Why The Prodrive P25 Feels Like The Most Unnecessary Car of 2022

[@ftw1540]

I've had 2 imprezas, a classic and a blobeye. I loved them far too much. But. No impreza can EVER be worth half a million pounds. They are tinny, lightweight cars. Not premium quality machines, they can ever be that. Buy a one for 5 grand and get 80 percent of the thrills of the £500,000 version, spend the £495, 000 left on fuel - should last a couple of weeks! 👍👍

[@wizzyno1566]

21mpg I averaged. That would sting now. If I drove like a granny for a full tank I could get 27mpg. I never got more than that.

[@gavinleyfield3195]

Ha ha yeah, don’t think I ever got 20mpg lol.

[@msbarsi]

​@@wizzyno1566 That's exactly why I never bought one: in my hands even a 1.2L Micra becomes a gas guzzler let alone an Impreza or an Evo or an Integrale lol. Btw I had an Integrale kinda engined car that is a 1995 Lancia K Turbo 16V and my average was around 14 UK MPG and only once I saw 31 UK MPG and it was a miracle. Even my 2003 CL500 and 2003 E500 did around 14 UK MPG in town and around 20 UK MPG mixed driving. Now I have a 2012 E 350 CDI Cabrio 265 PS and it does 26 UK MPG mixed confortably. Cheers.

[@julianevans9548]

Just another car for people who literally have more money than they know what to do with. This money could be spread more equally within our society. Most of us have lost over 10% in wages when accounting for inflation in the last 10 years. The ultra-wealthy have more than doubled their money. But hey, 'capitalism's the only system that works'.

[@pistonburner6448]

Yeah...I've never driven an Impreza but how can it handle well with the engine in front of the front axle?? And doesn't its AWD at maximum lock up = provides 50/50 drive? Isn't it just understeer central?

[@johnhyoutube]

Completely agree with you James, the whole hyper priced restomod thing is nuts, and I would not be surprised if these so called investments take a bomb in years to come.

[@sen_ex]

Let’s hope they do so we’ll have a chance at being able to afford them XD

[@SURENITY]

Exactly.

[@kwl189]

They definitely will. This is a 100% nailed bubble.

[@adamski9370]

Have to disagree - look at what's happening to the JDM used car market in recent years. The US's 25 year import law is contributing to an already existing trend of increased values for older cars and the classics. The reasons I disagree are 3fold; They are bespoke and improved versions of the cars people lusted over or could never access. They are made in limited numbers, therefore the scarcity would aid holding value. Anyone able to afford the price of entry is buying this for emotional reasons - given that the ICE is being phased out post haste, the opportunity to own a reimagined version of a "Halo car" is also dwindling. I agree that the price not warranted but for the reason above, have no doubt they'll sell plenty

[@gabrieljones7676]

I have an impreza and rhe amount of money needed to put into it for the outcomes isn't actually worth it

[@wizzyno1566]

As an ex Impreza Turbo owner, 500k+ for that is just ridiculous... The whole point of the impreza turbo was supercar performance for ford escort money. Now its sub supercar performance for the price of two supercars?!?!?

[@djneils100]

I agree but there's clearly enough very-rich people who see it differently as they are all sold out AFAIK

[@robblair3703]

Sub supercar performance for the price of two supercars? So it's still Ford Escort money then lol

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Exactly

[@wizzyno1566]

@@djneils100 thats the free market for you! 😃👍👍

[@Rookiereece]

@@robblair3703 it's not a car that will be driven by the majority of its owners

[@anyau]

hand over £100,000 to any high end ''motorsport'' garage and they could build you the exact same thing. Ridiculous what they are trying to charge for this thing

[@dan44zzt231]

You might be lucky if your regular Impreza with 100k in it is worth 30k though. This thing will retain its value because of its pedigree.

[@anyau]

@@dan44zzt231 who cares what is worth. it's a car.. built to be driven.. anybody who cares about their money wouldn't be throwing 100k-600k on a F-ing subaru anyway

[@desburnett2023]

@@anyau A care of money will be why most of these have sold. A genuine enthusiast, intent racking up hoon-heavy, asset-devaluing miles would probably follow a procurement route akin to the one you've suggested, especially because they'll be able to have input in the build and they'll get a unique, personal product.

[@cutdepiefails6596]

Half a million I would expect a full rally impreza with a road interior and road gearbox. Full stop.

[@charliewright2667]

@@desburnett2023 anybody buying cars as an investment in this hyper-obvious market bubble is just beyond stupid lmao

[@yaboiyosef7640]

Imo the biggest crime considering the price is the Macpherson strut front. 500k better get me double wishbone all round, nothing less.

[@crztank9298]

A 5k 90's honda has double wishbone, it isn't that special.

[@danielkiss7003]

Wrc cars use macpherson struts There's nothing inherently wrong with them

[@POVShotgun]

Wait till I tell you about Porsches loll

[@AntoniusTyas]

MacPherson struts are not the problem, Singer 911 bar the GBP2million DLS used one, but at least the Singer 911 feels properly special. The Prodrive P25 looked just as low-rent as a banger GC Impreza on the inside.

