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Early Impreza STI/Series McRae wanted for Octane photoshoot
Hi!
I'm working on a story for Octane magazine gathering together 90s Japanese rallying hero cars and I'm a Subaru down from the set. Currently I have an Evo IV and an ST205 GT-Four Celica WRC, both in stock condition and lined up for the shoot. I need a representative Impreza to finish the set and was wondering if there's anyone on here with a suitable car who might be willing and able to join the fun. I'm biased as a lifelong Subaru fan so this is OBVIOUSLY the most important one to get right...
As a major 'validation' of the story it will be a ROAD car that represents a high point in the Impreza's competition career and link with a WRC title so I guess I'm after the closest roadgoing equivalent to McRae's 1995 car, at least in outward appearance. I guess we can argue the toss over whether that should be a JDM STI or a UK Series McRae but at this stage I'll keep the floor open to increase the potential candidates and together we can perhaps decide which is the most appropriate to be seen alongside the Evo and Celica. I guess in actual homologation terms (correct me if I'm wrong!) the JDM STI in Version I or Version II would be the most technically representative car, maybe an RA. But emotionally and symbolically the Series McRae has the more personal link to the great man himself. As I say, discuss...
Whatever the chosen candidate, it needs to be visually as close to stock as possible, given Octane is very much interested in the provenance and originality of the cars on its pages and it'll be serving to represent the Impreza to readers of a classic car magazine not necessarily used to seeing 90s rally reps. Break them in gently and all that! I realise that's going to be a tall order given the nature of the Subaru world but at the very least the featured car should be on stock wheels and ride height and (preferably) fitted with a standard looking backbox, at least for the purposes of the shoot. Engine bay/mechanically we can probably work around to an extent but as close to stock as possible would be better. Interior is important but less critical; stickers, fluffy dice or other personalisation features that can be easily removed should probably be left at home.
The 'where and when' aspects are currently TBC but preferably sooner rather than later and, most likely, in a rally-appropriate setting. That would probably be influenced by where the owner is based and how far they're willing to travel but the Evo and Celica are both on the M4 corridor so I'd venture South Wales would be a likely venue to shoot. I'm a freelancer rather than staff so can't speak directly for Octane but I'd expect expenses to be covered in terms of getting there and on the day and I'd hope they'd also be willing to supply photos to the owner, which of course would be a nice keepsake. And worth having in terms of the car's ongoing value. "As featured in Octane..." has a nice ring to it, right?
Thanks for hearing me out and please spread the word as far and wide as possible. Feel free to fire back any comments or suggestions, reply here in the thread, DM me here or on Twitter (@trent_dan) and fingers crossed there's a car and owner out there ready to step up for this most important of jobs!
Cheers,
Dan
Last edited by danno_el_mano; 05 November 2018 at 04:26 PM.
I'm working on a story for Octane magazine gathering together 90s Japanese rallying hero cars and I'm a Subaru down from the set. Currently I have an Evo IV and an ST205 GT-Four Celica WRC, both in stock condition and lined up for the shoot. I need a representative Impreza to finish the set and was wondering if there's anyone on here with a suitable car who might be willing and able to join the fun. I'm biased as a lifelong Subaru fan so this is OBVIOUSLY the most important one to get right...
As a major 'validation' of the story it will be a ROAD car that represents a high point in the Impreza's competition career and link with a WRC title so I guess I'm after the closest roadgoing equivalent to McRae's 1995 car, at least in outward appearance. I guess we can argue the toss over whether that should be a JDM STI or a UK Series McRae but at this stage I'll keep the floor open to increase the potential candidates and together we can perhaps decide which is the most appropriate to be seen alongside the Evo and Celica. I guess in actual homologation terms (correct me if I'm wrong!) the JDM STI in Version I or Version II would be the most technically representative car, maybe an RA. But emotionally and symbolically the Series McRae has the more personal link to the great man himself. As I say, discuss...
Whatever the chosen candidate, it needs to be visually as close to stock as possible, given Octane is very much interested in the provenance and originality of the cars on its pages and it'll be serving to represent the Impreza to readers of a classic car magazine not necessarily used to seeing 90s rally reps. Break them in gently and all that! I realise that's going to be a tall order given the nature of the Subaru world but at the very least the featured car should be on stock wheels and ride height and (preferably) fitted with a standard looking backbox, at least for the purposes of the shoot. Engine bay/mechanically we can probably work around to an extent but as close to stock as possible would be better. Interior is important but less critical; stickers, fluffy dice or other personalisation features that can be easily removed should probably be left at home.
The 'where and when' aspects are currently TBC but preferably sooner rather than later and, most likely, in a rally-appropriate setting. That would probably be influenced by where the owner is based and how far they're willing to travel but the Evo and Celica are both on the M4 corridor so I'd venture South Wales would be a likely venue to shoot. I'm a freelancer rather than staff so can't speak directly for Octane but I'd expect expenses to be covered in terms of getting there and on the day and I'd hope they'd also be willing to supply photos to the owner, which of course would be a nice keepsake. And worth having in terms of the car's ongoing value. "As featured in Octane..." has a nice ring to it, right?
Thanks for hearing me out and please spread the word as far and wide as possible. Feel free to fire back any comments or suggestions, reply here in the thread, DM me here or on Twitter (@trent_dan) and fingers crossed there's a car and owner out there ready to step up for this most important of jobs!
scooby_kid - I'll try the RA forum, thanks for the tip!
Silver_Scooby_Sport - Timescale is basically when I can bring the three cars to the table and hopefully we're go
And Trooper - Fair point but I've narrowed the timescale to the mid-90s when the battle between the three was at its height. Also tallies with the state of the market for the road cars. It's obviously a huge story - the Subaru one is a feature in itself - but by pinpointing it to a tight period I can focus on the crux. Though the idea of a wider feature about rallying Subarus is a good one. As I say, let's break the Octane readers in gently first...
I've got a 98% stock v3 sti type ra which has just about come to the end of a full restoration, it's on adjustable KYB shocks as this was as close as I could get to new oe hence why not 100% stock, will be a few weeks till it's finished
Although it's still based on a ej20 2.0 block and has the standard fifth injector inlet, it's making 392 bhp using after market turbo, injectors exhaust and a bloody big expensive intercooler mounted behind the front grill.
It also has a later model six speed gearbox and transmission, after market diff controller and the Obligatory drain pipe exhaust. Bistein coil over suspension too.
I bought the car as a track day toy five years ago as it was a cheap performance car and started chasing horses. All internals were upgraded etc. This meant I had to cut the bumper to allow for the front mount intercooler.
last year or so I've been watching the price of early Ltd cars rise and decided to try and get the car looking factory again.
I found a lateral intercooler rad assembly that would allow me to use a factory bumper and original boonet scoop on a 390 bhp car.
The interior is standard apart from pillar mounted boost and oil pressure gauges and the six speed gear ****. I know one or two people with very near factory standard 93 - 96 cars if you're looking for total originality.
A sad fact if you want to put that way is that imprezas are so easy to improve (I hate the modified description) that as they approach 25 years old it's very very rare to see a bog standard one outside of a private car collection. Many of us are trying to undo those nineties must have modifications
Pm me your email address if you want more info 🙂
05 November 2018, 04:23 PM
Early Impreza STI/Series McRae wanted for Octane photoshoot
