A record-breaking Subaru Impreza previously driven by Ken Block is heading to auction on a new online platform that is launching in the US and UK.
Prior to exclusively working with Ford – with whom he recently split after a near 11-year relationship – Block drove Subarus in Rally America, and it was in one of the Japanese brand’s cars that he set a record for the longest rally car jump in history back in 2006.
Appearing on Discovery Channel’s Stunt Junkies, Block launched a 2002 Impreza WRX STI – updated to look like a 2006 car – 171 feet (52 metres) off a purpose-built ramp at Lake Elsinore Motocross park in Southern California.
As well as breaking the rally car jump record, the car also happened to be the very one that Block took his first rally victory in at the 100 Acre Wood rally that same year and the vehicle which Travis Pastrana made his rally debut in too.
Now that very same car can be yours, although we don’t recommend jumping it on the public highway. Wall Street Motorsport is offering the car upon its US launch on February 22, with the entire buyer’s fee being donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Wall Street Motorsport is the brainchild of long-time Block ally and ex-Hoonigan man Matt Tuccillo, and former Ford and Monster marketing manager Lindsay Orridge – so launching with a Block car on the auction, ahem, block seems appropriate.
KEN BLOCK'S TOP FORD MOMENTS
DIRTFISH TAKES A LOOK BACK AT THE HEAD HOONIGAN IN CHARGE’S BEST MOMENTS AS A FORD DRIVER
“To be honest, I find the existing online vehicle auction space to be a bit… dull,” said Tuccillo.
“Obviously the culture has stemmed from the traditional big auction houses, which are all prim and proper with fat fees on both sides to keep out the riff-raff, and while the online space certainly sheds a fair bit of that, at its core, it’s still very much rooted in the old way of thinking.
“The reason for coming up with Wall Street Motorsport was to not only inject some life and attitude into the space, but to also make it better for both buyers and sellers.
“By running what some would call ‘obscenely low’ fees, we’re able to open up more cap space for buyers to spend on the vehicle of their dreams. Which, in turn, lets sellers net more on their sale.
“It’s a win-win in our book, especially if we’re actually having fun while doing it. We’re certainly being disruptive, but in a positive way, not in a ‘Bird scooter’ sort of way.”
Block’s Vermont SportsCar-built Subaru may have been a record-breaker in its day, but three years later another VSC Subaru, this time driven by Block’s Gymkhana collaborator Travis Pastrana smashed the record with a 269 feet (81.11 meters) leap over Long Beach harbor.