[@indiebekonn]

@@AntoniusTyas dls has double wishbones in the front.

[@David-xc4us]

I am a big Subaru fan and have owned a few of them over the last 25 years, currently own a Forester STI, but for me it feels like this is a kick in the teeth as this car is completely out of reach for 99.99% of true Subaru fans….these will just go to the rich kids that will squirrel away and never get driven! Subaru and now Prodrive have lost all connection to working class car fans 😞

[@mzivtins]

This is a carbon bodied car with power to weight that will make most supercars worry, it absolutely makes sense. You cannot expect to afford a full CF body car for normal Subaru money.

[@PRG888]

@@mzivtins My 4c has a carbon fibre tub and composite body, ok not carbon fibre body, but you can get one for 40K

[@mzivtins]

@@PRG888 what the fuck are you talking about. I own a 650s and I bought it this year. The cheapest 4c in this country is 66k which is a high mile badly looked after example. The mean value of the 12c is fucking 85-95k Youre a liar.

[@AntoniusTyas]

@@mzivtins Aventador has all carbon body with extra all carbon chassis with an even more special engine. It doesn't cost 500k. At that pricepoint you expect hypercar-like performance, artisan craftsmanship, or both and this Subaru have neither Cayman GT4 RS-baiting performance nor Rolls-Royce Phantom level of detail and luxury.

[@mzivtins]

@@AntoniusTyas The Subaru has a better power to weight ratio than the Cayman GT4rs, and is built by prodrive, which if you understood exactly who prodrive are, you would understand they are much better than Lamborghini and Porsche at building cars, that is where the price that comes in, you wont find glue and plywood in a prodrive car, instead thousands of trophies from the best of motorsport attributed to it. No comparison and no competition. This car has sold out already to those who understand what makes pedigree... hint; it isnt some german drivel machine design to sell finance.

[@zenzombie72]

Buy two 22Bs. Drive one like it's mean to to be driven. Keep the other more pristine. You still save 150-200 grand.

[@k-peezy2723]

Or purchase the original Prodrive P1 version of the 22B made for the UK market for even less.

[@jeff666p]

22bs go for around 300k

[@4Kandlez]

22B's aren't exactly popping up in Autotrader every week, not real ones anyway

[@jeff666p]

@@4Kandlez a 22b would probably never be on auto trader. There were only around 400 made for over seas. This will never be on auto trader as well. This is a specialty car . I don't know why you brought that up . If you want a 22b build a rep. To build a rep of this will probably cost as much or more then what they're selling for

[@flibberflops]

4:47 I must admit I like the classic porshe styling they have added to this P25

[@michaelsdiscusandatticaqua9155]

I just jumped into the comments to see who else noticed 😂

[@Electrobilia]

For 600k I'd want my car to shape shift as well.

[@JoeEngineer]

Came here for this.

[@R03333]

The problem with an expensive Subaru is you can pay 10% of the price and get 90% of the experience just buying a normal one.

[@jondonnelly3]

and you can modify it to get it to 98% of the experience, but it's not a prodrive and for 25 people that matters

[@benc911]

You'd wouldn't be able to buy that gearbox for the price of a sti. I own a 2006 Hawkeye sti and they need some serious money thrown at them to make them A. Reliable and B. Handle much better. Also only 280bhp. This thing is north of 450bhp.

[@R03333]

@@benc911 Imagine taking your Subaru to a tuning place and the bill coming back at half a million. Ultimately its the perfect creation for 25 people who want this very specific thing. All I can hope is depreciation hits hard and in 15/20 years these unicorns are floating around second hand at reasonable prices.

[@randyb4403]

The P25 is a special car. Watching it go at Goodwood you could tell the car is set up by people that know what they are doing, and that’s what you’re paying for. Could you build a fast Impreza for cheaper? Of course you could, but it would have the parts and knowledge to go with it that you get with a P25. I would love to see more cars go through such a transformation.

[@MrFredscrap]

This is the kind of horsecrap frenzy before the early 90's crash, it's the same bubble (again), ready to pop.

[@mikedrop4421]

I'm a JDM guy all the way. I only drive Japanese. Part of the reason we all got into Japanese cars was the value for money. The whole "punches about its weight" thing. No Japanese car besides possibly the LFA should cost more than a Scuderia.

[@greyguy.960]

You can't tell others what a car is worth to them or others. Clearly, people love this car and its prices reflect that, is way beyond " value for money" which is not common vocabulary in the restomod world or among car enthusiasts.

[@harrisr1018]

What about a clean r34?

[@greyguy.960]

@@harrisr1018 you could say -What about any car that is valued by a few people? He should know ex-rally cars or models based on having such fans especially pro-drive. The one-offs in the past have been amazing and some even game changing.

