Subaru's First Wash In 7 Years Leads To Ballistic Rodent Reveal

Cars aren’t really meant to sit still for long periods of time, but sometimes, life gets in the way. The people behind US-based YouTube channel WD Detailing recently got their hands on a road-going rally legend that demonstrated the effect that a few years parked up can have on a car’s condition.

While not quite a full-on barn find, this yellow Subaru WRX - an early ‘Bugeye’ second-gen car - had been parked by its owner for the last seven years. In the video, he explains that he’d bought it at age 16 and it had been a faithful companion for road trips and backroad fun, but having children led to him stashing the Impreza in favour of some more sensible family transport.

After seven years in a barn, its bright yellow paint had built up a pretty impressive crust of dirt and dust, and the car had become home to a small town’s worth of rodents. The WD team trailer it off to their detailing bay and give it a thorough going over: as well as pulling out plenty of mouse nests, we’re treated to some seriously satisfying pressure washing action as seven years’ worth of grime is blasted off to reveal the surprisingly good-condition paint underneath.

The most remarkable part of the video, however, comes when the WRX is fired up. Impressively, with a new battery fitted, the engine burbles into life, but in doing so, fires a live mouse from the exhaust. The creature, presumably a little dazed after being woken up by a giant turbocharged flat-four alarm clock, thankfully lives to see another day.

With the interior and engine bay getting a thorough going-over and the wheels being treated to a plasti-dip to restore their black finish, the bright yellow Subie is ready to go back to its owner. The first thing he does? Gets it immediately filthy with a rip around the dirt roads crisscrossing his property. Because Subaru.