Launched in 1992, the Impreza quickly became Subaru's most iconic nameplate. Although it's an affordable compact at the core, the Impreza became famous for WRX versions and the rally-inspired WRX STi. But even though the STi is known as the most radical variant of the Impreza, being built with technology from rally racing, Subaru once offered an even more menacing variant.

It's called the 22B STi and it was produced for only five months in 1998 to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary as well as its third consecutive title in the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Impreza 22B was a widebody version of the STi. It featured flared fanders taken from the rally car, extra vents on the engine hood, a unique front bumper, and larger, 17-inch wheels. The 22B also featured the largest rear wing fitted on a road-legal Impreza. It was manually adjustable. The Bilstein suspension and the bigger brakes made it the most agile Impreza in production at the time.

Under the hood, the 22B featured a bespoke flat-four engine with displacement increased from the STi's 2.0 liters to 2.2.

That's almost as much as the modern Subaru WRX STi.

Due to the short production cycle, the 22B was also built in very limited numbers. It was mostly dedicated to the Japanese market, with 400 units sold in Subaru's home country. All of them sold out hours after being put on sale. Only 24 examples were built for export markets, with 16 sold in the United Kingdom and five in Australia.

The Subaru Impreza 22B was not offered in the United States. All 22Bs were painted in a unique metallic blue color paired with golden wheels, now an iconic combination for all of Subaru's high-performance models.

These cars are now worth more than $100,000, but they rarely come up for sale. In 2016, a U.K.-spec model sold for $96,000 at auction, while another one was listed privately in 2019 for $145,000. Find out why the 22B is the greatest Impreza ever built with Doug DeMuro in the video below.