Emelia Hartford’s Daily Driver Is a Subaru Impreza 22B Tribute Called Tomato

Since actress/car vlogger Emelia Hartford is constantly shaking YouTube with builds ranging from her twin-turbo C8 Corvette to her Nissan 240SXโ€”oh and she’s got a Ferrari nowโ€”one can only wonder: what does this car nut use as a daily driver? And the answer comes in her latest video, which showcases Tomato, a 2000 Subaru Impreza 22B tribute.

Emelia started out on YouTube five years ago and JDM machines were her first love. Technically, Nissans came first (we hope her 240SX recovered from the recent Holley Sky-Ram intake fire), but a Subaru was next. She was so passionate about her 2007 Blob Eye Impreza Wagon that she went through seven engines!

And now that the final motor has migrated to the build we have here, which is nicknamed Tomato for obvious reasons, she should finally be able to enjoy the rally-bred madness properly.

This is a 2000 Impreza coupe with 2007 Impreza WRX STI hardware (think: manual trans, suspension, wheel hubs, rear end, and others). And it’s not hard to see why she chose to build this first-gen into a 22B homage.

Yes, die-hard Scooby fans will talk about the SVX coupe and the Brat pickup truck, but this one is a direct connection to the marque’s rally days, which are sadly over. Even the STI has been axed for the current generation, but let’s not get everybody down and focus on the WRC (World Rally Championship) story at hand, shall we?

Why is the 22B so important for Subaru?

The 22B is arguably the most revered of Subaru road cars. A 1998 limited edition based on the OG Impreza WRX STI, this honored Subaru’s 40th anniversary, as well as the company’s third consecutive WRC win. And, if you need further proof of this model’s significance, we’ll remind you that British race car developer Prodrive, which had been a long-time Subaru rallying partner, is building a modern-day 22B called P25, which will be unveiled at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Returning to Emelia’s Impreza, the said engine is an EJ207 with fully built internals. Given that, the 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder boxer, which used to serve the second-gen WRX STI, should make between 300 and 400 hp on a conservative tune. And that should be enough to get the tail out once she switches from AWD to RWD thanks to the DCCD center differential controller installed on the vehicle.

We’ll quickly move past the cameo appearance pro driver Collete Davis makes in the clip below (she got together with Emelia for a TT C8 race against an AS 350 helicopter that’s coming out tomorrow). And that’s because we have to talk about the final part of the video.

To be more precise, Tomato attended an all-red JDM modern classic car meet that also included a Honda/Acura NSX, a Nissan 300ZX, a Mitsubishi 3000 GT and, of course, a Toyota Supra. What more could you ask for? Well, photographer Larry Chen has a brilliant answer to that question in the vid.

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