As well as being a pleasing word to say -- Try-beh-kah -- the name of Subaru's latest crossover vehicle actually makes a fashionable connection with the client base the Japanese firm wants to hit in North America.
Tribeca is an acronym for ''triangle below Canal,'' and that little neighborhood south of Canal street in way, way downtown Manhattan is among the trendiest regions in New York, and therefore the world. Actors, writers and fashion designers live down there, you see, and it has its own film festival, chic eateries (that's what they call restaurants), expensive clothing stores, and lots of galleries showcasing art that people who don't live there couldn't possibly understand but might buy anyway, in a vain attempt to be hip.
Anyway, this is all supposed to help Subaru speak to the kind of buyer it normally hasn't encountered in its previous life as a maker of dependable little all-wheel-drive cars. But if Subaru is going to jump down off the porch and run with the big dogs (or at least bigger dogs), this is what it has to do.
As a result, regular Canadians who've never had the chance to order a tiny dessert they never heard of from an actor who's only working as a waiter until Scorcese calls and pay more than US$15 for the privilege will now get a chance to pay more for a Subaru that they never heard of.
While it's not yet clear what the 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca will cost when it comes to Canada this summer from the company's plant in Indiana, it certainly looks like it will be interesting.
In the first place, it actually looks a little exciting, which is something that you don't often hear about Subaru's current products. Taste is always personal, of course, but I think most people would agree that Subaru managed to apply a lot less bland in this model than they normally use.
Subaru says the B9 Tribeca looks like no other SUV on the market and features a ''dramatic new Subaru design focused on dynamic motion. The refined, confident and powerful design of the Subaru B9 Tribeca distinguishes it in a market of bland SUV look-alikes,'' or so the company maintains.
The key focal point of the all-new 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca is the ''bold new grille design that flows into a powerful, dynamic architecture.''
Viewed from the front, a central air intake is said to dominate the face of the new Subaru B9 Tribeca, while being flanked by two "wings" that relate to the history of Subaru as an aircraft manufacturer (they are most famous for building planes for the Japanese air force during World War II) and illustrate the Subaru ''commitment to engineering excellence.''
Along with appealing to a richer class of buyer, the overall intent of the B8 Tribeca is to give its eventual owners ''a progressively designed SUV that combines the fun-to-drive handling, maneuverability and fuel efficiency found in Subaru sport wagons with the roominess and capability of an SUV.''
This means a vehicle that will use a 250-hp, horizontally-opposed, six-cylinder engine to take up to seven people (five seats are standard) over pretty much whatever Subaru's competent all-wheel drive system encounters in the civilized world. Without more ground clearance, the Tribeca would be in over its head in many real off-road situations.
In New York terms, the Tribeca's biggest challenge would be mounting one of those concrete curbs that are meant to stop vehicles from going somewhere they're not wanted, like an illegal but convenient parking space near that chic eatery with the over-priced dessert.
 |
Anyway, this is all supposed to help Subaru speak to the kind of buyer it normally hasn't encountered in its previous life as a maker of dependable little all-wheel-drive cars. But if Subaru is going to jump down off the porch and run with the big dogs (or at least bigger dogs), this is what it has to do.
As a result, regular Canadians who've never had the chance to order a tiny dessert they never heard of from an actor who's only working as a waiter until Scorcese calls and pay more than US$15 for the privilege will now get a chance to pay more for a Subaru that they never heard of.
While it's not yet clear what the 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca will cost when it comes to Canada this summer from the company's plant in Indiana, it certainly looks like it will be interesting.
In the first place, it actually looks a little exciting, which is something that you don't often hear about Subaru's current products. Taste is always personal, of course, but I think most people would agree that Subaru managed to apply a lot less bland in this model than they normally use.
Subaru says the B9 Tribeca looks like no other SUV on the market and features a ''dramatic new Subaru design focused on dynamic motion. The refined, confident and powerful design of the Subaru B9 Tribeca distinguishes it in a market of bland SUV look-alikes,'' or so the company maintains.
The key focal point of the all-new 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca is the ''bold new grille design that flows into a powerful, dynamic architecture.''
Viewed from the front, a central air intake is said to dominate the face of the new Subaru B9 Tribeca, while being flanked by two "wings" that relate to the history of Subaru as an aircraft manufacturer (they are most famous for building planes for the Japanese air force during World War II) and illustrate the Subaru ''commitment to engineering excellence.''
Along with appealing to a richer class of buyer, the overall intent of the B8 Tribeca is to give its eventual owners ''a progressively designed SUV that combines the fun-to-drive handling, maneuverability and fuel efficiency found in Subaru sport wagons with the roominess and capability of an SUV.''
This means a vehicle that will use a 250-hp, horizontally-opposed, six-cylinder engine to take up to seven people (five seats are standard) over pretty much whatever Subaru's competent all-wheel drive system encounters in the civilized world. Without more ground clearance, the Tribeca would be in over its head in many real off-road situations.
In New York terms, the Tribeca's biggest challenge would be mounting one of those concrete curbs that are meant to stop vehicles from going somewhere they're not wanted, like an illegal but convenient parking space near that chic eatery with the over-priced dessert.