Impreza vs Evo – Chris Harris Relives the Ultimate 2000s WRC Rally Rivals

Like Blur vs Oasis, Apple vs Microsoft, and Liverpool vs Man United, Subaru Impreza vs Mitsubishi Evo is one of the great rivalries of our time. Two titans of the rally stage fought it out for a place in your driveway, creating one of the most exhilarating eras of WRC the sport has ever seen.

The early 2000s were the undisputed golden age of the World Rally Championship, an all-too-brief window when unprecedented manufacturer funding and God-given talent collided. Under the World Rally Car rules introduced in the late ‘90s, manufacturers were given immense freedom to build high-tech, fire-spitting monsters with active differentials, sophisticated anti-lag, and sequential paddle shifts. The result was a hyper-competitive season where half a dozen factory teams slugged it out on gruelling stages across the globe. The spectacle drew millions of fans and spawned the great Impreza vs Evo power struggle.

The 2001 season delivered one of motorsport’s tensest title fights. Heading into the final round at the RAC Rally in Wales, four drivers were still in mathematical contention for the crown: Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Tommi Mäkinen, and Carlos Sainz. When McRae rolled his Ford Focus out of the lead in a spectacular crash, the coast was clear for Burns. Driving with surgical precision in his Subaru Impreza WRC2001, Burns secured a third-place finish to seal his first and only World Championship by just two points.

By 2003, the championship reached another dramatic crescendo. It was the year Petter Solberg mounted a blistering campaign in his Impreza WRC2003, engaging in a season-long duel against a young, razor-sharp Frenchman named Sébastien Loeb. Solberg ultimately clinched the drivers’ title by a single point at the season finale, but the writing was already on the wall. Citroën captured their first Manufacturers’ Championship that year, marking the moment the torch was passed from the raw, mechanical drama of the late nineties giants to the era of clinical French dominance that would define the next decade.

Two iconic rally cars from the early noughties are up for auction with Car & Classic, both included in the next Collector’s Edition sale ending on 3rd October 2026. 

2003 Subaru Impreza S9 WRC, Chassis 15 – Ex Petter Solberg

This isn’t any old Scooby Doo. It’s a genuine Subaru World Rally Team works car, driven by Petter Solberg to second place at Rally Finland 2003, the very season in which he won his sole Drivers’ World Championship title. After retiring from the world stage, chassis 15 didn’t retire to a collection; it moved into UK and Irish national rallying between 2004 and 2010, racking up 12 further overall victories on both tarmac and gravel at events including the Killarney Rally of the Lakes and Malcolm Wilson Stages. It has since undergone an exhaustive, documented restoration back to original 2003 works specification.

2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, Chassis 4 – Ex Tommi Mäkinen

This is a genuine Mitsubishi works Lancer WRC, one of a very small number built by the factory team, with direct links to one of rallying’s true greats: it was campaigned by four-time World Champion Tommi Mäkinen at the 2001 Telstra Rally Australia, with co-driver Risto Mannisenmäki, and later driven by Jani Paasonen at the 2002 Neste Rally Finland. Following its works career, it passed into UK private ownership and competed in four further national rallies. Normandales, the same company that painted these cars when Mitsubishi originally built them, handled the exterior repaint, faithfully reapplying the factory livery complete with Mäkinen and co-driver Harri Hantunen’s names and “Tommi” lettering on the rear wing. The cockpit has been left deliberately untouched: original roll cage, OMP seats bearing Mäkinen’s name, and period switchgear all preserved rather than restored.

Impreza vs Evo – the verdict

Chris Harris got behind the wheel of both cars. Here’s what he had to say.

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