[@frankz5864]

The lfa shouldn’t be worth more than a scud. It sounds great but that’s about it

[@KikuraKun]

@@frankz5864 An LFA is a luxury, so it's more premium than a Scuderia which is lighter. It says true on most Lexus cars today.

[@hexgraphica]

And I'm sure if you walked to Prodrive in a GC8 and said "turn this into a supercar with widebody, rally suspension, sequential box and cosmetic upgrades" they wouldn't charge you more than 200k, and you'd have a better car probably

[@m7dgz]

The restomod thing for me is representative of how stale modern high end cars have become. All we see predominantly is slight evolutions of a previous model of car. We've had probably 15 to 20 years of cars having essentially ridiculous amounts of power, and newer models upping it a little more each time, but there appears to be very little original thought or design out there - thinking about cars that were genuinely different and stood out, like the Zonda or the Nissan GTR, either because the design was amazing or they achieved something really new through application of technology. So, given that most new high end cars (to me) are just 'meh' incremental upgrades of what went before, and given that I don't think we are in a vintage period for car aesthetics currently, I can understand why someone would look at hero cars from 20, 30, or 40 years ago that were truly different or beautiful or groundbreaking I some way and think, wouldn't it be great to have that in a package that is usable and as easy to live with as a modern car. I guess with the move to electric power trains, it's going to be more and more common to see rebuilt classics reimagined as an EV you can use every day.

[@TurboHappyCar]

Good points but I disagree about the electric power train. The appeal of the classic cars is for the real life visceral experience. EV's just don't do that. Sure they can be fast, but they have no soul. Not like a cranky old engine that starts when it wants to, or a gearbox that requires a special touch to get into gear.

[@no.7893]

@@TurboHappyCar hopefully Hydrogen engines will get going so that the people who really care about their car having a beating heart can still get something new in the future.

[@2moke2creen]

@@no.7893 I'm betting on biofuels. F1 will show us if it's feasible. Hydrogen will probably come after.

[@martinphall1446]

Complete agree, 500k plus for a rally spec Impreza. These cars will never see the light of day tucked away in a millionaires underground garage. Car market has gone mad. I will beGoing to go back to muscle sport bikes to get my kicks again low insurance and maintenance costs. Won’t be buying a fun car for a while due to having to spend silly money on a car that’s quick and exciting to drive and not just a point and shoot auto box that Lacks Soul and feel behind the wheel.

[@RocketPropelledWombat]

Same here, I'm going back to bikes. Even fast cars are boring but I was prepared to buy one or two childhood dream cars next year. The problem with that is, they're now 'worth' £150K. Joke, they aren't worth that at all, but some dips***s with too much money & not enough sense decided they are so I'm going to get me a 2004 ZX10R and have fun the old fashioned way!

[@JizzaaNizzaa]

Great thoughts James! Agree that they will just be an asset to most of the owners, and wont get driven - that's a shame. As a 26 Y/O Enthusiast, I wasn't even in the market for a car at all and yet I bought myself a GR Yaris. I don't think anything even compares in the value-for-'special type of car' category these days.

[@thebox378]

I just got my gr86 a couple of months ago and I must say that Toyota really knows how to make cars for people who actually want to drive them

[@AntoniusTyas]

The price makes absolutely no sense. Imagine paying Ford GT money for a Subaru. Also, they said it has bucket seats. Those are bucket seats in the same sense as how my old sofa was a bucket seat.

[@ScottSchubel]

the car reviewed has an OMP seat on the passenger side. James may have needed/preferred a 3 point belt for the street. Agreed on the absurdity of the entire project.

[@AntoniusTyas]

@@ScottSchubel I think the car on the Goodwood has normal STi seats

[@projectnorahlyne1018]

@@AntoniusTyas it does have normal seats. But, they will strip out the back seats & put a cage in it. Then the seats that they should have put in, in the first are an optional extra!!!

[@5555petros]

Half a million quid is manual 599/Murcielago money. Even 300k for a 22B is insane to me.

[@DavidFerriday]

Feels like a re-trimmed money grab to fish on past glory to me. They noticed prices are crazy, so decided to cater for the same 'Mr Moneybags' customer at the expense of the actual fanbase. I'd rather go for the OG 22B and have lots of money left over.

[@BiglumpADV]

Agreed, the P25 is simply a cash in on trend car with a huge mark up. A shame really as they are such a capable company and could clearly do better for less, and likely sell more of them too.

[@saxon-mt5by]

I doubt there was any incentive for Prodrive to build more of them; they only have the capacity to build a handful.

[@kenecchi]

Feel more or less the same way about the Built By Legends cars. Up until this point, JDM cars have been great because they've been relatively inexpensive, endlessly customizable and not worth so much to where you had to be afraid to drive them.

[@stephendeben1590]

The built by legends cars are one offs, they’re still mass produced 90s Japanese sports cars, just with like 500k of modifications in them done by the best shops in Japan. The prodrive is a small production run supercar really.

