Also: engine testing (is there any light finer than the glow cast by red-hot turbos?). We watch the team seam welding and making frame modifications (there's some great B-roll of a Brit no doubt named Nigel just hammering away at the Impreza's underbody). There's footage from the clay modeling process that allowed the swollen fenders on the WRC car, which translated to the Impreza WRC's on-road equivalent, the 22B. In the video, we catch up with Prodrive director David Richards, technical director David Lapworth, and designer Peter Stephens during the run up to the Impreza's launch. That means this video caught Subaru and Prodrive's efforts at a critical junction, when the new template for WRC cars hadn't yet cemented, and the future of rallying was opening up from a technical perspective. But early on in the season, the old Group A cars proved faster, making the jump to WRC spec a precarious one. WRC regs freed manufacturers from an obligation to produce homologated road cars, which cut expenses overall, so most manufacturers ditched the old ways. That meant manufacturers could choose between continuing with Group A specs, or adopt the new WRC formula. The long-running Group A regs, wherein rally cars were based on homologated road cars, were slowly expiring.

The 1997 season would see a colossal shift in regulations.

Hark! It's Rally Go-Go!, a hit of vintage rally footage to send you flying sideways into the weekend. You'll recognize it instantly as the 555-liveried Impreza WRC 97. That car ended up being remarkable, the manufacturer's championship winner for 1997, and one of the most beloved rally cars of all time. That means a trip to jolly old England, where the crew at Prodrive were hard at work screwing together Subaru's effort for the following season. This week, we turn the time machine's dial to 1996, for the preseason ahead of the World Rally Championship's 1997 season.

Colin mcrae rally 4