The first and only Subaru road car to bear the Prodrive name, the Impreza P1 coupe, is ten this year. To commemorate the event, 100 owners of the Impreza P1 made their way to Prodrive's headquarters at Banbury on Sunday 9 May. They were joined by some 300 owners of various Subaru Imprezas and more than 1,000 fans of the brand.
Considered by many as one of the most sought after limited edition Imprezas, the P1 was developed as a joint venture between Subaru UK, the Japanese firm's STI division and Prodrive, which was responsible for the automaker's WRC cars.Based on the Japanese market Impreza Coupe, the P1 had significant enhancements engineered by Prodrive to the suspension, drivetrain, trim and aerodynamics.
It was powered by a modified version of the Impreza Turbo's boxer engine producing 280 horsepower and 363Nm of peak torque, compared to 218HP and 290Nm of the standard version
It came with Subaru's all-wheel drive system featuring a centre differential with viscous coupling while it also shared the Turbo's limited-slip rear differential.
British designer, Peter Stevens who was responsible for the McLaren F1 and Subaru WRC car developed a special front spoiler extension together with a new design of rear spoiler following extensive wind tunnel tests to reduce lift and improve balance.
The two-door car was unveiled by England's only World Rally Champion, the late Richard Burns, at the UK motorshow in 1999, and went on sale in 2000. At launch, Subaru and Prodrive planned a 500 car production run, but due to high demand a total of 1,000 examples were produced, all in the same unique blue color.
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