This Ferrari-Powered Subaru Was Built To Get Fans Excited About Rally Again

Screenshot: Top Gear on YouTube

Leave it to a proper American motorsport competitor to comb through the rulebook to find a loophole big enough to fit a Ferrari California engine through it. American Rally Association racer Sam Albert found a rule stating that the Open 4WD class was allowed to use a naturally aspirated engine up to 4.5 liters with no restrictions, then started digging to find the most power per liter he could fit between the frame rails of his Subaru WRX STI. The high-revving, ear-piercing Ferrari V8 fit the bill, and he got to work. It made its debut in 2023 with an instant DNF, but came back to take a class victory at the Big White Winter Rally in Kelowna, British Columbia.

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Okay, so the rule book was the reason for the swap, but the motivation to get it running was all about the fans. Rally in North America has been through a lot of ups and downs in the last couple of decades. The fans come and go, and the sanctioning bodies dissolve and get absorbed, new rallies pop up, and others disappear. If Sam could find a way to make fans get excited about rally again, like a Ferrari engine screaming through the stages, he’d do it.

Screenshot: Top Gear on YouTube

This season of American Tuned has put Rob Dahm in some extremely interesting cars, and situations he’s never been in before. For someone who had never been in a rally car before, he figured it out fairly quickly, but there isn’t a much better place to learn than Dirtfish rally school up near Seattle. That place kicks ass.

FERRARI V8-SWAPPED Subaru STI Rally Car

If you’re looking for a fun way to spend the next twelve minutes, click the play button and hold on to your butts. You’re going for a ride.