The Subaru Impreza has become one of the great icons of the World Rally Championship. In its 14 years of competition, it has been driven by some of the most celebrated names in the rallying world, including Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg, and has scored six championship titles and 46 wins. It seems fitting that the now-legendary Impreza made its competitive debut in the spiritual home of rallying, Finland.

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On 25 August 1993 the Subaru World Rally Team unveiled the first Impreza, the 555, at the Rally of a Thousand Lakes. The new Impreza road car had just been launched and it made sound commercial sense to unveil the rally version as soon after as possible. The Impreza was to take the place of the Legacy, the car the team had used since the 1990 Safari Rally.

Nigel Riddle, now the purchasing manager for the rally team, was a technician back in 1993. He clearly remembers the challenge of getting the Impreza ready, "We had spent considerable time developing the Impreza, but it was still a massive upheaval to build two brand new cars for Finland. We had to design and commission spare parts and homologate the new car. Plus at the time we were a much smaller outfit and just about everybody who worked on the team travelled to the events. As a result there were very few people around to build the car. In fact, at the time most of the team were on the other side of the world in New Zealand for the rally."

But Riddle was convinced of the team's determination and capability to deliver. "It was a difficult time, but everyone was working and trying so hard and we were confident we could succeed. We'd had a weight taken off our shoulders when we scored the team's first win with the Legacy in New Zealand and we wanted an even better car to really take the fight to the opposition."

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At that time, the opposition included rallying giants Toyota and Lancia. With 16 titles between them, Subaru's entry into the series was a real David and Goliath battle. John Barnes, now the team's rally workshop manager, was working as a workshop supervisor at the time. He knew from the start that the Impreza would put Subaru in the same league as the more established teams. "We'd incorporated many of the lessons learned from the Legacy into the new Impreza. We'd studied all the advantages and disadvantages of the old car, redesigned suspension components, evaluated build processes and looked closely at the sub-assemblies.

When the Impreza first turned a wheel at the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), test track it was clear that it had lived up to team's expectations. It bettered the Legacy in almost every aspect. The Impreza's wheelbase was 60mm shorter than the Legacy while the overall length was reduced by 170mm, which enhanced handling. The braking system was superior and the engine gave much better acceleration and responsiveness thanks to an extra 15-20 horsepower. Weight distribution was also more efficient as the new all-aluminium engine was pushed further back from the front of the car to allow the transmission as far forward as possible. With less overhang on the front and rear of the car and more weight between the wheels, the Impreza was much more stable and easier to handle through the corners.

Subaru World Rally Team bodyshop manager Dave Baker was a suspension and sub-assemblies technician back in 1993 and worked on the car in the weeks leading to Finland. He explains some of the technology used back then was cutting-edge.

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"We'd introduced a new water spray for the Impreza's intercooler. The Legacy used to have a water-cooled intercooler and radiator at the front of the car, but air would often lock into the front and the water temperature would hit the roof." The Impreza had a different management system to cool it more efficiently, he continues. "When the driver put his foot on the accelerator, three water jets squirted water onto the intercooler. It was much more reliable."

The rallying community was keen to see the new car when the team arrived in Finland. Two Impreza 555s had been entered, with local superstars Markku Alen and Ari Vatanen at the wheel. It didn't start too well for Alen, who was bitterly disappointed when he ran wide on a corner on the first stage, hit a rock and damaged the floor of the Impreza. He retired from the rally on the spot. "It was the biggest mistake of my career," he said at the time, "The car felt so good, I made my big attack straight away and bang, that was it."

Vatanen, however, dominated the event. He set the fastest time on stage three and by the second Leg he was leading the rally. The dream debut was not to be though as a windscreen de-mister problem slowed Vatanen and allowed Juha Kankkunen to snatch the lead. Ari's solid second place nevertheless singled the car out as one to watch.

"Ari drove a brilliant rally," remembers Barnes. "He was leading for much of the event, but then he had a problem with the de-mister on one of the final night-time stages of the rally. He lost around 20secs, which was just enough to give Juha the win. We were second, but it was a fighting second. We were just delighted to record such an excellent result on the Impreza's debut."

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And the time when the team had made first win with the Impreza. It came in Acropolis 1994, with Carlos Sainz at the wheel. The Spaniard's success marked the beginning of a triumphant period for both the rally car and road car programmes. Colin McRae sealed the Subaru World Rally Team's first championship success in 1995, while the road-going version became an overnight hit. The obvious similarities between the rally and road cars made the Impreza highly sought-after, and sales rose by more than 400% from 1992 to 1993. They continued to increase exponentially and by 1995, nearly 50,000 Imprezas were sold in the UK alone.

Thirteen years on, the Impreza is once again lined up to contest the Finnish Rally, as the Rally of a Thousand Lakes is now called. The Impreza name has remained the same, but many of internal components have moved since that debut. In 1993 Ari Vatanen used a mechanical gearstick to change gears. Petter Solberg's Impreza WRC2006 now features a semi-automatic transmission controlled by a hydraulic paddle fixed to the side of the steering column. The improvement means Petter can shift gear in 10 milliseconds, faster than a Formula 1 car. The team has also improved the response of the turbocharger by developing an anti-lag system and a 'fly-by-wire' throttle has replaced the old cable system. Of course the evolutions mean that each component now takes many more man hours to build. A 2006 bodyshell, for instance, takes 780 hours to build, in 1993 it took just 160.

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The Finnish Rally has changed almost as much as the Impreza. Subaru's sporting director Luis Moya first contested the rally with a Ford Sierra Cosworth back in 1988 and recalls how the rally looked back then. "We used to go down to Tampere, around two hours drive from Jyvaskyla." Moya remembers. "We'd cover between 500 and 600 kilometres over the course of the event, passing through many more villages and areas than we do now. We had more service points per day, sometimes more than 20 in a Leg - there wasn't a central service park back then. Each team used to have about 10 support cars, helicopters and perhaps four vans carrying parts - most of our equipment is now based in the service park and we only service the cars three or four times a day."

Moya's not too nostalgic though: "As much as the rally's format has changed, it's still got the same character. The stages are fast and smooth, and the large jumps are still there. The Ouninpohja test remains one of the greatest challenges of the year." Moya nods when he remembers the fearsome speed test, famed for its large jump (or 'yump' as it's known locally) located 6km from the start near the 'yellow house.' Cars soar metres through the air; in 2003 Markko Martin set a new record when he cruised 57 metres at a speed of 171kph. However when speeds reached an all-time high in 2005, Ouninpohja was split in two, with the two halves now called Ouninpohja Lansi and Ouninpohja Ita. "Necessary," says Moya, "but the two halves are still classics."

Moya should know about Finland - he was half of the first non-Scandinavian crew to win in the event when he and Carlos Sainz sealed victory in 1990. This year he'll be there in his team management role. With his considerable experience, what advice will Moya give to the Subaru drivers now? "The roads are wide and it's not easy to take the right line so car control is essential. You have to have precise notes, but more importantly, you just have to be fast from the very beginning."