This past Sunday, The Car Cartel took over a huge office parking lot on Consumers Rd in Scarborough for a charity car meet supporting the local food bank. With automotive lifestyle vendors, a live DJ and a claimed 1,400 cars in attendance, it was very different from ImportFest the weekend before. This wasn’t a carefully curated car collection. Just rows of cars, crowds wandering between them, and gearheads happy to chat. A solid meet.
With the Synthwave SVX staying under wraps until Subie Showdown, Demaras Racing brought out the Bugeye WRX instead. The car is a daily, not a full-send show car. No wild wrap, no giant wing, just a clean build. World Rally Blue, silver BBS wheels, a few OEM+ touches and that Subaru boxer rumble. But all afternoon, people kept stopping to check it out.
The weird part was how young some of them were. A few of these kids were not even alive when the car was built. So the question had to be asked: how does a teenager know a 24-year-old Bugeye WRX? Easy. ‘Need for Speed.’
The original ‘Need for Speed: Underground’ dropped in 2003 and included a 2003 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS. Technically, it was not the turbo WRX. But it had the same 2nd Gen GD body, the same bug-eyed face and the same basic shape. Close enough. To a kid with a controller, that thing was a WRX.
And the game did not just hand it over. Players had to grind through 21 events before beating event #22, ‘Sprint Challenge,’ to unlock the Subaru. By then, they had spent hours ripping through wet city streets, dodging traffic and climbing the underground rankings. Getting the Impreza did not feel like picking a car from a menu. It felt like unlocking a new weapon.
Stock, it was not the fastest ride in the game. The acceleration was mid and the top speed was nothing crazy. But just like IRL, the AWD gave it grip, clean launches and solid handling. It was easy to drive fast, hard to completely screw up and perfect for players who wanted to send it through corners without eating the concrete divider. Of course, leaving it stock would have missed the whole point of ‘Underground.’
Players could upgrade the engine, ECU, suspension, tires and brakes. Add a bigger turbo. Throw in NOS. Strip out weight. Then came the visual chaos: wings, roof scoops, widebody kits, wheels, tinted glass, wild paint, vinyl graphics and sponsor decals everywhere. And neon. Always neon. A normal-looking Subaru could become a slammed, glowing, sticker-bombed rolling energy drink can. Taste was optional. Style points were not.
Then ‘Need for Speed: Underground 2’ brought in the newer Blobeye WRX STI, and 2005’s ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted’ kept the GD Impreza in the mix. To hardcore Subaru people, Bugeye, Blobeye and Hawkeye are totally different faces. To everyone else, they are basically the same blue turbo sedan wearing different headlights.
Older gearheads remember the WRX as the rally car for the street. Turbo, AWD, four doors and enough room for the family. The younger crowd remembers it from a TV screen, under neon lights, purging NOS before blasting down a rain-soaked boulevard. Different generation. Same hero.
The Bugeye is not just an old Subaru anymore. Somewhere between the rally stages, parking lots and PlayStation 2, it became a legend.