First Drive: 2003 Subaru Baja car/pickup **UPDATE**

[NFS4]

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/70531/article.html

 

[hoihtah]

i think these pickup sedans are just fugly.

 

[ElFenix]

its been done

 

[hoihtah]

subaru had one out before ... back in 80's i think.

but any way you look at it, i think it's just fugly.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
i think these pickup sedans are just fugly.

I think its kind of cool looking. Is the silver cladding sheet metal or plastic?

 

[Alienwho]

Kinda cool. Like the little brother of the avalanche.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
Like the little brother of the avalanche.

If so, the "ugly gene" is strong in that family.

 

[iamwiz82]

its an el camino without the power.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
its been done

And it was done even before that!

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Cyberian

Originally posted by: ElFenix
its been done

And it was done even before that!

heheh, i was thinking, "was it ranchero?" i knew it was the el camino for certain though.



and the avalanche gets a lot nicer looking this next year

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
subaru had one out before ... back in 80's i think.

but any way you look at it, i think it's just fugly.

It was called the "Brat" and, as a cheap AWD beater car for off-road thrashing, it rocked.

This new one is expensive and (worse yet) fugly as all hell.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: PSYWVic

Originally posted by: hoihtah
subaru had one out before ... back in 80's i think.

but any way you look at it, i think it's just fugly.

It was called the "Brat" and, as a cheap AWD beater car for off-road thrashing, it rocked.

This new one is expensive and (worse yet) fugly as all hell.

Subaru

Bi-drive
Recreational
All-terrain
Transporter

I'm still hoping that some day someone will ask me this on a quiz show!

 

[BurnItDwn]

not bad, would be better with more power though

 

[Killbat]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
subaru had one out before ... back in 80's i think.

but any way you look at it, i think it's just fugly.

The Brat?

 

[StattlichPassat]

Wow, it looks like a squashed Avalanche. Only nicer.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: Killbat

Originally posted by: hoihtah
subaru had one out before ... back in 80's i think.

but any way you look at it, i think it's just fugly.

The Brat?

That's the one.

 

[DuallyX]

I've been waiting for this one.

I love em'. Plus it's a Subaru, so it'll last for the next 50 years. (Slight exaggeration)

 

[slag]

AWESOME. I used to own two early 80's Subaru Brats and they were the bomb. Frontwheel drive cars that shifted to 4 wheel drive on the fly.

1600 CC motors in the older ones, 1800 cc option in the later models.

Man, I miss my subaru brat!!

Joe

 

[vi edit]

The Baja has seating accommodations for four fullsize adults, with rear seat legroom measuring just under an inch shorter than the Outback wagon's rear seating area.

An inch shorter??? Christ, I needed a can opener to get into the back of the wagon as it was, now this is even smaller? No thanks.

Oh, and they NEED to put in the turbo'd 2.0L in the WRX or the 3.0 H6. This thing is going to be a dog.

 

[Parrotheader]

I'm kind of luke-warm about the looks (the overly-exaggerated cladding reminds me of Nissan Frontiers) but I can definitely see the benefit of that vehicle from a practicality standpoint. In fact, I'm probably an ideal candidate in the market they're looking for.

I'm still thinking I'll probably end up getting another 4-door sedan next Spring. But after being homeowners for two years now, I'm DEFINITELY seeing the advantages of having a pickup truck cargo bed for trips to Home Depot or hauling other miscellaneous, odd-sized junk which always seems to crop up. SUVs are so limited in what they can haul because you have to make sure it can fit inside (plus, you don't want to get the interior too nasty since you'll be sharing the same space.) Pickups are so much more useful for hauling stuff. And when 4-door compact/midsize pickups started coming on the scene my interest was piqued. The hauling capacity and usefulness of a truck with the seating capacity for a family (which is also just a couple years away.) It'll just be tough to go from my 27mpg Sentra to a 15-20mpg truck And while I've LOVED driving my dad's 4-door Dakota this week while they're in Hawaii, it's been frustrating navigating the busy parking lots in that comparatively large beheamoth.

This would offer you the handling, mileage and seating closer to a 4-door car while still still giving you the basic hauling capacity of a truck. For heavy hauling and towing you'd need a heavier duty truck (or at least a stronger engine.) Wonder how these will price relative to the Outback wagon?

 

[bunker]

For some reason when I was growing up I alway thought the Brat was kinda cool!

Another Brat

 

[UNCjigga]

Dammit, I don't care about carrying surfboards or mountain bikes! I wanna know how many Mexicans can it fit in the back?

 

[bunker]

Just read the article.

Although the cargo box only measures 17.7 cubic feet compared to the 29.6 cubic feet cargo box of the SportTrac,

Hell a Ford Taurus has 17 cubic feet of trunk space.

So basically it's nothing more than a trunk without a lid. How useless.

 

[Parrotheader]

Ahhhh . . . . found this mention on price at auto.consumerguide.com:

"It, too, will be built at the Indiana Subaru-Isuzu plant, though only at the rate of about 24,000 a year. Starting price is whispered at around $25,000, but won't be announced until just before the on-sale date."

That seems kinda pricey. Hell, I can get a 4-door Toyota Tacoma V6 for lest than that price. Granted, it won't have AWD or the handling of a car, but I could get over that.

 

[vi edit]

Hell, for $25,000 I can get a fully decked out Explorer Sport Track with more power, more back seat space, something that actually remotely resembles a truck bed, and can actually tow something bigger than a jet ski.