A few years back, Subaru and long-time tuner and rally supporter Prodrive partnered up to produce a white-hot tribute to the WRC97 rally car and its street-prowling equivalent, the iconic 22B STI. Despite its now-retro looks, the Prodrive P25 may look fairly unassuming, and its 450-horsepower output, while healthy even by modern Subaru standards, isn’t lighting the world on fire either. But if you look a little closer, you’ll begin to understand why this tightly packaged rally homage sold out at its sticker price of $600,000.
If you think that’s a lot of scratch for a millennial’s Gran Turismo fever dream come true, then you’ll be appalled by the P25’s depreciation curve. In fact, that’s not even the correct term; try appreciation curve. This example for sale on Race Cars For You was listed for 700,000 pounds—$932,736 U.S. Yep, they want nearly a million bucks for something with last-gen pony car power and a silhouette from 1997.
Here’s the thing: It might be worth it.
Both Jerry and I have driven this thing. At risk of coming off like the elder millennial that I am, I have to admit that it borders on sublime. The brap-brap of the turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer is peak WRC nostalgia, and everything about the chassis and suspension feels beautifully dialed in. Sure, the WRX and STI (RIP) were always traditionally marketed as street-going rally cars, but in the P25’s case, it’s far closer to the literal truth.
Set aside the raw power figure for a second, because it’s really the least-interesting figure on the P25’s spec sheet. Let’s start on the other side of the equation. Thanks to its extensive use of carbon fiber and other weight-saving materials, the P25 weighs just 2,500 pounds. That’s 5.6 pounds per horsepower—50% leaner than a C8 Corvette. There’s no manual gearbox, because that’s not what the rally cars used. Yep, this sucker has a sequential. It’s a bit strange to use coming from a traditional automatic (or even the typical street-car sequential) gearbox, but hey, race car!
The example Jerry and I got to sling around Milford was fitted with standard buckets and three-point seat belts, along with a somewhat subdued set of wheels. This buyer sprung for the optional racing-style seats and Schroth harnesses, plus the throwback gold wheels. Yep, that’s exactly how I’d buy it. Time to start digging under the couch cushions…
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