If, like me, you have spent time travelling up and down the M40 - particularly around the Banbury area - you have probably seen the large building at the side of the motorway emblazoned with a big sign that says ‘Prodrive’. Even if you only have a mild interest in motorsport this name will instantly resonate with you, whether it be Subaru Impreza's in the World Rally Championship, Aston Martin’s at Le Mans or maybe even the BAR Honda Formula 1 team, its safe to say Prodrive have a fantastic trophy cabinet having been part of some of the most high profile campaigns across all forms of four wheeled sport.

One day, curiosity got the better of me after seeing a Prodrive post on social media saying they were now open again for factory tours (which were stopped during COVID). I promptly booked my place and my son also tagged along, having inherited my petrol head genes - much to his mother’s disgust! Arriving at reception, we were greeted by two absolute icons, immediately setting a high bar.

First up was a Rothmans liveried Porsche 911 SC, Prodrive's first ever car and one that competed in the Middle East Rally Championship. Driven by Saeed Al Hajri with co-driver John Spiller, they took the overall title in 1984 and ‘85. Next to this was another Rothmans car, this time the fire breathing Metro 6R4 from the Ulster Rally in 1986 piloted by Jimmy McRae ably assisted by Ian Grindrod in the passenger seat. 

Looking past the two rally cars there are a couple of other interesting displays in the reception area, an example of the Prodrive Racing Simulator is over near the seating area with a Hummingbird folding bike on the far wall, both help to enforce our tour guides statement that Prodrive is a very diverse business with expertise in many different areas. However, it’s the race engine on a stand near the workshop door that has me more curious as I simply cannot work out what car the small capacity straight six, Aston Martin branded block is from, maybe all will be revealed later. 

After a short introductory film it's time for us to head into the workshop and into the Legends display, here we find a great selection of more cars Prodrive have been involved with. On the right-hand side, we have an ex Ari Vatenen Subaru Legacy, a BMW E30 M3 in the superb BASTOS livery, and a Rothmans liveried Mk2 Escort again driven by Vatenen, but this car was co-driven in period by Prodrive founder Dave Richards. To the left we find an ex BAR F1 car in the Lucky Strike livery, an Aston Martin Vantage GTE car and then for me the start of the show an ex-Safari rally Subaru Impreza complete with extra high suspension, exhaust snorkel and cattle bars.