Background
RESERVE LOWERED
Three cars dominated world rallying at the end of the last century. The 1970s belonged almost exclusively to the Ford Escort, whose crown was only taken when Audi released the technologically well-endowed quattro in 1980, claiming that decade for itself. But the 1990s were owned by Subaru’s Impreza, largely thanks to the late, great Colin McRae drifting his yellow and blue Impreza to the 1995 WRC title.
The Impreza Turbo changed Subaru's fortunes overnight. Introduced in 1992, the standard Impreza was nothing special, but the Turbo and high-performance WRX STi models that arrived in 1994, provided rally car thrills for the fraction of the price of your everyday supercar.
Fuji Heavy Industries had been in the car business for 34 years when the Impreza was launched. Starting out with microcars in 1958, Subaru eventually entered the mainstream, and the first model sold in any numbers in the UK was the Leone. It was an unremarkable looking car that was actually quite novel, with a water-cooled flat-four engine and four-wheel-drive.
Subaru remained a niche player in the UK with its four-wheel-drive saloons and pick-ups, but when the bigger Legacy arrived it found a ready market among country types who wanted a multi-purpose 4×4 without the Range Rover price tag or running costs.
Subaru’s profile was about to make a quantum leap when British firm Prodrive was enlisted to make the Legacy a contender on the world rallying circuit. Its 290bhp turbocharged flat-four and all-wheel-drive made it a kind of latter-day quattro, but the best was just around the next (sideways) corner.
In 1993 the Legacy was joined by the more compact Impreza, with more modern, softer styling but retaining the four-cam EJ20 boxer engine and permanent four-wheel drive.
The UK market was also saturated with 'grey' import Imprezas at significantly lower prices than official UK cars. In addition to the Impreza's low price, Subaru's tough build quality made it a brilliant all-rounder. The Mk1 also paved the way for the original limited edition Imprezas, which included the 22B and RB5.
Based on the WRX STi model and introduced in 1998, the Impreza 22B was a wide-bodied coupe made to celebrate Subaru's third WRC manufacturer's title. Only 424 22B cars were built. In 1999, Subaru made 444 WRX RB5 models to celebrate Richard Burns' return to its WRC team.
As with the Legacy, the Impreza found favour with those wanting a 4×4 workhorse, but when the turbocharged engine was added to the mix Subaru had a hit on its hands. The addition of the unusual-looking estate to the range made it even more practical.
Launched in Japan with the WRX badge, the turbocharged Impreza was good for 240bhp, with official UK sales beginning in late 1994. To conform to UK regulations, the engine was detuned to 208bhp and the car was badged as Impreza 2000 Turbo AWD. This coincided neatly with Ford’s decision to pull out of the performance saloon market and many Sapphire and Escort Cosworth owners soon defected to the Japanese brand.
Engines were revised for 1997 and the Japanese domestic market cars now boasted up to 280bhp, but the standard UK spec remained 208bhp, although the extra power was only ever a remap away, and many owners had their cars tuned to Japanese spec – and beyond.
In 1998 minor engine changes were claimed to improve torque and reduce turbo lag. In April, the Subaru Terzo was released by Subaru UK, finished in a slightly lighter Mica Blue and the first of the gold wheels, in 16-inch flavour of course. A fixed rear seat made the shell more rigid and Alcantara trim gripped the occupants.
One Japanese model which did make it over here, albeit in tiny numbers, was the 22b STi (Subaru Tecnica International) with a 280bhp 2212cc engine, adjustable rear wing, quicker steering and the two-door shell with wide arches. Just 16 of the 399 produced were officially imported during 1999. At the same time Prodrive had developed the RB5, named after up-and-coming rally driver, Richard Burns, which made 237bhp. Only 444 were built, using the Japanese-market shell with fixed rear seat and in Blue Steel with 17-inch Speedline wheels.
The spec also included air conditioning and Alcantara trim, although buyers could also opt for the WR Sport option which added a Prodrive remapped ECU, modified exhaust and intake pipework and a bigger rear wing.
By the time Subaru launched its second-generation Impreza in 2000, the car had proved its worth in the WRC and the showroom thanks to its cult following. Unfortunately, and for reasons still shrouded in mystery, Subaru gave the second generation of the best-selling car in its range a pair of bug-eyed headlamps that divided opinion among fans, although the Nay camp was by far the larger.
Thankfully, in 2003, Subaru revised the Impreza's front end, returning to a more sober appearance. With the Mk2 Impreza, Subaru once again upped the ante in the power stakes, increasing the output of the Impreza WRX's turbocharged, flat-four boxer engine to 221bhp in 2003, and 230bhp in 2005.
The Mk2 variant of the Impreza WRX STi had 281bhp on tap. The most well-known special edition of the second generation Subaru Impreza was the WR1, which was built to celebrate Petter Solberg's 2003 WRC title win. These 500 WR1 cars all had ice blue paint, a revised ECU, plus exhaust and catalytic converters, which saw power output increase to 316bhp.
In 2007, Subaru released another WRC themed special edition Impreza, the commemorative RB320 model, which paid tribute to the 2001 World Rally Champion Richard Burns, after his untimely death in 2005.
The Mk2 Impreza was replaced in 2007 by the third generation of Subaru’s game-changing performance car, but this was a very different looking beat altogether, and today it’s the first two iterations of the breed that enthusiasts are interested in.
