Aussies sell famous Subaru rally car for Bitcoin

A ‘barn find’ rally car driven by the legendary Colin McRae has sold at an Australian auction for an eye-watering sum paid in cryptocurrency.

An old Subaru stashed in the back of a Victorian shed has sold for $500,000 in Bitcoin at an Australian auction.

The classic Subaru WRX was originally thought to be worth $15,000 to $20,000, according to Lloyds Auctions, until an investigation into its provenance revealed the car was particularly significant.

Lloyds Auctions sold a Subaru WRX rally car for $500,000 in Bitcoin.

Built by British firm Prodrive for the World Rally Championship, the car was driven by champion drivers Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae on the global stage.

Subaru’s original WRX won world titles and helped establish the brand’s reputation around the globe for rugged dependability and low-cost performance.

Colin McRae drove for Subaru in its heyday. Photo: Mike Cooper /Allsport

The car’s results transformed the image of Subaru, making the brand’s performance cars some of the most desirable machines on the road - particularly for young enthusiasts.

McRae’s car shot to stardom as the core of a smash-hit 1998 PlayStation game, Colin McRae Rally.

Colin McRae Rally helped build the legend of Subaru.

Lloyds Auctions said the Victorian “barn find” was an original car preserved in time-warp condition from its days as a state-of-the-art racing machine.

Pre-auction hype suggested the dusty blue car could be worth more than $1 million.

The machine was preserved in remarkable condition.

It didn’t fetch quite that sum, instead attracting a maximum bid of $500,000.

Intriguingly for such a valuable car, the Subaru was purchased using Bitcoin.

At today’s rate of $60,450 or so, that equates to 8.271 bitcoins.

Some high-end car dealerships have welcomed cryptocurrency as a form of payment for collectable machines - despite the volatility of products such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Bitcoins were worth about $90,000 each, or nearly $745,000 at the currency’s peak value around April 14 this year.

Lloyds Auctions says buyers have welcomed the option to buy with Bitcoin.

Individual Bitcoins sold for about $15,000 one year ago. If the Subaru’s buyer bought $124,000 in Bitcoin at the end of September 2020, those coins are worth $500,000 today - enough to buy an incredibly rare Subaru rally car.

Originally published as Aussies sell famous Subaru rally car for Bitcoin