Since When Did Sex Appeal and Subaru Fit into the Same Sentence?
Every few years Subaru, the Japanese equivalent of Saab, looks poised to enter the automotive mainstream, willing to doff its quirky roots to embrace middle of the road convention. But then the powers that be allow something odd to sneak in, like the SVX of years past or more recently, the Baja sport utility truck.
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| Always playing it safe is no way to live, and Subaru keeps things lively by sneaking the odd surprise into the model line, such as the funky Baja. (Photo: Subaru) |
Of course, always playing it safe is no way to live. A little adventure spices up what could otherwise be just another respectably reliable, honorably pragmatic model year. But that last statement described the Subaru of old.
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| A departure from Subaru's of the past, the next generation Legacy could be the car that shoots the automaker up the sales charts. (Photo: Subaru) |
Like another Swedish marque, Volvo, itself a socially conscious brand that might come closest to targeting the Subaru customer mindset, the Japanese automaker has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. Kids are now proudly attired in Subaru caps and T-shirts, expounding Impreza WRX STi virtues while riding to and from school in suburban-cool (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) Outback wagons and Forester SUVs.
How times have changed from boxy Loyale wagons and micro-sized Justy CVT subcompacts. Just look at the next generation Legacy, due to arrive in spring of 2004 as a 2005 model. While a few of its styling details, particularly its beltline, the general shape of its headlamps (less the subtle bump at bottom), and the 'winged' Subaru emblem that spans a traditionally shaped grille, are similar to Honda's new Accord, Subaru has done a much better job molding the metal, plastic, glass and rubber into one cohesive statement. In fact, this could be the car that shoots the automaker up the sales charts, in North America at least.