You want to get into rallying but you don't have a car yet, so what do you buy? Probably a Subaru since they're cheap, parts are plentiful, and have great all wheel drive. But what if that's too obvious? Perhaps a first gen BMW X3 would better suit your needs.
Now before you write me off as crazy, consider this: the X3 has a smooth and powerful straight six, a nifty all wheel drive system and crucially, a six speed manual. Yes, BMW's ultimate suburban car could be had with a genuine three pedal setup. Sounds like a hell of a rally car to me.
Sure the E83 X3 wasn't exactly light, tipping the scales at over 4,000 lbs but that's nothing that stripping the interior couldn't help out. Besides, who would care about winning when you'll be the only one with an X3 at your local rallycross. I'm fairly certain they give a trophy for most unique car.
Still convinced I'm crazy? Dig this: people have actually rallied E83 X3s and not just at any rally, but at the ultimate rally – the Dakar.
Ok, so those aren't really X3s anymore, but I'm not going to let that crush my spirit because I'm technically not wrong in saying that someone rallied a BMW X3 in the Dakar. Techincally.
For someone who's crazy enough to actually do this I found a great low mileage manual X3 with the 3.0 liter I6 for sale in Virginia. It's even got a moonroof, which any experienced rally driver will tell you is what you need for the ultimate rally car.
The manual equipped X3 is my pick for best unlikely rally car, but what's yours? What oddball would you buy to kick some Impreza ass at your local rallycross?