For more than 20 years, Forza or Gran Turismo video-game simulations were the closest most Americans have gotten to whiffing one of the fabled S-cars from Subaru's in-house tuner, Subaru Tecnica International. These cars are positioned above Subaru's WRX STI models, with more power and a harder-core focus on high performance; our S-car references here nod to their names: S201, S202, and so on. Until the S209, which you can read all about here, arrives in the U.S. in 2019, every S-car has been sold exclusively in Japan. (Before you say it, yes, there are some gray-market cars out there that have made their way elsewhere, but they're the exception, not the rule.)

To celebrate and prepare for the S209's impending trip stateside, bone up on your STI S-car history with this rundown of each model going back to 1998. Swipe through for each model's specifications: