So, I drove from Northumberland to Guildford and back last week. A total of over 700 miles over 2 days using the A686, M6, M6 Toll, M42, M40, A34, A339, M3, A31 and A3. In total, I saw ONE other Impreza, which was glanced coming the other way down the A34 dual carriageway. Obviously, our cars aren't motorway/A road cruisers but it struck me just how few there are around on the roads these days. Unless I'm just not driving in the right areas?

 

common as muck over here

 

I am the only one in my village to have one so mine is pretty rare.

 

Maybe it's because people stopped buying them in 2007 when the abortion of the hatch was released.
The other 90% were bought by sioc with their benefits and ruined then sold when they realised the do 20 mpg.
So that only leaves 10% owned by sensible people.

 

will the blobeye sti become a rare car then down the line?? will the classics become a collectors car?? i know its a sort after car...will it go the way of the saff cossies??

 

I managed just on 30mpg at times on the run. About a third of that on the cross-Pennine A and B roads like this one

 

A degree of rarity is good I guess. However, once cars get too rare, all the parts and consumables start to get expensive and harder to find too

 

yeah i completely agree...it would be interesting to know the cost of a rebuild for a sierra cossie 10 years ago compared to now

 

The Bug STI would be the rarer of the two due too less production and many were broken a few years ago when they were worth more in bits.

 

We is well exclusive innit!

 

Still are Jay to be honest. Know a lot of people who have sold their to be broken as it's worth more than selling the whole car privately. Such a shame.

 

are they more sort after than the blob though??

 

Bug STi's are nicer than Blobs aged far better

 

It doesn't help that anything below the Widetrack pricepoint is being broken for parts nowadays, even mint looking cars.

It does mean though that spares are plenty!

 

Still plenty around over here. At least 4 of 'em.


But it's not rarity that makes a classic, it's following and demand.


Look at Porsche, for example. A high percentage of all Porsches ever made are still on the road. Tons of them. But such is the reputation and demand that after 10 years or so they stop depreciating and start heading for silly money.


Fortunately, virtually all older Imprezas have just arrived at the point where (so long as you don't skimp on the maintenance) you ought to get back exactly what you paid if/when you come to sell on.


This is good.

 

i do think the blobs will demand a premium in 5 - 10 years...what is concerning for the blob owners is the amount of blob sti's,spec c's etc getting imported...not as much as the bugs but plenty of blobs

 

Not seen a type r locally for ages

 

+1 for the bugeyes I haven't seen a black prodrive sti 4 ages

 

I'm guilty of breaking the Bug STI below a few years ago. Unfortunately it was more cost effective for me to break it.

A friend of mine broke 6 including a couple of JDM's! He was picking them up for as little as 4k and making a nice profit.




I also sold a Blob STI to Matty who used to be at PP for the sole intention of breaking it.....Shame really.

 

The US 25 year rule will kick in soon for the JDM market. You can look out then when the cost of GC8 cars will head north. The early Jap cars have already started and the sh@te exchange rate will not help.

In the bigger scheme of things Subaru is not a mass producer to the European market unlike Australasia or in the US were some Subaru models are made. Their customer base is small in the UK and there are not that many dealers BUT expect a marketing push soon as new engine tech comes on line.

 

I drove from Cambridgeshire to Kent and back a few weeks ago in my classic. I was surprised to have only seen one other Impreza the whole time and that was near my home town. I thought I would have seen more of them to. Mind you where I live there seems to be about five in the area, bear in mind I live in a small town in the countryside.

 

It's more to do with their age as of why they are uncommon now.
Blobs are well over ten years old and Bugs nearer 15.

 

I've seen at least 50 in Edinburgh so far. 20-30 Legacys too.

 

so down the line the bugs AND blob STIS will be like the sierra cosworth then??
??
saff cossies were 7-8 grand cars about 4-5 years ago...now for a decent one your looking at around 12 onwards

 

I'd say so yes.
Unmodded and standard will be where the value is.

 

I sure they will be soon, given the number of perfectly good cars that are being broken for parts on a daily basis.

 

thats interesting...so onwards to escort cosworth value then...saff cossies are becomimg so rare...more they get broke or wrote off then more the value goes up..i think the cost of the bug or blob 2.0 litre sti rebuilds will fly up simply because of the amount getting broke or wrote off will drive prices up 20 years from now....

 

My classic turns heads everywhere it goes now and gets positive comments along the way.

Nobody used to even notice it because they were everywhere. Times have well and truly changed for the better.

 

It's still regarded as a chav chariot due to the likes of the sioc car ruiners and wrc sticker crews but hopefully they will die out soon and the genuine unmodded clean cars that survive will be cherished and go up in value

 

is it right to compare them with the saff cossie??...i remember one time when everyone had a saff cossie and although they were nice there nothing to shout home about..the feel of a blob widetrack is much better than a saff cossie but there demanding 12-13 grand with welded sills and welded holes in the floor pans??