The Subaru Impreza WRX is one of the original tuner icons of the early 2000s. Long before every crossover came with fake vents and a sport mode button, the WRX arrived in Canada straight from Subaru’s rally program with a turbocharger, hood scoop, all-wheel drive, and a reputation built on gravel stages instead of marketing campaigns.
The “Bugeye” generation was the first WRX officially sold in Canada, and in the immediate aftermath of The Fast and the Furious, it quickly became the car of choice for an entire generation of enthusiasts. Tuners loved them. Street racers abused them. Rally drivers launched them through snowbanks. Daily commuters drove them year-round until the salt dissolved them back into the Earth. Finding a clean surviving Bugeye today feels increasingly rare.
Daniel’s 2002 WRX has evolved through countless stages to arrive at its current form: a carefully refined OEM+ build that respects the original spirit of the car instead of trying to overwrite it. The front end has been refreshed, the suspension sharpened, and the mechanicals improved, but the car still feels unmistakably Subaru. The details matter. ‘07 side skirts. An ‘04 hood scoop. OEM wing risers instead of the oversized later STi wing. Nothing forced. Nothing cartoonish. Just a sharper version of the car that rolled out of Subaru’s factory in Ōta City, Gunma Prefecture more than twenty years ago.
Parked beside it at last weekend’s Scarborough_Meets gathering at SkyCity was Alice’s VB-generation WRX: the modern interpretation of the same formula. While the Bugeye has spent two decades evolving, the VB remains largely untouched mechanically, still running its original engine, transmission, and suspension. Its Enkei PF01 wheels unintentionally echo the look of the classic BBS RK wheels fitted to the older car, while the subtle Kogeki duckbill spoiler adds personality without pretending to be an STi clone.
Seeing the two cars together for the first time was genuinely fascinating. Despite the twenty-plus years separating them, the family resemblance is impossible to miss. The proportions have changed. The technology has advanced. Safety, refinement, and efficiency have all moved forward. Yet both cars still share the same rally-bred DNA that made the WRX legendary in the first place. Same turbocharged attitude. Same hood scoop. Same World Rally Blue paint glowing under parking lot lights in suburban Scarborough.
Grandfather and grandson.
As the night continued, several VA-generation WRXs joined the pair for an impromptu lineup spanning multiple eras of Subaru performance. People circled the cars constantly, stopping for photos and conversations as the gathering naturally formed around the little blue Subaru family reunion.
And naturally, the jokes started too.
After Daniel left the meet early, he drove home in the newer VB while his father Chris stayed behind with the Bugeye. Within minutes, Daniel began receiving photos of strangers sitting in the driver’s seat, inspecting the car, and pretending to hand over stacks of cash for the aging WRX. Typical Demaras Racing behaviour.
The family that plays together stays together.
