Subaru 2000-2007 Impreza

Subaru's second-generation Impreza is remembered less for its sensible sedan and wagon bodies than for the performance flagships it carried and the sequence of front-end restyles that defined it. Built on the GD sedan and GG wagon platforms, the car ran from 2000 to 2007 and passed through three distinct noses that enthusiasts nicknamed the bug-eye, the blob-eye and the hawk-eye. The first of these drew enough criticism for its ovoid headlamps that Subaru revised the front end within a couple of years, and each subsequent restyle became its own reference point in the model's history.

Beneath the bodywork, the range stretched from modest naturally aspirated flat-fours to the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive variants that made the Impreza a household name. Subaru brought the turbocharged 2.0-litre WRX to North America for 2002, giving American buyers their first factory-turbo Impreza, and added the harder-edged WRX STI for the 2004 model year. The US STI adopted a 2.5-litre turbocharged boxer engine; in its final 2007 form it was rated at 293 hp, paired with a six-speed manual and the driver-adjustable centre differential that became an STI signature.

The generation's significance rests on two things: its role in Subaru's World Rally Championship program, where the competition Impreza campaigned throughout these years, and the cult following the road-going WRX and STI built among tuners and enthusiasts. Special editions, including UK models honouring the late rally champion Richard Burns, cemented its standing. By the time the hawk-eye cars gave way to a hatchback-led successor, the GD and GG Impreza had established the WRX and STI as fixtures of the affordable-performance world.