[@bigrobsydney]

I bought my 22B in 2007 and sold it in 2014. I got a good price for it at the time, and put the money into a property. The reason I sold it, is that it was going up in value, and I was afraid of bending it. It would cost a fortune to fix. Also, people had followed me a few times, and I wasn't sure if I was going to wake up in the middle of the night with a few strangers at the foot of my bed "asking" me for the keys. I loved the original, and I have a hard time understanding the price of this one. I've said it more than a few times; I think Roger Clark or even ScoobyClinic could build you a similar car for MUCH less. Dave Richards at Prodrive must need a new yacht or plane.

[@wizardssleeve6049]

460k for a turbocharged biscuit tin ? That's brutality.

[@jontheodore8450]

I think you are bang on I sold a lot of these Subarus used in the early 2000s WRXs, STIs, WR1s, UK300, P1, and so on up to about 2015 then prices went mad the same with EVOs. Yes they are great cars & fun to drive, will always put a smile on your face!! but I just don’t get todays prices or the hype they were great cars at the time but not worth that sort of money, Great Video👍

[@aliascent]

If we're going to rebuild old legends and slap a horrendously high price tag on it, can we at least build late 90's Le Mans homologation cars ? The world needs more CLK GTR, Porsche GT1, Nissan R390, Toyota GT One, etc.

[@Autograss100]

I have an original Impreza WRC car for sale for way less than the price of this P25, I do not know how the P25’s price is justified if you can buy an original WRC car and run it / rally it for years to come before you get near the price of the P25

[@PDC4Life]

Why is nobody talking about the random inclusion of Porsche 968 drive bys rather than the Impreza in this wideo?!

[@aleksandrk9452]

A bit late to the party but here are my 2 cents - you seem to like to do follow ups on your own reviews. You did it with Abarth which was a pretty cool sign of dedication. You actually now forced me to rent a 595 through Truro and verify if points you made are really valid. If those points in fact are true (which I think they will be) Abarth will become the biggest disappointment in cars that I have ever had. Never driven one but drooled over it every time I saw one on the road. Speaking of P25 and follow ups - why don't you spend some time comparing P25 with the rally Impreza by which all of this jazz was inspired? Because you make a very valid point in this video about Prodrive probably thinking that P25 actually IS the rally car with number plates. So the only way to fiind if thatš what it is would be to compare them like for like. Gearbox, suspension travel, power weight ratio, if running rally petrol makes a difference and I'm your petrol head will come up with more angles worth comparing. Just a though for you there :)

[@jamessheehy4895]

Love all your rants are absolutely superb

[@gepal7914]

I loved my 1997 Impreza. Kept it for 22 years. But you are quite right about how ridiculous this car is at the price.

[@jamesbuckingham77]

I had two Impreza P1's back in the day (not at the same time). Back then you could not give them away when it came to selling. I remember selling one of mine, completely standard with 80k miles for £7,500. Oh how I wish I had a garage and enough money for a second car back then! The problem with this car is it completely goes against the entire point of the thing it's trying to emulate and celebrate. The fact you could have a car that could take on a Porsche 911 and the like for sensible money. That you could own a version of the machine you saw Makinen and McRae smashing through the forest stages for under £30k (new at the time) was amazing. This just goes against everything the original cars stood for.

[@chasemer6]

Fantastic commentary as usual James! In many respects, you feel like a long lost brother from the other side of the pond. Lately, I have also been meaning to give you praise for your excellent delivery in your videos. You have impeccable cadence and flow with your delivery. Prost!

[@thisisanno]

As a former Scooby guy (Cossiekiller) I totally agree with most of what you say but the fact remains that it's an engineering exercise to celebrate the Impreza's heritage, and the fact they are only making 25 and they are all sold tells you that it's a success. It's sad that it's out of reach for most true fans but business is business. Remember, anything is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it and if I was a multi-millionaire I would have snatched one up for sure, the main difference being that I would rag the arse off mine as I did with my old Scooby. 😉

[@ironkcirb285]

What it is james , the return of the late 80's "investment market " And that interior alcantara overload.

[@guardrailbiter]

Prodrive is not limiting production to twenty-five just for the sake of "exclusivity." The truth is the P25 only makes sense and would be purchased by twenty-five people in the world.

[@Mark-qq3xy]

Back at Goodwood they already had a waiting/cancellation list of 22 people on top of the 25.

[@adamlifshack3684]

Completely agree! I wish more companies would offer these kind of cars at a lower price

[@skyty0]

Bucky Lasek's 22B-esque GC8 is more impressive than this and has a build cost that's a fraction _of a fraction_ of what Prodrive is asking for this thing. I was so underwhelmed when I read the announcement for this a couple weeks back.

[@stanneh1978]

The worst thing about this is that ProDrive put all that effort into manufacturing and designing all the Carbon fibre then limited it to 25 cars rather than allowing the world to buy those body parts and basically the full conversion kit for others to use, in mass production like that you could wipe hundreds of thousands off of the price per car and they would make a lot of happy fans.

