It’s more of a progressive rounding of the corner than a handbrake turn.
WRX STI versions built during the latter half of the GC8 series cars have made our top 40 Price Guide Movers On The Up list this month.
A 3% uplift in prices puts these cars close to the bottom of our list of growers, so they’re not in process of accelerating out of reach just yet, certainly when talking about the regular variants. Special editions are in another league of course.
The latest move puts tatty fixer-upper cars at £1850 and usable examples that would benefit from work at typically £3.5k. The £7.5k that should still buy you a faultless one still looks good value in the face of a buoyant market for desirable sub-£35k classics, and especially if you compare them to their spiritual granddaddy, the Ford Sierra Cosworth.
Like the Sierra and most gritty competition-related saloon road cars, the hot Imprezas have had to survive a couple of decades of being thrashed, crashed and badly modified before anyone thought of preserving them as heroic originals. Now it’s those cosseted examples and any that have been thoughtfully restored that are looking the hottest buys. Alas, they aren’t that easy to find, especially if you, like everyone else, wants verifiable low mileage and a wad of documentary evidence proving careful and correct maintenance.
As with almost any classic, paying a premium for a properly looked after car will be the cheapest way to own a good one over time, and it will be a doddle to sell if you fancy a change in the future. But with such punchy performance and that addictive warbling flat four beat following you everywhere, the Scooby habit is going to be a hard one to break.
Price Guide Movers On The Up is part of 30 pages of market tips, analysis and buying advice in the latest issue ofClassic Cars