from the 911 SC and Al Hajri drove the car during the 1984 Qatar Rally. Hajri not only won the event but the 911 propelled him to the overall Middle East Rally Championship. The car was also used in 1985 by Billy Coleman, who won the Irish Rally Championship.
With a memorable white and blue paint job, the Prodrive Porsche 911 became the first of many successes for the company.
Legacy RS
The beneficial relationship between Prodrive and Subaru started with the creation of the Legacy RS in 1990. It came with pink, blue, white and green livery, making it stand out on the track. The Subaru Legacy RS can be considered one of the greatest rally cars of all time because of its performance.
It took several British Rally Championships, driven by Colin McRae. The Legacy also won the 1993 Rally of New Zealand, further adding to its credentials.
Impreza 555
Prodrive’s Group A Impreza is iconic because of its reputation as Colin McRae’s company car. He raced it to victory in the 1996 Catalunya Rally and also finished second in the drivers’ championship. The Impreza’s distinctive blue and yellow livery gave it a classic appearance that continued to be used even after the sponsorship deal with the Japanese cigarette brand 555 ended.
Ford Mondeo Super Tourer
Ford entrusted Prodrive to build a car that could compete successfully in the British Touring Car Championship. Engineers George Howard-Chappell and David Lapworth used a stripped out Mondeo road car shell to develop an advanced machine. Coming with a V6 engine based on the production Duratec engine found in the Mondeo ST. In 2000, the car won the BTCC title.
By Liz Jones from Sheffield, UK (a tribute to Colin Mcrae) [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