[@ahh4542]

I'd buy a quaint victorian farmhouse with a refurbished interior, An £150,000 Focal speaker system, An An-2 aeroplane, and a deep turquoise Citroen SM for the price they are asking for that Impreza.

[@neilturner6749]

After the plane, SM and the sound system, you’ll have enough money left to buy the £25k Aga for that Farmhouse and the rest of the £200k that it costs for a quality period-home refurbishment, but what about the actual Farmhouse itself?

[@coldvaper]

As someone who always wanted a 22b the only impreza I have ever wanted I was initially excited I thought maybe it would be affordable and accessible to people like me then I saw the price and the production volume and boy was I wrong. I do not care that cars like this exist anymore stuff that is so limited and expensive doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't even bother reading or watching anything on stuff like this anymore. Even if I won the lottery I wouldn't even consider buying one of these anymore, thats how much I don't care about them.

[@SURENITY]

Let's be honest, in 2012, this thing was almost dirt cheap.

[@TheShinyShow]

I love the principle of basically rereleasing cars, like MST doing Ford Escorts or Aston or whoever that would take a car and totally restore it, but the prices are always ridiculously unreasonable it's pointless.

[@chrisslater3174]

That 968 was so much more desirable...and I actually like the 22B! The vid made me want the Porsche.

[@michaelr205]

Trying to work out why the drivers seat release lever was on the inside, by the passenger seat and notby the door.

[@eddie275a]

A big Impreza fan here and deeply disappointed when I first heard the price tag for this. At 500K, there are so many much more appealing exotics than an Impreza (even if it has been fettled by Prodrive). Heck one could buy a small collection of very desirable, yet still great to drive, exotics (albeit less rare) for the price of that one Impreza.

[@jinglemyberries866]

Yea. I could buy my entire dream car garage for this price.

[@mrjb2939]

I’m a collector who uses cars. Had a Singer, have a Tuthill car in build. The idea of old car character with new car safety, reliability and dynamics really appeals for daily driving. I liked the sound of the Scooby from Prodrive until I saw the price. And then saw the interior which was just the standard plastic covered in alcantara all over. For the money you could have bought a genuine ex- Richard Burns WRC rally car which is road legal. I also just don’t get the price of this at all.

[@deanchur]

What does a Mine's R34 or Lexus LFA go for now? If they're the same price as the Subaru then why would you ever bother with the Subaru?

[@markonmotoring]

Sadly I think the trend for four wheel museum exhibits is already well established. Be it resto mods or modern classics, cars that were built to be driven and in some cases we watched compete on the world stage and we dreamed of one day experiencing these cars. Now we will never have that experience because of the grossly inflated values keeping them out of reach of real enthusiasts. I still think part of this is down to poor saving interest rates and the fact that you don't pay capital gains tax on cars. They really are becoming attractive investments and for that reason will be locked away in storage for decades at a time.

[@iannorth5958]

Completely agree with you there James Couple of observations 1 cyclist is pretty rapid 2 in a couple of shots it appeared to morph into a Porsche 944 which would be significantly cheaper, cooler and more desirable

[@karacop78]

I agree. An 812 GTS costs around the same. No further arguments needed.

[@mawaboutcars671]

Less, even! Have an 812GTS, on the used market, and then have a little under £150k to spend on something else, a classic BMW and Merc, a V10 RS6 for a daily, and something else silly.

[@jmmeares]

I'm with you for the most part of this video James. Put simply, "desirable cars" are an asset class. Just like watches, property etc. It's sad but unfortunately it's the way it is. I remember when I could buy a Peugeot 205 GTi here in Australia for sub 10k. They're now 30 to 40k and I can't imagine you're going to want to drive them how they were intended for that kind of money. I disagree with you saying you want "more special cars to be accessible to more people"... that's an oxymoron. If everyone has said "special car", they are no longer special.

[@tommybronze3451]

Actually when looking at the bonnet reflections - I don't know when I've seen one that wasn't scratched like hell, even the dealer version came pre-scratched for you.

[@fmvtec85]

Great video and I totally agree with you. PLUS: I laughed so much when I realised that the easter egg in this video is a type of subtle sarcasm I didn´t know yet.

[@bingoberra18]

James I think your speculations and opinions on this particular build is a bit early. The show car was a pre-production car. And "no one" has driven one yet. Prodrive have also been very bad at being transparent as to where all the money is going. If they would have created a KZbin series like for the GMA T50, showing in detail what they are doing to the chassis, what work is behind the carbon fibre, the selection and tuning of suspension etc etc there would be understanding of the price I belive, even if many would still rather spend it on something different. Now even the 25 buyers will be universially questioned about if it was worth the cost. I wrote to prodrive and asked them to make an in depth video about the development of the P25 but got some halfhearted answer to follow them on social media. I will await my final judgement on the car until I see some reviews from our fav carreviewers.

[@ROKKET71]

Watch JayEmm to see how you’re supposed to drive when you encounter a cyclist/cyclists. I wish you would do a KZbin video on this. You could educate a LOT of drivers.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

I am very seriously considering it. It's starting to annoy me, and I don't even cycle much!

