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Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition: The Surprisingly Luxurious Lexus-Fighting Station Wagon

The Subaru Outback is one of the unsung heroes of the global auto industry in the last 25 years. Despite arguably being closer to a crossover SUV than it is an all-wheel-drive station wagon these days, there are loads of fans of both older and newer Outbacks with some considerable overlap.
Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition 6 photos
Photo: Subaru
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But at least in terms of unique limited-edition models, older Outbacks have new ones beat. You wouldn't expect much from a collaboration between Subaru and the New England-based L.L. Bean clothing line. But what the two came up with wound up being pretty darn interesting. If for no other reason, because there's no equivalent of its kind made today.

Subaru has some of the most consistent buyers and dedicated fans of any Japanese automaker in the U.S. market. Largely because they possess a unique design language and radical engineering principles that set them apart considerably from, say, Honda or Toyota. It takes a company with real intestinal fortitude to have stuck with the unique boxer-type engine that's now synonymous with the brand.

But something it's always lacked that Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and the like take for granted is a dedicated luxury car division. Because starting a second bespoke luxury division that may or may not sink the company if it failed meant Subaru needed to find other ways of adding luxury touches to its iconic late 90s and early 2000s lineups. By this time, Subaru was bringing the fight to the JDM establishment in the U.S. market with the Legacy, Forrester, and of course, the Outback.

Perhaps at no other time in history was the Subaru brand as trendy and far-reaching as during the days of the second-gen Outback, the first-gen Forrester, and, of course, the first two generations of the Impreza WRX STI to see North American highways. When high sales at the time merited a high-end luxury model for the ever-present Outback station wagon, their choice of partnership was somewhat out of left field, at least for some.

Subaru Outback
Photo: Subaru
Based out of Freeport in Southern Maine, L.L. Bean was one of the first American outdoor and recreational clothing brands to gain international acclaim. Their boots, jackets, and other various leatherwear items are notoriously comfortable. Their unlimited return policy, even without a receipt, is just added chocolate fudge on this capitalism sundae.

To kick off the new millennium on a high note, Subaru entered a formal partnership with L.L. Bean in the year 2000. The deal consisted of Subaru providing a brand new 2000 Outback on a fresh platform and with a three-liter dual-overhead-cam flat-six engine jetting 212 horsepower should have satisfied the itch.

As for L.L Bean's end of the deal, it was to supply a premium leather material to add a layer of luxury that simply wasn't present on the base four-cylinder eco box base car of the day. Apart from lovely soft-touch American leather, the Indiana-assembled L.L. Bean Outback's first generation had lots to offer. We're talking about all the best tech available in the year of Y2K. That included a six-disk, in-dash CD autochanger, dual moon roofs, standard alloy wheels, and high-intensity foglights.

It's all tied together with a 200 watt McIntosh stereo unit badge-engineered to become the Subaru VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) system. In Japan, the equivalent to the Outback L.L Bean was the Outback Lancaster 6, and it came equipped with one of Subaru's first touch screen infotainment and sat-nav screens. This feature was not offered in North America.

Subaru Outback
Photo: Subaru
With a polished faux wood-grain that's admittedly also found in some lesser flat-four Outbacks of the day, it does feel a bit last century in terms of modern tastes. Still, you can at least fool yourself into thinking it's real with how nice it looks.

With the added bolstering from the boutique fashion outlet sourced leather seats, the level of quality inside this interior is at the very least in the same neighborhood as the equivalent five-door Lexus from the same era, like the IS300, for example.

In 2022, finding one of these limited edition Outbacks in serviceable condition is something that very seldom happens. They're often beaten up and have gargantuan numbers on the odometer. There's always the possibility of the dreaded "chocolate shake" coolant and oil mixture resulting from a blown head gasket turning the thing into $500 in scrap value if you're lucky.

The cheapest one we could find sported 174,218 miles on the clock and was still selling for well north of $5,000 from a dealership in Washington State. It just goes to show that so long as the microchip shortage continues to subsist. Future classics like these L.L. Bean Outbacks will never quite fall into full-on hooptie territory.

Subaru Outback
Photo: Subaru
Check back for more from Limited Edition Month here on autoevolution.
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