A Superb Subaru Documentary: Between The Lines

Between The Lines is a Subaru documentary that dives into everything that makes the auto brand special. Since 1953, Subaru has been creating vehicles that people enjoy and connect with. The brand is impressive, but so is the community that supports it. When I discovered this documentary, I thought it deserved its own post on Motor Speed News.

I remember when I first discovered the WRX and STI models in the early 2000s. I cut out pictures from Road and Track Magazine and studied stats about the rally bred sports cars.

More than a decade later and I still have the same WRX I bought in high school. I continue to have an affinity for the brand and I often think about what model I will buy next. I can’t decide if the new BRZ looks good enough to replace my desire for a GR STI (The chassis code for hatchback STIs 2008-2014)

This Subaru documentary highlighted all the things I enjoy about the brand and I think other Subaru enthusiasts will also appreciate the film.

Here are three things that I thought the Subaru documentary covered especially well:

Rally Racing

Subaru’s claim to motorsport fame comes from their successes on the world rally stage. They entered the world rally championship in 1990 and have been a rally icon ever since.

Between The Lines focuses more on current Subaru rally ventures and all the reasons enthusiasts participate and continue to support this type of racing. We have an article on the full history of Subaru rally racing if you’re looking for a more in depth read.

Vermont Sportscar is the technical partner to Subaru of America. They are currently responsible for heading up Subaru’s motorsports programs in the USA. The documentary features a great interview with Lance Smith, President of Vermont Sportscar. He touches on believing in the sport and the excitement of driving. You can tell he is passionate about rallying and rally cross. With the help of Vermont Sportscar, Subaru has won 17 of the last 22 rally championships.

Dirtfish Rally School is another rally endeavor highlighted in this film. The program offers proper driving instruction and a full rally experience at their facility in Washington state. They have over 30 rally courses on 300 acres of property!

STI

STI stands for Subaru Tecnica International and is the motorsports and performance division of the brand. It was founded in 1988. The first project for STI was to challenge the 100,000 km world speed record with the Subaru Legacy. STI succeeded and proved to the world that their new engine and all-wheel-drive system had what it takes.

The video shows some great shots of the STI gallery from the Mitaka Subaru museum and dealership in Tokyo, which I personally visited in 2017. It’s an incredible place to experience and where I took these photos. You can see historic rally cars driven by famous drivers such as Colin McRae, Petter Solberg and Richard Burns.

The 22B Owners Club

The Impreza 22B STI is Subaru’s most rare car. It commemorated the world rally championship with Colin McRae and has since become a symbol of Japanese culture.

This Subaru documentary highlighted a special 22B owners club in Japan and filmed one of their meetups. There is some special footage to be seen here, as these cars are now selling for over $312K and there are only 50 cars out of the total 400 produced remaining in Japan.