[@jonnyholton2196]

Looks like he's on the crow road, North of Glasgow, which is a go to place for local cyclists. I also get angry with fellow cyclists when they ride like arses out in groups I'm in.

[@jonfrank2566]

You make fair points about the car and the ethos behind the project, but the same could be applied to pretty much any limited edition car north of £500,000 these days ( and there are a lot of them ). The engineering, good or bad though it might be, is totally irrelevant in reality, as most of them are hardly driven at all, and, if so, certainly not anywhere near their supposed capabilities. These are just automotive bitcoins and the sooner we get back to some reality, the better...

[@ashtondimovski7074]

If they had done it like Jaguar did a few years ago, it would be fine. Jag built a few extra C-Types (or D-Type? Can’t remember - the one on the Grand Tour), at £1 million pounds per pop. Given that the originals costed around £25 million a pop, that represented excellent value for money. So in this case, if the originals are £300 thousand or so each, had they built these and sold them for less than that number (say £150k a pop) then it would work out really good. These cars would both be driven and would appreciate. This? Close to greatness but missed it.

[@chrisroberts1440]

I had a classic turbo for 13 years and loved it, part of the reason was it being great value for a quick and practical everyday drive. It was never meant to be fancy, just something for someone that enjoyed driving. I had a similar reaction to you when I saw the Goodwood reveal, seemed a bit pointless really.

[@ians2868]

Couldn’t agree more James, in evo the other month they had an proper rally version built from a bare shell with modern rally suspension that you could buy plus a 22b for the same price and I know what I’d have. Keep up the great work a fan since you had less than 1000 subscribers Edit as a couple of bits I missed, it has the blessing from jimmy McRae to use Colin’s name and they’re only making 8. Price is £370,000 including UK taxes. It deals with the interior issues and as these cars will hardly be used why not go properly hardcore to get the biggest scooby hit you can

[@nigeltrump6443]

I currently got a v5 limited type R and a rb320.. Absolutely love them, only thing I love being a petrol head as it has stuck its middle finger up at the whole electric car idea in 2022..

[@mikeandmutley9604]

I have a p1 and a wrx ra 555 ltd in my collection. I believe they use type R Impreza’s as donor cars. If the r25 had been 200k I think I’d have been interested but at 500k, I just don’t get it

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

You covered it spot on Jay. The Impreza was attainable. Now it's not.

[@brianjames5685]

Why does the Subaru keep transforming into a Porsche? ( eg:- 4 minutes 51 seconds). Anyway cool video thanks man!

[@JayEmmOnCars]

That's the car I am driving

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

These prices are insane I'm guessing it has to with financial incentives someone mentioned that no capital gains or some form of tax was not paid. At those prices just buy a variety of other cars. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

[@graemejohnson9025]

McMurtry Spierling Please... And cheaper, and faster, and more fun...

[@indiebekonn]

@@graemejohnson9025 mcmurty is 1000000£ plus isn’t it?

[@graemejohnson9025]

@@indiebekonn nup, go to their website for pricing... 150 to 250k... But they are interested in bulk buying, if interested in creating a car racing series..

[@indiebekonn]

@@graemejohnson9025 something has changed then, it was supposed to be super limited to just a few cars and 7 figures. Well, anyways. It’s as useless as that pro drive thing.

[@graemejohnson9025]

@@indiebekonn only a idiot would buy this, because the Real, Original rally cars are going up big time, which will Devalue this car, enormously.. a mate has a Australian, rally championship car.. $$$$

[@denisspratt926]

You do know that real WRC cars have to be road legal? Cause they do go on public roads between special stages the rules say they have to be fully road legal and carry license plates and standard safety equipment.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

I do know, there's even special clauses in the MOT regs to allow it, but you get the idea...

[@denisspratt926]

@@JayEmmOnCars yeah. But not everyone knows that😉 Nice video though.

[@guylambrechts2303]

I've wondered who would be the first to attack the ridiculous prices of these restomods. Id had to be you of course. Saw Shmee's video on his 100K options Ferrari and it's indeed where the market is going towards. Very expensive cars for who can afford them and lots of profit for who's building them. Last moves before it all comes down? We'll see but as a person on the other side of the wealth scale I'm surely not amused. Therefor your opinion is as always very much appreciated!

[@pizzagogo6151]

As a total JDM fan , I love these restomod style cars - yes it’s a huge bunch of money (& no I wouldn’t spend it even if I had it)but anything over 100k on any road car if a silly waste of money....but if you’ve got it to spend why not? way more fun than some boring modern car that will be forgotten in 2 years time...

[@gonzalodequesada1981]

That is insane. For that price you can buy a real 22b and have some change left

[@Richard_Turner]

Think you hit it spot on. I feel very much the same. The fact they have all sold says more about people than it is a highly sort after car. Guaranteed to never see them on the road. My only hope is prodrive use the profits to bring something good to the masses.. I won't hold my breath!

