The Story of the Subaru World Rally Team Impreza WRCs

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The Impreza world rallying story begins in 1993, when a Prodrive-designed rally version of the company’s new road car was unveiled. Dubbed the Impreza 555, this Group A car took off where the Subaru Legacy rally car left off; for the Legacy’s final competitive outing, it claimed its maiden victory on the Rally New Zealand in August 1993.

With figurative big shoes to fill, the Impreza did not disappoint. In fact, were it not for a windscreen demisting problem on the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland (just two weeks after the Legacy’s win in New Zealand), Ari Vatanen would most certainly have stormed to the finish well ahead of his rivals. The demisting problem cost him dearly, though, resulting in him finishing in second place overall.

Interesting to note is that the Impreza sedan was designed to be rallied from the outset. As early as 1990, at the design stage, Prodrive was invited to provide input in order to make the Impreza a car suitable for the world’s rallying stages. And it has, over the years, more than proved its prowess on gravel, asphalt, and snow.

It did not take the Subaru World Rally Team long to notch up its maiden win with the Impreza; on the Rally Greece in 1994, the Impreza 555 defeated all other teams to take first place. Continual development and fine-tuning saw the Impreza become a true force to be reckoned with, a serious contender for the world championship.

One of the highlights of that season, and for rallying, was Prodrive’s experimentation with an automated gear change system, which was the forerunner of the now-essential steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Testament to SWRT’s hard work on the Impreza, Carlos Sainz kicked off the 1995 World Rally Championship in the best way possible with an emphatic victory on the classic Rally Monte Carlo. The season developed into a straight-out fight between the two Subaru drivers, Colin McRae and Sainz.

In a ding-dong battle, it was McRae who triumphed to lift the WRC Drivers’ Championship trophy, and Subaru romped home with the Manufacturers’ Championship title.

The sport’s governing body, the FIA, was due to institute a raft of new regulations for the 1997. To get a jump on their rivals for ‘97, SWRT concentrated their efforts on developing a new car to take full advantage of the new rules.

However, in true Subaru fashion, this did not distract from their ambition of winning more rally championships in ‘96: McRae finished runner-up in the Drivers’ title fight and the team won the Manufacturers’ trophy again.

For 1997, the FIA created the WRC Class cars; wider, lower, more powerful, revised suspension geometry, and wilder aerodynamics were hallmarks of the cars. The Impreza WRC97 was the first of the new breed of rally cars to break cover and compete, and still remains one of the sports most iconic machines ever. What was Subaru’s reward? Yet another Manufacturers’ title for the swelling trophy cabinet.

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