Subaru’s First Ever Car Headlines ‘Born To Rally’ Collection At New York Auto Show

Subaru is set to showcase a ‘Born to Rally’ collection of its most illustrious performance machines at this week’s New York International Auto Show, a collection that includes the first-ever car made by Subaru, a bevy of WRX coupés/sedans, and the Legacy Turbo that inspired the company’s famous World Rally Championship campaign.

Key Takeaways

• The 1970 ‘kei car’ 360 was Subaru’s first-ever car.
• Turbocharged Legacy from 1990 eventually inspired Subaru to go rallying.
• Two of the collection’s six WRXs – the STI Launch Edition, and the WRX STI S209 – are limited editions.

Eight-Car Collection Features Every WRX Generation Since 2004

The ‘Born To Rally’ collection has been donated (temporarily) to the New York Auto Show by its owner, and Scoobie, enthusiast, James Buzzetta, and features eight historically-significant Subarus dating between 1970 and 2024:

The ‘Born To Rally Subaru Collection

• 360 (1970)
• Legacy Turbo (1991)
• WRX STI, second gen. (2004)
• WRX STI sedan, third gen. (2014)
• WRX STI Launch Edition (2015)
• WRX STI Built by Vermont Sportscar (2017)
• WRX STI S209 (2019)
• WRX TR (2024)

Among the more notable models of the collection is a 1970 ‘360,’ the first-ever car made by Subaru since its early aircraft manufacturing and maintenance days. Originally designed as a compact ‘kei car’ for the Japanese market, the light, affordable and economical ‘Lady Bug’ as it was called, was powered by a 25-horsepower 356cc two-cylinder and quickly made a name for itself as an urban runaround. After a solid start to its four-wheel business, Subaru was off to the proverbial races.

Subaru 360 (1970)

The Legacy Turbo (1991) by comparison, featured a more robust, 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four, and, it’s noted, “marked a pivotal moment in Subaru’s performance history.” As a showcase of Subaru’s engineering prowess, to say nothing of the coupé’s durability and agility, it was the Legacy Turbo’s full-time, all-wheel drive system that effectively set the stage for Subaru’s celebrated campaign in the World Rally Championship. Indeed, between 1991 and 2003, the Japanese marque would go on to win the WRC Constructors’ championship three times, and take three drivers’ crowns with three different drivers.

Subaru Legacy Turbo (1991)

Six WRX STis make up the remainder of the ‘Born to Rally’ collection (Buzzetta is said to own the first model of every STI performance Subaru since 2004, including the first example to be officially sold in the United States). Amazingly, all bar one of these models, which span two decades from 2004 to 2024, are powered by the same, factory-spec ‘EJ25’ 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-four.

The sole outlier is the 2017 WRX STI ‘test mule’, developed by Vermont Sportscar – Subaru’s official motorsport partner in the U.S. – as a test bed for their performance components. As such, the 2017 ‘Vermont’ features a race-spec turbocharged flat-four, boasts an upgraded fuel system and VSC performance exhaust, as well as bespoke carbon bodywork (including the rear wing) and 18-inch ‘Motegi’ wheels. The second (2004), third (2014) and fifth (2024) generation models in the collection are all factory-spec.

Subaru WRX STI Built by Vermont Sportscar (2017)

Of the five WRXs in the collection, two – the STI Launch Edition from 2015, and the WRX STI S209 from 2019 – are special edition models, limited to 1,000 and 209 units respectively. The 2015 ‘Launch Edition’ features World Rally Championship-tributary blue paint (which continues as blue accents across the cabin) and gold BBS alloys. The S209, meanwhile, chassis 114 of the 209-unit run, was engineered by Subaru Tecnica International, and thus includes an upgraded turbocharger, “enhanced aerodynamics,” and track-focused suspension.

Subaru WRX STI Launch Edition (2015)

Subaru WRX STI S209 (2019)

Celebrating Subaru And The Buzzetta Dynasty

The Born To Rally collection on the show pays tribute not only to Subaru, but also the “the passion and vision of the Buzzetta family” itself. James Buzzetta, head of the Competition Auto Group in the U.S., is the grandson of Porsche’s first American factory race driver, Joe Buzzetta, who competed regularly with the Stuttgart brand in the World Sportscar Championship during the 1950s and 1960s. Following his time with Porsche, Joe, inspired by U.S. importer Max Hoffman – who, among other models, introduced the Mercedes 300SL ‘Gullwing’ and the Porsche 356 Speedster to North America, among others – set up a repair shop, now a five-dealer network run by James who began the Subaru collection in the early 2000s.

The Born To Rally collection will be on display at this year’s New York Auto Show from 18 to 27 April.