Colin McRae's prized rally car collection set to be auctioned off

Run by the Prodrive team, McRae had competed in the BRC the year before, the season proving a learning curve in a championship his father Jimmy had won five times.

The younger McRae’s ’92 Legacy represented his first full works car though, a 2-litre Group A machine producing 350bhp, bedecked in the iconic Rothmans livery.

Completely crushing his opposition, the Scot only needed a second-place finish in the final Elonex round – run through the night – to become champion, and found himself 1sec down to rival Tommi Mäkinen with one 2.5km stage left to go. In the typical fashion which soon made him loved the world over, the young Scot went for it any, gaining 3sec on his Finnish contemporary to clinch the championship in style.

The guide price of the car is £380,000 – £450,000 – Whale believes it will go for roughly double of a similar car form the same era without the McRae provenance.

1977 Chrysler Sunbeam Ti Group A rally car

“We’ve had more interest in the in the Subaru Rally car and the Escort, but the little Sunbeam is is a lovely car,” says Whale.

The first off-road machine McRae ever owned, the car forever held a special place in his heart. The inaugural event he took it to, the 1985 Gallways Hills Rally, ended with the car wrapped round a tree.

After some serious repairs, McRae would enter the car in the 1986 Scottish Championship, finishing 18th and awarded the ‘Jaggy Bunnett Flying Brick’ for being that season’s ‘hardest trier’.

The car was meticulously rebuilt in the early 2000s by the mechanic who tended to it with McRae in his formative days, Barry Lockhead, with every original detail retained on the little Sunbeam which started a legend.

“It holds special memories,” McRae said of it subsequently.

 

2005 Ford Escort MkII McRae

This car is the last which McRae used in anger, and also is considered to be the fastest MkII Escort on the planet.

The car had long been put on a rallying pedestal by McRae, and in 2002, he decided to make the best one out there.

“The Mk II is the rally car of all time,” he said. “When my father started rallying, these were the type of rear-wheel drive cars that were at the top level of the sport. I remember watching in the forests and they always sounded the best and looked the most spectacular – sideways. Ever since then, they have stuck in my mind.”

Colin hired Dave Plant of DJM race preparation in Newark to lend his expertise.

“In late 2002 we were asked if we could convert a Mk II Escort for a rather special customer, this being the late great Colin McRae.

“The donor car was supplied to us in early 2003 and after numerous telephone conversations with Colin, the project commenced. The original specification was to be an ultra-long wheel travel, gravel rally car. With fully independent front and rear suspension to our own design and using our own aluminium uprights, finished off with a T45 roll cage to support the modifications.”

Many WRC-spec modifications were added to the car, including a semi-spaceframe rear end in addition to a 2.5-litre engine producing 330bhp, and McRae soon began campaigning the MkII on national rallies, also rekindling his former partnership with co-driver Nicky Grist.

 

Subaru Impreza STi 22B

This is one of three Impreza was delivered to McRae as a gesture of thanks for his services to Subaru in putting it top of the rallying world.

“It’s a pretty rare piece of kit,” McRae said in an interview. “The only problem with it is that it gets you into a bit of a bother because it invites you to be a hooligan!”

The 2.2-litre 270bhp car was essentially a road-going replica of McRae’s Subaru rally car, and is expected to go between £400,000 to £500,000.

 

McRae’s rallying legacy

Whale says he believes that the ’95 WRC champion was planning on setting up a museum showcasing his life’s achievements, and that his family had the aim of finishing that project, but have now decided to let others enjoy the picks of this rallying treasure trove.

“His widow Allison is widow has clung onto these cars since,” he says. “And in fact, she’s added to the collection, because I think she might have even had an intention of possibly doing some kind of museum or memorial display.”

“But the truth is the family feel it’s time to let some of the cars go to people that are going to use them – because at the moment they’re not being at the moment.

“It’s been a sensitive discussion, because obviously Allison’s attached to them and Jimmy [McRae’s father] and Alister [brother], they’re all they’re all involved.

“We’ve had quite literally hundreds of articles all over the world about this sale.”

The headline act in the auction is without a doubt the Legacy: “A car like this comes along probably once every two years.

“He’s the greatest British rally driver there’s ever been, with even a hugely successful computer game named after him – for so many, he was rallying.”