The Subaru was a nice car, nice handling, low centre of gravity, good turn-in, nice engine, good ground clearance

Has there been a car since the Escort and quattro which has so captured the world’s imagination as the Impreza? Have there been so many boy-racered clones in that vivd ‘555’ sponsor’s Mica blue, a genius marketing stroke to get round cigarette advertising rules. That the Impreza was cheapish and accessible, running a low centre of gravity, four-wheel drive and a turbo helped. That it took two of the UK’s greatest rally heroes to world championships cemented its reputation. Neither, sadly is with us, their lives cut short tragically young.

The Impreza, and the Legacy before it, took the flat-four all-wheel drive layout from Subaru’s utility vehicles and sexed it up. That it couldn’t build a decent interior didn’t matter for its rally cars, but the ability to squeeze over 300bhp from its 2-litre turbo flat four did. Going to Prodrive in 1989 made Subaru into winners. After starting with the larger Legacy in 1990, the master stroke was stuffing all the beautiful, handcrafted, and viciously expensive bits inside the smaller (but no lighter) Impreza shell mid-way through the ’93 season. Smaller meant a lower moment of inertia, making it snappier to change direction.

Prodrive wanted to debut the new car in Finland in 1993. Scooby bosses didn’t want it to until the Legacy had won a WRC round. McRae provided that in New Zealand and the green light was on. But it took until 1995 for the Impreza’s first win, when Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya won the Monte for the first time, in 1995. After that, there was no stopping it (though Toyota’s disqualification that year must have helped). McRae won both maker’s and driver’s World Rally Championships that year.

This car, chassis GC8-96-046, won the world rally title for Subaru in 1996, though Colin McRae had to settle for second place in the driver’s championship. Yet, the 555 Impreza looks a bit… ordinary. The devil’s in the detail, and it’s the fit and finish that impress here, with factory panel gaps and even complete door trims, as required by the regs.

The Impreza wears standard steering column control stalks. The rest of the dash is constructed entirely in carbon fibre. Even the hydraulic handbrake lever is in carbon too, curving around to meet the driver’s hand. And as for making the heater control knob out of the same material…

Elsewehere, it’s standard rally car practice: wheelbrace clipped neatly to the floor under the navigator’s legs: bag tank, pumps and spare in the  boot. If it weren’t for the N1 WRC plate, you might not peg this saloon as anything particularly special. The Stack revcounter reads only to 8000rpm, with the needle pointing straight up at 6500 – WRC cars, ostensibly restricted to 300bhp, are tuned to maximise torque, the Subaru’s lusty flat-four especially so.

Though the Impreza bestrode the globe, it’s unassuming, and untemperamental: Prodrive happily fired it up and drove it over to the studio, though there are some cars you don’t feel worthy enough to even sit in. There’s greatness for you.

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