IF WALLS COULD TALK… I’M STARING at the gentle patina of a well-used workshop, one that has reverberated countless times to the harsh blat-blat-blat of flat-four Subaru World Rally Car engines and the primeval thumpety-thump of a Group A Impreza. But it has also rung to the piercing bark of Ford Cosworth DFVs, maybe Indy Cosworth DFXs too. For this building was once part of the headquarters of March Engineering, the highly successful race car constructor of the ’70s and ’80s with five Grand Prix victories and five straight Indy 500 wins to its credit. The corridors probably still echo to the footsteps of Robin Herd, Max Mosley and Adrian Newey amongst other famous alumni of the marque. Even the dyno has a tale to tell, having been previously installed at Andy Rouse Engineering, home of arguably the fastest Sierra RS500 Cosworth touring cars ever built. For anyone with a passion for motorsport, this is hallowed ground.
We’re visiting Bicester-based Autosportif, one of the world’s top restorers and builders of historic Subaru rally cars. Established by ex-Prodrive man Martyn Spurrell in 1994, today it’s run by long-standing employee Howard Dent, who took over the business in 2014.
There’s some form of rallying Subaru squeezed into every available space
