Jon makes the transition from video game victory to rapid classic reality

of their higher performance and equipment levels. Nowadays, the market favours originality – regardless of what hot Impreza it appraises; I knew I wanted an WRX Sports Wagon because of past PlayStation victories.

I found my car online, and thought it worth the vendor’s £1500 asking price, despite some scabs around the windscreen surround and wheel arches.

The cockpit fittings squeak and rattle because of missing screws, but the air conditioning works just fine. A rather baffling instrument pod conversion means that the trip meter reads in miles – but the outer dial and odometer report in kilometres per hour. To avoid a kicking from the constabulary, I measure my speed from the inner track.

A saloon ECU – my car’s only modification, along with a lost exhaust baffle and a Prodrive back box – ups the power from a quoted 217bhp to an alleged 237bhp. Sports Wagons used a more conservative map and a smaller turbo to distance themselves from the WRX saloons sold on the back of early rally victories; I’m not sure how much the new map bridges the gap, but I doubt that it’s fighting fit, given that the car has covered more than 130,000 miles. At least the previous owner fitted a new timing belt and changed the oil in the front differential and gearbox.

It runs properly 75 per cent of the time, but there are some running issues that need sorting. I don’t think it will need too much to stay healthy, but I’ll be consulting a specialist to help sort the electrics and stumbling under boost.

The Subaru’s most pressing need at the moment, though, is fitting a pair of new front discs and pads, because the old ones were marginal to begin with and the discs are now badly warped. Quite clearly, they need to go.