Rare Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B Coupe Seized Under ‘Proceeds Of Crime’ Auctioned By Australian Gov

An exceptionally rare 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B is being auctioned off in Australia and has a rather interesting history.

Subaru built just 425 examples of the WRX STI 22B and this one is number 132. However, it is not being sold by a private collector like one may expect but by Liquid Asset Management on behalf of the Federal Government after it was seized under ‘proceeds of crime’ laws. It’s unclear what kind of crimes the previous owner was involved in but it was confiscated in mid-2017 alongside a fleet of exotics, Motor reports.

The listing doesn’t provide any details about the past life of this Subaru, nor does it mention how many miles it has under its belt. Evidently, that hasn’t dissuaded interested buyers and just a few days after being listed online, bidding had exceeded AU$160,000 (US$116,000) with over three weeks left in the auction.

Subaru introduced the ultimate version of the WRX STI to celebrate its 40th anniversary and capped production to just 400 units in Japan, 16 for the British market, and five for Australia. This example was exported from Japan to Australia where it was first registered in 2008.

It is powered by a 2.2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine producing a claimed 276 hp and 268 lb-ft (363 Nm) of torque, but since it was produced during the time of the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ between Japanese carmakers, it actually has more grunt than that.