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In 2004 at Rallye Monte Carlo , the Impreza pictured S400 WRT | Chassis #14 became the one and only S9 Impreza World Rally Car to run with the number 1 on its door within a World Rally event, and in the hands of Petter Solberg finished seventh overall on that event.

Since the car departed company with Prodrive it did remain within the World Championship in the hands of Alistair Ginley with Letterkenny’s Rory Kennedy on the notes.

A year later the car came to Northern Ireland to live and until around 2007 has had many a success with mostly Kenny McKinstry and Andrew Nesbitt at the helm but it also saw PWRC champion Niall McShea get fifth overall at Lurgan Park in 2006.

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Since 2007 and for the foreseeable future S400 WRT has been in the hands of the Biggerstaff’s from Co. Down and in more recent years has become a shared car with father Denis, who is a RallyCross legend most commonly known for his antics in a Metro 6R4 and son Stuart, a mechanic who has worked his way up from reading the notes to getting podium spots whilst driving the Impreza.

During this ownership the car has seen more colours than a palette and indeed in its current guise of matt black, is sleeker than a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit and with the Biggerstaff’s in the cockpit could sneak up and claim victory just as fast as the aforementioned stealth bomber.

We wish team Biggerstaff all the best for this season and hope to see a few more podiums for S400 WRT.

Photos by Graham Curry

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Graham is a photojournalist and motoring writer with over 20 varied years of coverage from manufacturer press launches to international motorsport and motoring events throughout the world. Graham is a full member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and Ulster Motor Writers Association.