In a touching display for the man who almost single-handedly created one of Subaru’s largest foreign markets for the rally-bred Impreza WRX, almost 1100 Subaru Impreza owners converged on Prodrive’s Banbury headquarters to form an enormous tribute for Colin McRae, who sadly perished in a helicopter accident late last year which also claimed the lives of his son and two family friends.

After following McRae’s original 1996 Impreza rally car driven by his father, ex-rally champ Jimmy McRae, the 1000+ Subaru fans arranged their cars on Prodrive’s test track to spell out McRae’s name and an image of the Scottish Saltire - a nod to the rally driver’s Scottish heritage.

The enormous formation also beat the previous Guinness World Record for such a gathering by over 800 cars, and also earned nearly £40,000 for McRae’s charities.

It was truly an incredible gesture on the part of the thousands of people who attended and made this event happen, and it was a powerful display by the various Subaru owners clubs in the UK.

McRae’s racing career saw him behind the wheels of many different cars, but it was in the cockpit of an Impreza that he clinched his first - and only - WRC Driver’s Championship win, which won him superstar status in his home country as the first UK-born driver to ever do so. Consequently, sales of the humble Impreza rocketed virtually overnight in the UK, and an entire generation of Britons became enamoured with that signature boxer burble.

An incredible tribute for an exceptional driver. Rest in peace, Colin McRae.

[Source: Carscoop]