1977 Chrysler Sunbeam Ti 'Group A' Rally Car-Ex-Colin McRae

The remarkable career of Colin McRae MBE has filled volumes and is too long to list here, but it did include becoming Scottish Schoolboy Motocross Champion at 13, the Scottish Rally Championship in 1988, winning the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Championship and, in 1995 he became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship Drivers title, a record which stood for 27 years. Success continued with a total of 25 wins in the WRC, a third place at Le Mans in the GTS Class, a win in the Baja 500 Portalegre, stage wins on the Dakar and many other rallies worldwide.

Despite the passage of time, Colin McRae is still one of the biggest names in the world of rallying certainly the most recognised. Colin was an iconic figure at the time. 'Everybody took a step back when they heard Colin driving. He was just using the road as a rough guide. His style and approach were something to watch. At one time he held the record for the most rally victories. His ‘never say die’ attitude, always flat out, it really sat with people and endeared him to them'.

But people often forget that he was a mechanic, too. He worked well with engineers and understood how to set a car up and its mechanical limitations. He is frequently discussed in terms of his wild, aggressive style, but if you watched him drive on tarmac at Le Mans or ASCAR at Rockingham, he was really quite smooth. He won two Safari rallies, which takes a lot of mechanical empathy and an intelligent approach as to just how much you can get away with.

Here at Silverstone Auctions we feel truly privileged to have been entrusted by the McRae family with the sale of three of Colin’s favourite cars. They are significant cars in the history of rallying and will be available to view prior to our auction on Friday 25th August.

Colin competed in his first rally, the 1985 Kames Stages, in a borrowed Hillman Avenger, and despite dropping off the side of the road, finished 14th overall and first in class in his first event. He was eager to go rallying regularly so sold his autotest Mini and paid £850 for the Talbot Sunbeam Ti, YSG 980S, on offer here. The car’s first event, the Galloway Hills Rally in December 1985, ended in a tree, so that winter was spent repairing the bodyshell, fitting a new engine and generally preparing the car ready for an assault on the 1986 ‘Group A’ Scottish Rally Championship. The first round of the Championship was the Snowman Rally, co-driven by Ian Grindrod and subsequently with co-driver Nick Jack, Colin entered a further seven rallies, finished six, came 18th in the Championship and was awarded a Jaggy Bunnett Flying Brick for being the year’s ‘hardest trier’.

With hindsight, YSG 980S can be regarded as the car that started Colin’s career and its importance is illustrated by the fact that it was modelled by Corgi as part of the 'Colin McRae Tribute Collection' and as a slot car by Scalextric-Passion.

During the early 2000s, this legendary rally car was carefully restored and rebuilt in to a new shell by Barry Lochhead, McRae family mechanic, who built the car originally with Colin, and who ensured that every detail of the rebuild was correct, enabling YSG to retain its original 'Group A' identity. Colin was keen to replicate YSG as it looked, and felt during that first full season in 1986 and the remarkable level of accuracy and attention to detail can be seen in our images. It’s fully complete and runs well but is not event-prepared and the safety equipment, seats, belts, extinguishers etc. are no longer current so consequently the car will need complete preparation before any events are entered. It has been looked over and checked by Ian Gwynne of BGM Sport in Brackley and is being stored by him until our sale at the Silverstone Classic on the 26th/27th of August. He is a friend of the McRae family and seriously interested parties are welcome to speak directly to Ian and view the car prior to the sale if they wish.

This delightful Talbot Sunbeam Ti is the first rally car that Colin owned, a special favourite and one that he would probably have kept forever. The legend began here.

For sale for the very first time and offered directly from the McRae family, a unique opportunity.