THE CARS THAT PROPELLED COLIN McRAE TO THE TOPOF THE WORLD
A quarter of a century ago Colin McRae became Britain’s first World Rally champion. His win on the 1995 RAC Rally was a crowning moment in making the Scot one of the most admired drivers in the motorsport’s history.
McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer were the stars of that winter afternoon in Chester in late November 1995 and images of Colin hurling his Subaru Impreza through the British forests to see off Prodrive Subaru team-mate and title rival Carlos Sainz inspired a generation of rally fans.
To mark the 25th anniversary of that unforgettable day, plans were laid to bring together more than 30 of the cars that Colin rallied across 23 years. Organised by Mark Constanduros and Provide, the gathering of so many ex-McRae cars was planned to be a unique celebration of a life tragically lost in a helicopter accident in September 2007.
Sadly, after weeks of work, Constanduros and Provide had to call time on the planned Banbury gathering when Covid travel restrictions made it impossible for all of the cars and key people to be there.
Constanduros said: “McRae25 was set to be the largest collection of Colin’s competition cars ever amassed in one place. We had planned for it to take place on November 22, exactly 25 years to the day of his World Championship win. We then moved it to mid-December but that was not possible, either.
“We hope to reschedule again and that McRae25 may take place in 2021.”
To celebrate Colin McRae and his 1995 World Rally Championship title, we take a closer look at 10 of the cars from his remarkable rallying story.
Our journey takes us from the borrowed HillmanAvenger he illicitly used for his first rally, through his meteoric rise to fame, to the works Subaru Imprezas and Ford Focuses and on to his own Ford Escort Mk2, used on his final proper rally in May 2007.
