Estimated Price: £20,000 - £25,000

From the early 1990s through to 2008, Subaru enjoyed enormous success on the World Rally stage and the Impreza was the star. All-wheel drive, great acceleration, traction and brakes made the cars seriously capable performers. The WRX or 'World Rally Experimental' production car was based on the rally-winning Impreza and carried over many of the driver-focused features and systems. The letters ‘STi’ hold a special sort of appeal for many Subaru Impreza enthusiasts. Think of ‘Subaru Technica International’ as the go-faster wing of Subaru much as M is to BMW, AMG is to Mercedes or, more accurately, Ralliart is to Mitsubishi. STi-badged Imprezas command serious respect and the officially imported UK cars are always in big demand. The WRX STi was the top-of-the-line version and in good hands it was hard-to-beat.

In October 2000 out went the much-loved 'original' shape Impreza and in came the revised all-new second generation model; the reception was mixed (earning the nickname 'Bugeye') and Subaru moved quickly with the launch of the Impreza UK300 which offered compound headlamps, bigger spoilers and the option of a Prodrive WR kit that boosted power to 245bhp. The UK300 was an instant hit and Subaru UK subsequently introduced the Impreza WRX STi at the 2001 Frankfurt show offering 261bhp from its 2.0-litre flat-four engine.

The WRX STi Type UK is the officially imported, UK-specific version of Subaru's high-performance rally-bred flagship, to differentiate them from parallel imported models; unlike Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) imports, these cars were built for European roads and originally sold through official Subaru UK dealerships.

The 2002 Paris Motor Show saw the release of the facelifted Impreza with much of the credit going to Prodrive and the designer of the McLaren F1, Peter Stevens. With revised front wings, shapelier headlights, a more aggressive bumper and front grille, a resculpted bonnet and revised rear light clusters it was a far more cohesive design than its predecessor and sales soon picked up again, especially as its key rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, had just been toned down from its Evo VI heyday.

This 2003 MY WRX STi Type UK presented here was very well specified to begin with, but has been developed further by a series of dedicated enthusiast-owners, who have properly invested in it, now offering staggering and reliable performance. Back in 2007, the engine was taken to 2.35-litres (Wiseco 97.5mm stroker piston kit) and fully rebuilt by Subaru specialists Zen Performance of Cambridgeshire at a cost of £12,700 (full details in the file). Further developments included an ECU set up by Litchfield, an APS 3.5" race exhaust, AP 6-pot callipers and discs, EXE-TC Competition Suspension units, Exedy twin-plate clutch, Whiteline Performance roll bars, 4-point harnesses, HID headlights, and carbon rally-spec wing mirrors; it was fitted with a Litchfield twin-scroll VF37 turbo and a fresh cambelt at 37,766 miles.

This engineering work evolved further, with recent work (over the last three years) undertaken by Autorara of Derbyshire who carried out an engine-out rebuild, costing in excess of £18,000, to replicate/refresh its earlier enhanced specification, plus the fitment of adjustable suspension all-round and a rear Cusco strut brace, being properly rolling-road set up with a new ECU (£1,600) to produce a dependable 400-430bhp.

Accompanied by a huge history file (fully charting its development and investment), original Subaru book pack, and original steering wheel/seat belts. Having covered just c.40,000 miles and benefitting from much exacting mechanical improvement, this is a seriously capable fast-road or track-day machine, in ready-to-go condition.