Any blue-blooded rally enthusiast will remember 2007: the launch of Subaru’s third-gen Impreza, and with it that gawky WRX hatch.
How could that blobby grocery-getter ever live up to the wide-bodied, big-winged, bonnet-scooped ‘hawk-eye’ STI of 2006?
Well, the hatch grew on us over time – especially when the wide-body STI arrived – but it didn’t stop Subaru returning to its roots with the WRX sedan.
Still, the impending launch of the new Impreza hatch got us thinking: what would a modern WRX hatch in the old Impreza tradition look like?
So we commissioned some renders from digital artist, Theottle, and everyone at the Wheels office reckons the result is rather, well, excellent.
The underlying shape is lifted from the MY23 Impreza hatchback with its broader front grille. Turning it into a WRX meant larger alloys from the tS Sportswagon, with the sedan’s controversial golf-ball cladding around the arches and – naturally – a bonnet scoop.
Hiding the wider wheels are subtly flared front and rear fenders to give the WRX hatch a classic rally-car stance.
Around the rear, we’ve got the WRX sedan’s rear diffuser with quad tailpipes and central rain-light all rounded out with a must-have roof spoiler. Overall, the treatment gives the WRX hatch a certain Mk3 Ford Focus RS swagger.
The renderings are of course, purely speculative – a bit of fun – with no WRX hatch suggested, in the pipeline, or spied out testing.
But would you prefer this WRX hatch to the Sportswagon? Let us know in the comments below!