In the lead up to Hyundai and Toyota’s showdown for the manufacturers’ title in Japan later this month, we’re looking back at some of the greatest manufacturer fights in World Rally Championship history. We asked you to vote for your top-five, and this is what you picked at number two.
As twins, our parents needed to assign us colors to tell us apart. So he was red, and I was blue.
Except for one important area: rallying. There, we were both blue. There, we both wanted to be Subaru.
Such an allegiance was commonplace. In rallying during the mid-late 1990s, you were either red or you were blue – parentally assigned or not!
Subaru and Mitsubishi’s battle on the world’s special stages encapsulated an entire new generation and defined an era. It even helped create an iconic band of road cars and associated car culture.
But, looking back 30 years on, it’s all slightly ironic, as the two never actually had that big a battle for a specific championship.
Subaru and Mitsubishi were the frontrunners of their time, but never engaged in that fierce an individual battle
Yes, both Subaru’s Impreza and Mitsubishi’s evolutions of Lancer were giants of their time. Between them, they won all but one of the drivers’ or manufacturers’ titles between 1995-99. And they extended their fight into the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, too.
But in terms of an actual head-to-head, the closest it got was Colin McRae’s late attempt to displace Tommi Mäkinen in ‘97.
The similarities between the two teams was unmistakable, despite their being a stark contrast in approach.
Subaru enlisted the help of engineering firm Prodrive to make it a world beater. Mitsubishi had a similar idea, employing Ralliart. They each dipped their toe into the Group A waters with two rally-winning cars in their own right, the Legacy and the Galant, before forming a legend. And both competed part-time before committing to a full season when ready.
But while Subaru always felt like a more balanced team – fielding strong pairings like world champions Carlos Sainz and Carlos Sainz, and then latterly soon-to-be world champions Richard Burns and Petter Solberg – Mitsubishi was always more of a one-man band.
Mitsubishi's efforts tended to focus on one driver - Tommi Mäkinen (center)
Mäkinen was the man – very rarely did anyone else win rallies in Lancers. In fact only two other drivers ever did: Burns and Kenneth Eriksson. Meanwhile Burns, Eriksson, Sainz, McRae, Solberg, Piero Liatti, Juha Kankkunen and Mäkinen (ironically) all hit the top step in Imprezas.
That goes a long way to explaining why of the nine from 10 titles Subaru and Mitsubishi owned at the end of the ‘90s, only one manufacturers’ crown went to Mitsubishi (1998) while it equally grabbed four drivers’ titles (1996-99). Subaru won three manufacturers’ championships back-to-back (1995-97), but just the one drivers’ title (1995) in that period (two more would come in the 2000s).
Facts and figures are a flawed way of analyzing the Subaru and Mitsubishi story though, because today it’s hard to imagine them being used to win beyond an attempt to win at ‘top trumps’ in a battle between the fans. These teams are remembered for their impact, not their trophies.
The iconic blue and gold of Subaru transifxed rally fans all over the world
For this author, Subaru wins – hands down. As a child I owned a Subaru World Rally Team t-shirt, a Subaru World Rally Team cap, and now as an adult a Subaru World Rally Team jacket. My mom owned three Imprezas (after two Legacys) and my dad even selected an Impreza as his company car.
For the next person, Mitsubishi was their vice. You were either one or the other. Today, you are still either one of the other.
But unlike any nasty soccer rivalries, Subaru fans can appreciate the magic of Mitsubishi, and Mitsubishi supporters the sparkle of Subaru.
The Subaru and Mitsubishi simply defines what makes rallying so great.
