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Even in the world of cult cars, only a handful command a following the way the Subaru Impreza 22B does. And this particular example—which just surfaced for sale on Contempo Concept HK Motors—is a certified unicorn. There were only 400 22Bs to leave the Subaru factory (though some accounts say 424) as part of the official production run. However, there were also three prototypes…and this is one of them.
By today’s standards, the 22B is still a capable sports car — but in the 1990s, it kept supercars honest. Weighing just shy of 3,000 pounds, the 280-horsepower 2.2-liter turbocharged boxer hauled the 22B from 0 to 60 mph in five seconds; give it a dirt road, though, and nothing else from that era would be able to keep up, thanks to the car’s rally-spec breeding. To compete in the World Rally Championship manufacturers were required to build limited-run road-going versions of their race cars; for Subaru, it was the 22B.
This particular 22B is one of the pre-production models used for research, development, testing, and tuning. It only has 34 miles on the odometer — and you can bet not a single one of those miles was driven without a damn good reason, either.
This super-rare Subaru does come with a massive caveat or two. Since it’s a preproduction prototype, it can’t be registered; it is not, and will never be, road legal. Also, the price is listed as “on request,” which is usually seller-speak for “iI you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”
All that said, if you happen to have the funds to procure this ridiculously rare piece of Subaru history, you can still drive it in on a track…or on any privately owned dirt roads you know that would make good makeshift rally stages.
