The Maverick and Santa Cruz are both unibodies, based on the Escape and Tucson, respectively. But long before FoMoCo and Hyundai rolled out these fellows, Japanese automaker Subaru had the quirky BRAT.
A unibody design with Leone underpinnings, the Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter was offered between 1971 and 1981 with a 1.6-liter boxer or a 1.8-liter boxer. A coupe utility inspired by the likes of the Chevrolet El Camino, the BRAT would be replaced by the Baja.
Produced in the United States rather than Japan, the Baja was larger in every respect, for it was joined at the hip to the Legacy and Outback. Sold between the 2003 and 2006 model years, the four-door sport utility truck sold rather poorly. For starters, it was too expensive at $21,995 or $35,625 adjusted for inflation. But more importantly, it didn’t excel at anything. Neither truck nor crossover, the Baja was a mix of compromises.
Lo and behold, Subaru couldn’t sell more than 33,132 units during its relatively short lifecycle. When it comes to the used market, Bajas are notorious for rusting like crazy. Remember Tyler Hoover’s Baja? Simply lifting the car was enough to scare both him and the Car Wizard.
There’s no incentive for Subaru to revive the Baja on the Subaru Global Platform it currently uses for every single model in the U.S. lineup, save for the BRZ sports car. But had it been otherwise, chances are that Subaru would have delivered a similar design to Theottle’s latest study.
The pixel artist used the third-generation Subaru Crosstrek for Japan as inspiration for this rendering. Theophilus Chin also redesigned the rear doors after moving the rear axle back. The cargo area isn’t anything to write home about given the compact footprint of the Crosstrek.
Expected to arrive stateside for the 2024 model year, the redesigned Crosstrek is offered exclusively as a mild hybrid in the Land of the Rising Sun. The 48V e-boxer powertrain, which is based around a direct-injected FB20 four-pot engine, is available in front- or all-wheel drive.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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