By Antti Kautonen
I’m adamant this is the cleanest sporty Subaru Impreza outside a factory museum. Seriously, 99% of any performance versions have been either modified, riced, stolen or otherwise beaten to bits by now, but not this one – and it’s even a very early Impreza, a 1996 pre-facelift one. Definitely not too common anywhere in this condition.
The dark blue paint on it looks very good indeed, and the originality is maintained down to the gold wheels. They even match the yellow Netherlands plates. Not a single bumper corner was scraped on this. It’s a shame I didn’t check whether it even still had the factory stereo, it’s that original-looking.
Europe didn’t get a WRX back then, but made do with a 2.0 GT, with the 220hp turbo EJ20 engine offered from ’94 to ’96. In 1997 came a facelift, and the power output was lowered to 211hp for reasons immediately unclear to me.
And again, the Impreza teeters perilously close to the canal edge. Let’s hope it stays dry.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
Mercedes Lilienthal 
Kamil Kaluski
THIS is my kind of Subaru 🙂
One of the few designs where the sedan outshines the coupe or wagon, to me. This one's the nicest I've… well, since I'm from the States, the nicest I've ever seen.
Before the US got the WRX, the high perf Imp was the RS 2.5.
I bought one. My wife thought I was buying a Legacy GT. To say she hated it was an understatement.
It had the same scoop ion the hood but blocked off. Under it was the flat air cleaner. Take the blocking plates off, take the plastic intake off and zip tie the filter down. I had a Cayman owner pal say my car was the best sounding vehicle he'd ever heard.
Oh, I added WRX brakes and I think I caused a 10 car pileup on 635.
At least y'all got turboGC Imprezas. This is essentially the WRX, with a different name.
Love these!
The Impreza to me represents a conundrum. Providing there's a turbo on board, it'll be fast and fun. But, well, everything's too easy. This means school-leavers with zero mechanical knowledge or acquired experience can go straight out and buy one, spend a few hundred quid on further modifications, drive around town extremely quickly and making a lot of noise and find themselves being proclaimed as driving Gods and effortlessly attracting impressionable blondes who are pretty in an obvious way.
The Impreza makes everything so easy, it's practically cheating.