We haven't been bowled over by what we've seen of the new Subaru Impreza thus far. Gone is the saloon back, replaced by a stubby hatch, and worse still there's no STI version on the way until next spring.

But a beefy rear spoiler, fat roof air intake and the thought of some serious dirt-track sidewayness in the hands of a Scandinavian loon tends to improve our opinion of a car.

And so it proves for the Impreza WRC concept, due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September by Subaru's world rally driver Petter Solberg.

It's definitely an improvement over the stock Impreza (not a great surprise, that), but the TG office consensus is that the WRC is still a bit long in the nose. No matter: the new Impreza should be a potent little number when it makes it on to the world rally circuit.

Frankfurt will also see Scooby formally unveil the new Impreza in Europe, alongside the facelifted Tribeca (thankfully it's less offensive than the original) and - hold on to something solid here - the new Justy five-door supermini.

Where to head first on the Subaru stand? Decisions, decisions...