[@graemejohnson9025]

Here is the silly question.. Ask prodrive to actually show that all cars are sold.. Because what idiot would pay that much for a Subaru clone... that's all it is... Buy an original one, not a clone... my mate has a Australian rally championship original car.. Not a wanker clone..

[@Richard_Turner]

@@graemejohnson9025 you know what they say about fools and money

[@AntoniusTyas]

@@graemejohnson9025 it is not a Subaru clone... but it is JUST a Subaru. Made to look _SOMEWHAT_ like an old WRC cars. I think a Japanese guy actually use WRC car chassis and build himself road-going GC8 Impreza WRC for daily use. For less than what Prodrive asked. Guess I can see why Daniel Elena was fed up with Prodrive and decided to end his partnership with Sebastien Loeb...

[@sleepingdragon]

Could not agree more: The only cars I have ever purchased were Subaru (currently own 2) or Lancia AWD. In the late '90s in the UK I was offered a 22B as my work car (the boss had several silly vehicles in the company fleet, and knew I didn't like the large ones). I drove it once, thought it offered amazing performance but a compromised ride quality (very crashy/loud over potholes) and handed it straight back because my personal car was nicer to drive (an Integrale Evo II, maybe objectively slightly slower, but much nicer). A GR Corolla looks like the best replacement for that type of driving available now (if you can source one).

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

It's a symptom of the craziness that is the current classic car market.

[@Carrera-gp9od]

I’m an ex Impreza owner myself , I couldn’t believe it when I saw the price of these Utterly insane

[@RC-wb6gv]

You are absolutely correct James. Looks wise ..so what…..engine wise….so what……interior…? Just normal impreza with alcantara and…. on the seats at least, saggy alcantara. I saw it fos in the paddock, and they seemed to be having lots of trouble with the gearbox. So perhaps they won’t be driven, because they actually can’t be. Silly car

[@comeberza]

I agree with almost everything. This era of continuous ultra expensive cars that fill the pages and we never see again is kind of boring. There are a couple videos of Bugattis being driven but most are from Bugatti themselves. Some channels have popped up about car collections but its clear that they are desperate for power figures and views and cars are just a way to get both. I dont know if we could call the instagram phenomenom or what. Yesterday koenisseg, mclaren and Bugatti announced cars and yet the inmaculate peugeot 205 I came across felt way more special and real. That's why I like channels like yours, where a 968 feels extremely special the video isn't even about it. This keeps the passion and hobby going, not middle east king's sons living in London posting about their Sennas

[@AquaValet2009]

It's a car for people who have so much money that they are clueless about the value of money. Also, part of me wonders about what the values of these will do over time. Whereas originals of certain cars will appreciate in value at a certain point in time, will what is essentially a copy do the same? Maybe, or maybe not. On another note, couple of shots of a Porsche in the video. Do we get points for spotting that?

[@SteveDull]

Hey, a car that changes shape is well worth 600k! Could of gone the extra mile and changed colour as well - or is that an option?

[@Grayman222]

I had thought the donor was a 90s wrx/imprezza not a 22b. The idea was to resto mod a standard car into a 22b/rally car. I can definitely be wrong though!!

[@Grayman222]

Then it's fine to drive and fucking thrash that car because it's not rare, just expensive.

[@beachamgroup2482]

You are bang on. Things have gone too far. Toyota Yaris - a sensible priced car that should hold it's price or go up in value. I have my Subaru Sports Special in Cashmere Yellow. It was £500, has done loads of rallies. It's in for new rear arches and sills so will be rust free. It will be used regularly for the next 20 years at least.

[@vytas5584]

I think it’s really cool and it’s price should be equivalent to what they were when they made them. Then lots of people can have them and have a big club.

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

Collector item for wealthy investment portfolio?

[@artureff3046]

why not? and a daily on some desert city?

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

It's one of those things like a Singer... They only make sense to the people who are deep enough into their particular car cult and cashed up enough that the price is neither here nor there. If you have to have one, then you just have to have one. I bet they sell every one, no trouble at all. Edit: James confirmed my wager.

[@toms_garage]

Where in Scotland are you filming? Parts look like Kirkintilloch

[@Oblio1942]

when I first heard about it I was really hyped, esp the prodrive aspect. But then I started reading about it and I was really confused when I saw the price. I was thinking okay maybe they bought back some of the old s5 chassis and restored them. Then I realized thats not at all what they did and I was even more confused seeing that price

[@grizzlystr3445]

Totally agree, they are destined to become garage queens like the recent collection of Porsche 911 Heritage cars. Manufacturers aren’t bothered if the cars are never to be seen on our roads again so long as they sell them for silly prices to collectors after an investment. Real car enthusiasts are stuffed. Great video 😎👍

[@3ducs]

Bicyclists are infesting my part of New Hampshire too. Here they often wear all black or other drab colors, kind of a suicidal choice given that the area is heavily forested and they are in and out of shadows and are making themselves almost invisible.

[@Fee.1]

It’s a wet clutch sequential like motorcycles or dry?

