1998 Subaru Prodrive Track Car

This amazing Subaru serves up plenty of synergies with that competition backstory, too. It started its life as a Prodrive Impreza WR Sport hailing from 1998. The “WR” stood for World Rally and endowed this special edition with a raft of extra goodies direct from the Prodrive store cupboard. Then owner, Mark, was convinced this would be all the Impreza he needed but was soon persuaded otherwise by friends and peers. The first step was to make a range of Stage 1 enhancements including revised intake arrangements, a remap and de-cat exhaust system. Round 1 yielded an impressive 320bhp on the dyno.

Eager to see how his car fared in competition, Mark arranged some runs down Santa Pod’s legendary ¼ mile strip. His standard five speed gearbox had other ideas, quickly going from five speeds to no speed on the way to Santa Pod. Rather than damping his ardour this dragstrip disaster served to precipitate the next bout of upgrade fever. A six speed STi gearbox was fitted together with an API lightened flywheel and an Exedy Hyper twin-plate clutch. Employing the age-old petrolhead’s mantra of “in for a penny, in for a pound,” Mark commissioned Enginetuner Limited of Plymouth to not only strip and rebuild the EJ20 engine, but to go full Steve Austin (the bionic one) and make it “faster, better, stronger.” This work (more of which shortly) was undertaken in 2010 at a cost of over £9,000.

Mark then turned his attention to putting the car on a strict diet. Out came the standard interior along with “nice to haves” like the air conditioning and heater. The most drastic measure, perhaps, was when the roof was chopped off in favour of a carbon fibre replacement. These weight saving measures ultimately saw the car fitted with a “Superwide” four to two conversion body kit from Subaru styling gurus at ABW Motorsport. Numerous other aerodynamic mods combine with a stunning set of 10 x 18-inch XXR wheels to round out the car’s one-off track slaying demeanour. The latest dyno metrics confirm a 520bhp power output combined with 490 Ib-ft of torque. Wow! 

On first seeing this full-on track weapon, it is hard to take it all in. The eye tends to dart from the bright satin blue Frantic vinyl wrap to the lofty EP Racing carbon fibre rear wing, to the Alumalite front splitter with supporting rods, then down to those dramatic XXR 18-inch rims. The Superwide body kit doubles down on the car’s fully planted stance, clearly aided by the unseen D2 Racing coilovers. Once seen, never forgotten!

Once the brain has fully processed this initial sensory tsunami further bespoke details hove into view. These include the track appropriate polycarbonate tinted windows, the rolled wheel arches, STi alloy bonnet with reverse air scoop, Benen tow hook and GT door mirrors. There is no mistaking this car for a work-a-day Impreza and it is visually very clear the time, care and expense that has been lavished on this track special.

Our photographer has diligently captured the detail and drama of this car for your review, and our consignment team have noted a few areas of minor imperfection. These include some inevitable scuffing and marking to the front splitter and bumper. Some deterioration to the wrap below the rear lights are noted plus minor singeing around the tailpipe. None of this, of course, is sufficient to detract from the eye-widening theatre and drama of this rather special track car.

The pursuit of power in the development of this one-off car is matched only by the dogged pursuit of lightness. Nowhere is this more obvious, perhaps, than in the car’s interior. There is no longer anything here that doesn’t serve the master of either speed or track craft. A pair of black Cobra race seats dominate this stripped out environment. These are fitted with Sabelt safety harnesses anchored by a custom harness bar. 

Race specialists OMP provide the seat subframes, the steering wheel, competition roll cage and door bars. An NRG snap-off boss aids ingress and egress and what remains of the dash is flock finished. White faced Prodrive dials are present, and a JT Innovations shift light module sits front and centre atop the steering column. 

A high-specification JT Innovations Toucan Touchscreen display is fitted offering the driver a myriad of information and mapping options. Connected via the car’s canbus this interface allows the naming and easy selection of maps to suit given competitive environments. It also offers up fully customisable digital gauge displays, complete with audible alarms and dynamic peak markers. In fact, the driver has everything they need on hand here to get the absolute maximum out of this remarkable competition car.   

Following its comprehensive and specialist engine rebuild in 2010 this car’s EJ20 power unit is barely comparable with the original 2-litre unit and its comparatively modest 280 bhp or so. This example has been fitted with a 2.1 litre stroker kit together with a fully closed deck short block, rear thrust conversion, Wiseco forged pistons with K1 rods and a strengthened long-stroke crank. Cosworth main bearings and gaskets feature, and the cylinder heads have been rebuilt. A Blouch Performance GT35R billet wheel turbo charger is present with Tial wastegate and hybrid GT2 intercooler. An AlcaTek ECU is fitted complete with eight separate fuel maps. An RCM tubular exhaust manifold and rotated downpipe kit feed a Hayward & Scott stainless steel exhaust system with “Afterburner” tail pipes.

All this power needs appropriate guardrails, of course, and these are provided by the D2 Racing coilovers, lightweight alloy control arms and Powerflex poly bushes throughout. Eye popping retardation is provided by eight piston K-Sport callipers up front and an Sti Brembo brake conversion at the rear. It’s hard to imagine a more competition focussed bespoke specification than this one.

Under the bonnet it is fun, but quite hard, to play “spot the standard component.” The presentation is pretty good overall, too, hinting at diligent maintenance. What can be seen of the low-slung underside looks clean and straight and free from leaks. As you will see from our accompanying video this Subaru offers an entirely appropriately rorty and rumbustious soundtrack to go with its stunning looks.

There is an impressively complete paperwork archive included with this impressively complete competition car. A quick tally confirms that there are over £27,000 worth of invoices included here covering both top-specification parts sourced and services procured. It is well worth looking through these at your leisure as they add still more depth and detail to the sky-high specification already detailed. 

Other noteworthy documents include various dyno graphs and the current V5 Registration Document. The car is not road legal as a purely competition focussed bespoke special, so no MoT is on hand. Some earlier, pre-modification MoT hard copies are present as is a good, stamped service book from this car’s former life as a comparatively meek road car.

The Subaru Impreza’s huge reputation has been hard fought and won, primarily on gruelling rally stages the world over. This very special and unique car pays fitting tribute to that competition heritage courtesy of a peerlessly high track orientated specification. Every facet of the original car has been examined and optimised to maximise power and minimise weight. With the owner claiming the current 520bhp specification could support a theoretical 750bhp ceiling it seems clear this beast has more to give if required. This is a thrillingly rare opportunity to benefit from someone else’s hefty spend and skilful and knowledgeable configuration. An opportunity too good to squander.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £20,000 - £30,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.