New Subaru WRX in the wings

The wraps will come off the new Subaru WRX on Friday week at New York motor show as Subaru also reveals plans for its first showroom hybrid.

The WRX is a cult-car classic but the story is about to take a new twist as Subaru spins it away from the Impreza that has always provided the car's basic body.

This time around, Subaru says the WRX will have a unique body - most people are expecting a two-door coupe - as it gives the car a more unique personality.

The change to the Subaru WRX is also part of the plan for a three-pronged small-car drive that's already given the world the latest Impreza sedan and hatch, as well as the compact XV.

Subaru is hoping to keep the WRX under wraps until the opening of the New York Auto Show on March 29. "We have absolutely no details on the show car. We are not expecting anything from Japan until late on the night before," the spokesman for Subaru Australia, Dave Rowley, tells Carsguide.

He also emphasises that the Big Apple baby is only "an all-new performance concept car" and not a firm production model. The preview of the Subaru WRX comes exactly two years after Subaru went public in New York with the latest Impreza, reflecting the importance of the American show. The next Subaru WRX will be the fifth-generation model.

Subaru is also using the event to unveil its XV Hybrid, the company's first move into the field. But unlike the WRX, which will be rushed to Australia as soon as production begins, hybrid fans should not get too excited about the XV.

"There are no hybrid XV plans for Australia," says Rowley. On the WRX front, apart from the new-look body there has been considerable speculation about the car's mechanical package.

It is certain to continue with a turbocharged boxer motor and Subaru's signature 'symmetrical all-wheel drive', but it could also get a hybrid boost in the same way that the latest LaFerrari and McLaren P1 supercars - and, probably, the renewal of the Mitsubishi Evo - use a petrol-electric package to combine economy with extra power on demand.

The WRX has been Subaru's star car since it joined the lineup in 1992, but it really hit the bigtime in Australia off the back of World Rally Championship wins and the late Possum Bourne's domination of the Australian Rally Championship.

This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover