Prodrive Proton WRC
 

Spotted this online and thought it was quite an interesting bit of rallying history. Seems that, back in the 90's, Proton were considering entering the WRC. So they commissioned Prodrive to build a World Rally Car variant of the Proton Putra.

Proton's WRC effort never went ahead, but two cars were completed by Prodrive and one of them has recently surfaced on the internet:

http://www.autofreaks.com/wp-content...putraWRC-2.jpg

http://www.autofreaks.com/wp-content...putraWRC-1.jpg

http://www.autofreaks.com/wp-content...putraWRC-5.jpg

http://www.autofreaks.com/wp-content...putraWRC-8.jpg

Pretty awful looking from some angles, but a lot of similarity to the early Impreza World Rally Cars from other angles.

Full article is here:

Autofreaks - The Proton Rally Car That Never Was

You're right it does look two door Impreza like

I quite like it! Having had a Lotus Proton for a week, I Can imagine how fast this/was

It's a classic on steroids!

How bizarre!

I can see hints of the 22b in it.....

The likeness of the Proton to the S4/S5 Impreza WRC from the rear quarter is uncanny...

http://www.autofreaks.com/wp-content...putraWRC-5.jpg

http://www.works-y3f.com/m_cars/5_wrc/IMP/w98/09.jpg

...aside from the rear light cluster you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference!