Impreza nostalgia

Subaru have recently announced that they're ditching the Impreza name from their sporty models; it will remain for the mild everyday hatches and saloons, but the sporting variants will simply be badged as 'WRX' or 'WRX STI'.

Well, this gives me an excuse to get misty-eyed and nostalgic about the car that inspired unexpected twitchy feelings in the Gran Turismo generation - here are my three favourite iterations:

The 22B. It was a factory-built widebody two-door, built to commemorate both Subaru's 40th anniversary and a third consecutive WRC win. There were 399 built, around 50-ish of which were privately imported to the UK. We also received 16 of an extra 25 export models, designated '22B Type UK'. The name '22B' is commonly held to designate the 2.2-litre engine (rather than the standard 2.0-litre) and the Bilstein suspension.






The RB5. Built to mark Richard Burns' return to the WRC in car number 5 in '99, 444 Impreza RB5s were built in Steel Blue. Differences from the standard Impreza Turbo were largely cosmetic, but the addition of the WR Sport Performance Pack and the Prodrive Suspension Pack resulted in what the experts reckon is one of the best Imprezas ever.






The WRX STi Spec C Type RA-R. I just like it because it has a ridiculous name.





So, what's your favourite Impreza...?