A two-owner Subaru Impreza 22B STI Type UK has sold at auction for an astonishing £171,000, setting a new UK record.
The Silverstone Auctions May Sale saw the ‘ultimate Subaru road car’ entered for the 22 May event, immediately attracting huge interest when bidding opened.
One of just 16 official Subaru UK cars, the record-breaking 22B is believed to be the 16th car, and one of just 10 still remaining.
The vendor had owned the car for the last 18 years, featuring it in magazines and on TV – and winning high-profile awards with it.
This is not a museum-piece car: it has 49,000 miles on the clock and two owners in the logbook.
However, Silverstone Auctions said the 1999 22B is very well regarded within Subaru circles and is a ‘rare, special and hugely coveted’ car.
It still carries the original car-specific aluminium-covered information booklet, hand-signed by the sales director of Subaru UK, plus the ‘special instruction’ booklet and model-specific floor mats.
Also included are the original service booklet, manuals, two original keys and two original Subaru alarm fobs. The registrtion ‘N22BUK’ is also included.
It has a bulging service history and a few choice upgrades such as a special gearbox, upgraded front brakes and bespoke exhaust – with all the original parts included in the sale for originality.
Given how the original sale price in 1999 was £39,950, today’s price of £171,000 represents quite a return for “the absolute ‘Holy Grail’ of these already very special rally cars for the road”.
However, even though it’s a headline-grabbing price, it still can’t match the price of an immaculate 25,000-mile 22B that sold earlier this year in the U.S. – for $312,555.
Here in the UK, that equals more than £210,000…
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