[@OllieC100]

James, completely agree. I fail to see the appeal, here. You could have a restored and fully sorted P1 for £60K, if that’s your bag. You could have a brilliant collection of multiple cars for £600K! Even if I had the folding to spend on a car like this, I just wouldn’t.

[@mrh4195]

You are right. They would do far better making a run of cars for £35k like the GR Yaris. And sell loads of them that get driven. Than sell 25 that will just sit in garages and never hit the roads.

[@simonelliott5956]

You’re right James, it’s nuts! A Singer seems really good value after this!

[@leelindsay]

Your not wrong j your 100 % right. This just shows how many people out there have got that kind of money to waste.

[@chrispraz877]

We don't use the word "daft" here...but yeah, 400k is daft!! Spot on Jay 🇬🇧🏁🇺🇸

[@BeBarnee]

Couldn't agree with you more! The problem is that whole the rich are getting richer, the middle class folks are getting more middle-y, therefore they don't have spare money for toys anymore. At the same time there are new hypercars and one off specials being announced almost every week. In the past, Sport cars used to be something an average person could realistically strive for. Nowadays there are only a few true sportscars left (400Z, supra etc) but there LOADS of super and hypercars out there, and they are soo out of budget for most people (even if they had won the lottery), that there's no reason to even dream about them. I see this as one of the many reasons why young kids nowadays don't have poster cars on their bedroom walls.

[@kemurikusari9629]

donor cars are type r jdm imports (narrow body 22b basicly) and prodrive bought them for roughly 20-30k but they also bought some a fee years back when they where cheaper for probably 10k. i have a impreza sti type r v4 myself and i totally have to agree with you. it is what it is a tuned up and pretty good looking economy limosine from the 90's. sure it got power to it and has good potential but out of the factory the handling os more then sloppy. doesnt give good feedback nor can you build good confidence and the chassi is also not that great i can defenetly feel the softness when im driving it hard or when i jack up the car. im in the process of restomodding it myself and the biggest pluses i did so far where so far: short ratio steering rack, group n/ polybushings, tssfab subframes, keinfab chassi braces, kw coilovers and a more aggressive aligment. that all helped that it didnt felt like toast anymore but its still far away from a nice feeling car. my fiesta st150 with minor upgrades feels heeps better then my old impreza. but i still love her to death the looks and the sound really make up for it and i hope in the future i will find more stuff to improve the handling feeling (next are semi slicks and whiteline caster strut tops). you probably could build a type r which handles better amd has more power then the p25 for around 50-70k and if you want to go sequential dogbox maybe 80-90 but inwould just throw a 6 speed sti box in it

[@jzw2195]

I’d rather have a GR Yaris and still have change to buy a nice house.

[@darrenhitchcox6345]

You are not wrong James and this was a missed opportunity in a couple of ways. Yes the looks are not different, but also remember the Prodrive P2 with the trick diff that appeared on Top Gear? How much better would it have been with that in ????

[@ddanci1973]

Pretty much exactly my thoughts when it became clear what Prodrive is doing... When the first rumours got out about Prodrive building a 22B inspired car, I was expecting something based on a new WRX - sort of an STI version, only better, wider, stronger... A modern interpretation of the 22B that could actually hold a candle to the GTIs of the modern era and certainly not cost half a million quid.

[@duckman5642]

Totally agree, I'll just get an old Spec c.

[@CRAVEN79]

I'm not sure what this video is about? I do own a 2004 Impreza WRX STI, but what is this Impretza car you talk of? Is there a version with a 'T' in it that I missed?

[@Rajonas007]

For the price, it should be the best materials, best suspension, best gearbox and should drive like a 2022 car.

[@Elberoth]

"for the price" - you are not factoring in the development cost.

[@surrealtom]

@@Elberoth development cost? Of a car that was developed 20 years ago?

[@Elberoth]

@@surrealtom you obviously never worked in a company that brought a product to the market. Everything from carbon fibre body panels, interior, engine, suspension to the new gearbox had to be developed and tested. When your production run is limited to only 25 cars, the development cost has a big impact on the final pricing.

[@surrealtom]

@@Elberoth yeah but 500k? That's really pushing it. The interior doesn't seem to be mind blowing either, and it doesn't even have all round double wishbones (yes, I know that rally cars didn't have these but still). Although, I do see your point, and would be more than glad to spend 800k for a RUF SCR myself, if I had the money.

[@Elberoth]

@@surrealtom A close friend of mine has a Singer on order. Singer is $800k+ with options ($1 mil with taxes). And they made 450 cars to offset development costs, which is a HUGE difference. Singer DLS, which is limited to 75 cars is already $2mil, largely due to the fact development costs were spread out across fewer cars. I don't see the P25 as having lesser value than Singer.

[@Fc-cb3tn]

The whole point of a WRX STI is that it embarrasses much more expensive cars regardless of the weather at a reasonable price. With this Prodrive restomod the only thing you’re going to embarrass is yourself at that price.