When you say Subaru , your brain will automatically think of the Impreza WRX STI . This rally gem is simply legendary. But it all started so inconspicuously…
Subaru will probably be associated with rallying forever. And despite the fact that the brand disappeared from the highest category of the World Championship five years ago, it left such a strong mark in it. At the same time, 30 years ago, you would not have thought to mention Subaru if someone wanted to name a manufacturer of rally specials after you. A few cars of this brand did appear at the start, but without factory support and without ambitions for the top position. But in order for the Impreza WRX STI to become one of the most successful competition cars, Subaru had to go a long way during development. And it wasn't just Legacy , which is well known to fans. Even before it, there was the Leone sedan, and in its third generation there was a supercharged version with all-wheel drive, which was called the RX Turbo .
In 1985, Group B was at the top. The Audi Quattro was retreating from the limelight, the Lancia Delta S4 was struggling on the racetrack and the season was dominated by the inconspicuous bespectacled Timo Salonen with the Peugeot 205 T16 . And Subaru deployed the new Leone RX with a flat 1.8-liter SOHC engine at the Safari rally . The simple, durable construction and symmetrical all-wheel drive meant good prospects for the African competition. Carlo Vituli won Group A and subsequently Leone took the top 4 places in Group A in New Zealand. A year later, a supercharged model with a power of 193 hp and a torque of 230 Nm was introduced. Of course, the car could not compete with Group B specials, but Mike Kirkland took sixth place in the absolute standings and won Group A with it. The next year, Possum Bourne sat behind the wheel of the car, which won a great third place at the home New Zealand rally. Bourne won factory support and became champion in the Asia Pacific Championship . In addition to these drivers, Ari Vatanen , Per Eklund or Shekhar Mehta also tried piloting the RX Turbo model. Already in 1988, however, it was clear that the car lacked performance, so a year later the more modern Legacy RS appeared on the tracks. But that's another chapter…
Photo: Wikipedia, bmsc, Rallymemory, tech-racingcars
