The Subaru Impreza 22B, one of the best-known and most celebrated homologation heroes of all time, will return as a limited-run restomod designed by Banbury-based Prodrive, the company behind origin of Subaru’s success in rallying.
Previewed in a sketch, the P25 appears to be nearly identical to the road-derived 1997 Subaru Impreza 22B, but it’s promised to be lighter, more powerful and better handling. Only 25 will be made.
Power will come from a 400bhp 2.5-litre flat-four engine, which will be mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox and housed in a new carbon fiber chassis structure.
Prodrive described the car as “an icon redefined”, making it similar in positioning to Singer’s Porsche 911, the Ferrari 250 GTO-inspired RML Short Wheelbase and the Kimera Evo37.
It will be revealed 25 years after Prodrive produced its first car built to World Rally Car regulations after the Group A era, the Subaru Impreza WRC97. This car lost the Drivers’ Championship by one point to Colin McRae but allowed Subaru to win the Manufacturers’ Championship. Only 16 examples of the road equivalent, the 22B, arrived in the UK – each with bespoke modifications by Prodrive.
“The original 22B Impreza is considered Subarus’ most iconic and highly sought after,” said Prodrive Chairman David Richards.
“We wanted to improve on everything that made this car so special by applying the very latest technology to create our own modern interpretation of a car that has made automotive history.”
The P25 was designed by Peter Stevens, who designed the 16 UK-bound Impreza 22B variants for Prodrive over 25 years ago. The car’s engineering was overseen by Prodrive Technical Director David Lapworth, who was responsible for the original Impreza WRC.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-05-25 09:15:00
