HEAD LINER
SCOOBY DOUGH
BECAUSE THEY DON’T MAKE ’EM LIKE THEY USED TO
The ultimate road-going rally car, by the outfit behind Subaru’s WRC legend. But it’s pricey, and the wheels aren’t even the right colour
WORDS OLLIE KEW
PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN WYCHERLEY
Turn the page upside down and you’ll recognise the cars from the Colin McRae days
The car harks back to a golden era, even if the wheels don’t manage it...
We arrive to photograph the Prodrive P25 at 5.30pm. But the car park is full, and the rotary exit door from reception is stationary. No one’s going anywhere. It’s all hands on deck to put the finishing cosmetic touches on 2022’s latest fantasy restomod. So, while perspiring engineers adjust ride height, fettle the engine bay and apply the all-important ‘P25 PROTOTYPE’ decals to each door, I take a wander down memory lane.
Prodrive is like the Bernie Taupin of motorsport. And for readers under 60, I’ll repeat that with updated pop culture: Prodrive is, like, the Calvin Harris of motorsport. Rarely front-of-house, preferring bigger names to take the spotlight. But it’s been there, offstage, masterminding success for the better part of 40 years.
From its headquarters just off the M40 near Banbury in Oxfordshire, Prodrive’s designed and built racing cars for Aston Martin’s GT and prototype Le Mans campaigns, developed the Extreme E electric buggy racers, and set up a hall of fame’s worth of rallying machinery, including all three Subarus to win the World Rally Championship.