1994 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 'Acropolis'

First registered in Japan in July 1994, this is number 6 of those 100 Acropolis Rally cars and as such is pretty rare worldwide, let alone in the UK to where only a few like it have been imported.

This one came to the UK courtesy of Richardson Autos of Bournemouth in 2006 - with a little over 100,000 kilometres on the clock - and immediately sold to the current lady owner, our vendor, in August that year. Since then it has not just been very well looked after, but loved.

Our vendor has been into cars since her teens and she worked in the motor trade for quite a while too. When she wasn’t driving a parts delivery van, this Subaru was her daily transport and weekend fun - opening up a large social circle within the Subaru and Japanese car community, and providing her a welcome escape from health issues.

The Impreza has taken her to dozens of shows all over the UK, including the likes of Japfest each year and the more local Simply Japanese event at Beaulieu. She’s also driven it across to northern France for a short break around 7 years ago.

She’s always regarded the first-gen Impreza as an older car that needed looking after for future custodians, so although it sounds fantastic - a low rumbling - and has upwards of 250 bhp, she’s never explored the extent of its performance.

Having now “grown up” (her words) she has imported a Nissan Elgrand from Japan and has had it converted to a camper, so she can still enjoy the Jap-car scene but in more comfort. The Scooby meanwhile has been in storage for the last couple of years - although still kept serviceable and MOT’d.

Finished in factory specification Light Silver Metallic, with gold wheels, the paintwork looks in generally good order with just a small patch of bubbling above the right rear wheel arch. The car was given an exterior respray in 2020 after the removal of a striking grey camo livery. The bodywork appears undamaged and the panel gaps and shut lines are as they should be.

From the front, there’s no mistaking the STI influence - the pink nose badge, small black and pink side wing badges and the STI branded fog lamp covers. The rear, however, is unbadged but the huge (and unique to the model) boot-mounted wing and the large diameter tailpipe give the game away that this isn’t your average four-door Scooby.

The rear cabin windows have been tinted adding a touch more presence and the side repeaters have been swapped for clear lens items - although the amber originals have been retained with the car.

The car still has its Japanese ‘Shaken’ vehicle inspection expiry sticker in the corner of the windscreen - showing year 18, month 2 - which some may find confusing given that the car came to the UK in 2006. But in Japan, they count the years according to an emperor’s reign and Heisei 18 is the equivalent of the Gregorian calendar year 2006.

The 17-inch 7-spoke alloy wheels are a recent substitution and are not factory original (research suggests they were 16-inch 5-spoke) but we understand they are Subaru OEM, and painted in gold they look appropriate to the car. They carry a few scuffs and chips but otherwise appear sound.

A mix of tyres are fitted dating from 2013 onwards - Hankook Ventus, Deestone Vincente and Kumho Ecsta. The Kumho has some sidewall damage, so we would recommend changing it for safety and also ensuring that tyre tread patterns are not mixed on the same axle.

The two-tone grey interior looks in reasonable condition but is starting to show its age on the front bucket seats and especially the driver’s side where the fabric on the seat facing is bobbling and wear on the side bolster has caused a hole in the covering. The gear knob is also a little scruffy, but there are two used spares available with the car if the next owner wants to swap - including the original Nardi item. The Nardi steering wheel, however, still looks OK.

The dash, instrument panel and centre console look in good order, with a few optional extras fitted. There’s a turbo boost gauge sat atop the steering column and a Blitz FATT (Full Auto Turbo Timer) mounted below the Sony Bluetooth stereo. This timer ensures that the engine continues to idle for the correct amount of time to allow the turbo bearings to cool down depending on how the car has been driven. There’s also what looks like a dash cam mounted ahead of the rear view mirror.

The carpets are clean and undamaged and the Impreza overmats offer additional protection.

In the boot, the carpet and linings are intact - albeit a little scruffy. Stowed to one side is the jack and wheel brace and under the floorboard is a full size spare alloy wheel painted in black and sporting a barely-used Winrun tyre. Visible in the roof of the boot is the rear strut bracing with pink fixings.

The front brace fixings are the first things that catch your eye under the bonnet too - they were standard on the STI and match the pink “i” nose badge. There are a few other aftermarket pink fittings too - notably several Samco Sport silicone hoses and a battery strap. There are also some other STI branded upgrade items like the oil filler cap (original retained).

To give you some slightly more geeky specifics, the engine is a closed deck motor - which means it can be tuned to give more power without stressing the block or forged pistons. With a few minor modifications, including the new Blitz straight-through exhaust, this car is believed to be developing around 290 bhp currently, maybe more. During lockdown in 2020, the engine was rebuilt and a new LINK ECU fitted and mapped by Duncan Graham at Race Dynamics, and has not done many miles since.

Although some ancillaries and fixings appear rusty in places - possibly from its time in storage - everything has been well maintained mechanically and the car reportedly runs and drives brilliantly.

Most importantly, the Acropolis Rally number plate 006/100 is present, riveted to the offside suspension tower and there’s also a “Handcrafted & tuned by STi” sticker on the belt guard at the front of the engine.

The undersides of the car are in a reasonable condition, with the floor pans coated in older underseal and a layer of road grime. The rear subframe and a few other areas are a little rusty (as picked up on MOT) - but otherwise everything appears undamaged. A White Line anti-roll bar is visible at the rear.

The Impreza has a current MOT valid until May 2024, which it passed with advisories on minor corrosion underneath at the rear and the typical tester’s caveat of undertrays being fitted preventing full examination. In order to pass the recent test, the car had some welding done to the inner sill plus a few other sundry fixes and a Blitz Nur-Spec back-cat exhaust was fitted.

There is a small history file with the car containing previous MOT reports, a handful of garage bills - mostly from Subaru specialist Triton Motor Services at Bournemouth Airport - and the bill of sale from Richardson Autos to the current owner.

Notable among the invoices is a full exterior respray in October 2020, an engine rebuild in August 2019 and the vendor reports that the gearbox was replaced about a year before that. Since then, the car hasn’t been driven more than about 1,000 miles.

After import, the speedometer was converted to display mph but the vendor isn’t sure whether the odometer was too. It now reads 187,000 - the first 109k of which is definitely km but she has a suspicion that the remainder is too. Which means the car’s mileage is either 117k miles at best or 146k miles at worst rather than the displayed figure.

The exploits of the Banbury-based Prodrive Subaru 555 rally team are legendary. In the hands of Spaniard Carlos Sainz and our own Colin McRae, their Imprezas inspired millions of motorsport fans and car enthusiasts to look beyond the home-grown fast Fords to provide on-road thrills from their four-door daily drivers.

Even without the iconic blue and yellow 555 livery, WRX STI models are highly sought-after - and few more so than the first generation cars with closed deck engines. The only car better would be one of the first 100 JDM cars hand-built by STI themselves before they went into mass production alongside the regular Imprezas.

This is one such car - number 6 of 100 - and although it’s a slightly leggy example, it has been lovingly cared for and looked after by its lady owner since arriving on these shores almost 17 years ago.

We’ve guided it for sale between £6,000 and £8,000 - but it could well go for more because, quite frankly, that seems incredibly cheap for a numbered edition 250+ bhp performance car inspired by a nineties rallying icon.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Bournemouth, Dorset; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.