Prodrive, the company that helped make Subaru a household name in the rally scene in the 1990s, is commemorating the Japanese brand’s overall World Rally Car (WRC) 1997 victory with a limited-run Impreza called the P25.
The P25 will take cues from both the champion rally car and the Japanese-built 22B road vehicle made to honour the brand’s big win.
The cars will be built on a lightweight chassis with carbon-fibre components and house a 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer engine like the original 22B, but set up with more modern tech and tuning to produce over 400 horsepower, according to its maker, over 100 horsepower more than the original 22Bs made. Unlike the original, however, it will pass power through a six-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifters rather than the storied stick.
U.K.-based Prodrive has once again tapped designer Peter Stevens and engineer David Lapworth, both of whom worked on the original Impreza WRC.
“The original 22B Impreza is considered the most iconic of Subarus and highly sought after,” said Prodrive chairman, David Richards, who came up with the idea for the P25. “We wanted to enhance everything that made that car so special by applying the very latest technology to create our own modern interpretation of a car that’s established a place in motoring history.
Production is limited to just 25 cars, each to be built at Prodrive in Banbury, U.K. Prodrive will debut the P25 in June at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Keyword: Prodrive to build two dozen 400-hp Subaru Impreza restomods