1996 Subaru Impreza WRX STI VII Limited

In 1988 Subaru formed Subarus Tecnica International – a motorsport division that was tasked with one purpose: Win the FIA World Rally Championship. With 47 overall WRC victories, 3 Constructor’s titles and 3 Driver’s titles, the STI nameplate quickly became synonymous with high performance and rally success in the late 90s and early 2000s.

To compete in WRC, the FIA required that cars be homologated in the form of a certain number of roadgoing versions and so in 1994 the first version of the Impreza STI was made available to the public with the model code GC8. There were 6 versions of the GC8 with the first one being offered exclusively to the Japanese Domestic Market and later versions being offered to select world markets.

The car you see above is a 1996 Subaru Impreza WRX STI VII Limited. Quite a mouthful but this car was produced in a limited run of 1000 units to celebrate Subaru’s success in the 1995 WRC. The 2-litre boxer engine found in the VII produces 202 kw and sends its power to all four wheels via a 5-Speed manual gearbox. Weighing in at just 1240 kg, the car sprints from 0-100 km/h 4.8 seconds and will accelerate to a top speed of 240 km/h – impressive statistics for a small engined, 4-door saloon in 1996! Showing 151 600 kms and finished in crisp white paintwork with the signature gold, period correct BBS wheels, what you get is a piece of automotive history.

A car built before some guy on YouTube could review it. A car that comes from an era where 0-100 times and top speed were a result of car manufactures competing for the top spot on the podium in highest forms of motorsport.