The Subaru Impreza WRX and it’s big-winged brother, the WRX STI, have quite an extensive history. The current models, both of which you can buy new in 2021, draw on four decades’ experience on the world’s rally stages, where Subaru developed, tested, and fine-tuned its symmetrical all-wheel-drive system that, to this day, causes car-enthusiastic youths to foam at the mouth at the first sight of a snowy parking lot.

But the WRX’s story in the United States and Canada is a far shorter one. While rally drivers like Colin McRae were busy cementing Subaru’s legacy at the wheel of Subaru’s Legacy and Impreza WRC cars through the 1990s, North Americans were not given the same taste of turbocharged flat-four fury as the rest of the world: no turbocharged Subaru models were sold here, despite them having already become the stuff of legend in other markets like Japan and Europe.

No, it wouldn’t be until 2002 that Subaru would so graciously give us a turbo model, with the launch of the second-generation Impreza, commonly referred to as the “Bugeye” on account of its round headlights. Under the skin it was pure Subaru: turbo flat-four, symmetrical AWD, and a manual gearbox, just like the first-generation car (GC8) that we never received.

Let’s look back on that 2002 model; the first WRX to be sold in North America and, it can be argued, the one that made Subaru into a household name not only for dog-walking enthusiasts but for driving enthusiasts too.

The Forbidden Subarus

1998 Subaru Impreza 22B
via automobilemag.com

The first road-going turbocharged Subarus appeared in Japan as far back as 1992, a decade before we got one. The first such model was the 1992 Impreza WRX, which included a stripped-out Type RA edition for more serious drivers.

The first STI model launched in 1994 and immortalized the iconic big wing, meanwhile, the Prodrive-built rally cars that year were busily immortalizing the equally iconic blue-on-gold color scheme, courtesy of Colin McRae's 555 tobacco sponsorship. He would win his first WRC drivers' championship with Subaru in the 1995 car.

And then, of course, there was the peak of the first-generation Subaru road cars, the car that people with flat-brim hats and curved-brim hats alike come together to agree on being one of, if not the greatest Subaru of all time: the 1998 STI 22B (pictured above).

Doug Demuro gave one of these rare beasts a very glowing review, and for good reason: it's a limited-run special edition to commemorate three consecutive WRC manufacturer's titles as well as McRae's driver's title win from '95. It had a bigger engine producing more power, as well as Subaru's trick new Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD), which allowed the driver to dial in how much center differential slip to allow, based on conditions (less for tarmac, more for loose surfaces, generally). Less than 400 were ever made.

All of these cars had us salivating, due in no small part to 1990s racing games like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed, where North Americans could see, read specs, and ultimately "drive" cars that weren't sold in their own country, and out of that grew a serious hunger for fast Subarus in this market. So, not too long after the turn of the millennia, Subaru finally delivered.

RELATED: A Detailed Look At The Subaru WRX From Baby Driver

Behold! The Bugeye Has Landed

Subaru WRX bugeye hatchback
via motor1.com

After the almost unfair tease of the non-turbo 2.5RS "sporty" version of the early cars, Subaru finally brought over the WRX in 2002, to mark the launch of the next-generation car. This model year, as well as MY2003 vehicles, gained the "Bugeye" moniker you've seen repeated everywhere due to its bulging round headlights that make it look like something between an old Porsche and a really angry Ford Scorpio.

Its design drew some criticism, which would set the tone for the next decade-plus of strange Subaru design, but what was under the skin mattered far more. The engine, finally a turbo unit, measured in at 2.0l and produced 227 horsepower, thanks to a TD04 turbo making nearly 14 psi of boost in stock tune.

Early cars had a 5-speed manual, but problems with that gearbox meant Subaru would quickly change it for the more robust 6-speed unit out of the higher-powered STI.

These were not big nor particularly expensive cars, but their AWD systems set them clearer apart from the competition than the ridiculous headlights. It was the perfect daily driver, fast enough to excite you but still bland enough to just be basic transportation when you needed it. Subaru's obsession with practicality meant they couldn't help but offer a wagon body style as well as a sedan, to carry all the Monster Energy you could ever drink.

The car made an undeniable splash in this market, reminding people that ordinary fun cars still existed. It finally answered the call for a road-going rally car for North Americans, and it became an especially big hit in northern US states and Canada, where its ruggedness and its drivetrain make it an excellent all-season performance car, and it's why Subaru still sells so many of them today.

RELATED: Subaru WRX: Bugeye, Blobeye, And Hawkeye Explained

The Success And The Successors

2002 Subaru rally car
via pinterest.com

The 2002 WRX's greatest achievement was not simply making itself popular in our market, but reminding us that genuinely good, "fun-to-drive" yet ordinary cars were out there, and that if you couldn't afford to sacrifice a back seat and a trunk, you could still hang with all the big V8 coupes and JDM roadsters of the era.

At the same time, VW's Golf GTI was a heavy, understeering mess (although the sound of a VR6, if equipped, excused all of this) and the R32, a genuine AWD competitor, was sold in limited numbers and for far more than the early WRXs.

It rejuvenated Honda as well, who would respond with the exceptionally good-looking and high-revving EP3 Civic SI in 2003. That car lacked the turbocharging and driven rear wheels of the Subaru, but its K20A 2.0l was one of the finest examples of a Honda inline-4 and it had the nimbleness of an original Mini.

The "Bugeye" design would only last until 2004 when a new "Blobeye" front end was introduced to "clean up" the design somewhat. This was also the first year of the STI in North America, for which the WRX paved the way and made it less unreasonable for potential buyers to pay the high prices Subaru was asking (and still asks) for the big boy.

2006 brought about yet another facelift, this time to the "Hawkeye" front end, notable for its more upswept headlight design and the corporate "nose-ring" grille that was being grafted on most models following the launch of the B9 Tribeca. This would be the last of the second-generation WRXs before an entirely new model was introduced in 2008, itself not shy of controversy.

That model endured, even after the base Impreza was updated, until the release of the fourth and current generation WRX in 2014. The latest car has a much cleaner design, though some people think it's a bit too bland and grown-up. No matter, though, because it wouldn't exist at all had it not been for the 2002 WRX, the one that started it all - at least, on our side of the Atlantic.

NEXT: The Hidden Truth Behind The Subaru WRX STi