I wish Subaru would make this...

[Sasquachulator]

Its just a Ford though, forced to go EV

[PulsarBeeerz]

E-Thunder-cougar-falcon-bird

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Ford is taking it to completely new level by bringing the Maverick back as a compact pickup.

I think Subaru made a bit of a mistake by not releasing an updated Brumby. I guess sales didn't justify it but they were super popular in Aus.

[AnalogMan]

This is another car I wish Subaru would bring back - the Baja. I would buy one in a New York minute if they ever re-released it (and have been perusing the classifieds for a low-mileage one for a while).

I don't need or want a 'truck'. I rarely have to haul barnyard animals or pallets full of major kitchen appliances. But having a modest size open bed for those occasional times when something is too bulky to fit into a trunk would be very handy, especially if it was packaged in essentially a regular 'car'.

The Baja had so many clever features - a 'dual action' tailgate, a fold-down back seat and panel to carry long loads. It's even more versatile than my old, long-gone and missed Saab hatchback (I won't get started on how much I miss hatchbacks, real hatchbacks).

I exchanged some emails a while back with someone in Subaru's product planning, who was very courteous and responsive. Interestingly, he mentioned that the Baja is the number one requested vehicle people want Subaru to bring back.

I wish Subaru would listen.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-sub...t-trucks-ever/

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I think Subaru made a bit of a mistake by not releasing an updated Brumby. I guess sales didn't justify it but they were super popular in Aus

I love the Brumby (Brat here in the US). I wanted one so bad in high school and used to drive by the Subaru dealer all the time to look at them.

Later in life I had a buddy who had one as a beater/commuter. When he and I were in Hong Kong on a business trip he bought a plastic model of it.

Well, except it was labelled as the Suburu BLAT, and the model had tracks instead of wheels running from the front wheels to the back.

The Baja is nice too, but needs the rear-facing back seats the Brat had in the US (installed to avoid a 25% import tax on trucks).

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by AnalogMan

This is another car I wish Subaru would bring back - the Baja.

I didn't know there was such a thing. Aus missed out on those.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by AnalogMan

This is another car I wish Subaru would bring back - the Baja. I would buy one in a New York minute if they ever re-released it (and have been perusing the classifieds for a low-mileage one for a while).

I don't need or want a 'truck'. I rarely have to haul barnyard animals or pallets full of major kitchen appliances. But having a modest size open bed for those occasional times when something is too bulky to fit into a trunk would be very handy, especially if it was packaged in essentially a regular 'car'.

The Baja had so many clever features - a 'dual action' tailgate, a fold-down back seat and panel to carry long loads. It's even more versatile than my old, long-gone and missed Saab hatchback (I won't get started on how much I miss hatchbacks, real hatchbacks).

I exchanged some emails a while back with someone in Subaru's product planning, who was very courteous and responsive. Interestingly, he mentioned that the Baja is the number one requested vehicle people want Subaru to bring back.

I wish Subaru would listen.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-sub...t-trucks-ever/

Funny. I remember reading an article saying the Baja was one of the worst, and worst selling cars in history. Not a good car, and not a good truck.

[AnalogMan]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Funny. I remember reading an article saying the Baja was one of the worst, and worst selling cars in history. Not a good car, and not a good truck.

I don't know the platform of or the engineering behind the Baja, but I think the idea behind some kind of Baja revival would be essentially a Legacy with the rear roof section cut off and a small 'pick up bed' in back instead of the cargo area. I don't know what platform the old Baja was built on, but I suspect the desires for cost-reduction meant something similar was done.

What would appeal to me is for it not to be a 'truck'. I don't want a real 'truck'. I'd like exactly what I described above, a car but with an open rear cargo area that I can put bulky things into. The rest of it should drive like the car it's based on (e.g. Legacy).

The original Baja had some other very clever design features to expand its utility (check out the attached video) - the dual-position tailgate, the fold-down back seat and pass through, even the license plate holder. None of this was intended to go head to head with the carrying capacity of a genuine pickup truck - it wasn't trying to imitate a F150 - but for occasional needs.

As I mentioned, it struck me that the Subaru product planning person I talked with said they get more requests to bring back the Baja than for any other kind of product. Maybe the times are a bit different now, and some of the people who bought bona fide pickup trucks back then realize they don't really need a 'truck', and their needs might be better served with a car-trucklet-thingie.

But then, truth be told, most of the people who drive F150's don't actually need them for the carrying capacity. They're bought for other reasons.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by AnalogMan

As I mentioned, it struck me that the Subaru product planning person I talked with said they get more requests to bring back the Baja than for any other kind of product.

There has always been a demand, maybe a counter-culture type demand, for these types of vehicles. GM, Holden, Ford, Toyota, Peugeot, Fiat, Dodge/Ram, Nissan/Datsun amongst others have all built one or more models through the years although all have not been available in the US.

I know that GM at least still builds one (the Chevy Montana, in South Africa).

[Dzmitry]

Originally Posted by AnalogMan

I don't know the platform of or the engineering behind the Baja, but I think the idea behind some kind of Baja revival would be essentially a Legacy with the rear roof section cut off and a small 'pick up bed' in back instead of the cargo area. I don't know what platform the old Baja was built on, but I suspect the desires for cost-reduction meant something similar was done.

What would appeal to me is for it not to be a 'truck'. I don't want a real 'truck'. I'd like exactly what I described above, a car but with an open rear cargo area that I can put bulky things into. The rest of it should drive like the car it's based on (e.g. Legacy).

The original Baja had some other very clever design features to expand its utility (check out the attached video) - the dual-position tailgate, the fold-down back seat and pass through, even the license plate holder. None of this was intended to go head to head with the carrying capacity of a genuine pickup truck - it wasn't trying to imitate a F150 - but for occasional needs.

As I mentioned, it struck me that the Subaru product planning person I talked with said they get more requests to bring back the Baja than for any other kind of product. Maybe the times are a bit different now, and some of the people who bought bona fide pickup trucks back then realize they don't really need a 'truck', and their needs might be better served with a car-trucklet-thingie.

But then, truth be told, most of the people who drive F150's don't actually need them for the carrying capacity. They're bought for other reasons.

My parents have always loved the Baja for that simple reason - Cheaper than a full truck, drives like a normal car, and can haul a bunch of crap in the "truck bed". I think it would be a fantastic vehicle for that purpose as well, I just wonder if there would be ENOUGH demand out there for it. It would need to be a pretty brilliant looking vehicle with cool enough features to grasp everyone's attention I feel. The uniqueness of its design alone would certainly help significantly. I, myself have no interest in trucks, but do want to grab one some day for the sake of being able to haul things for myself, family, and friends at any time of need (this type of situation has come up hundreds of times for me). If something like the Baja was brought back, I'd be all over it.

[AnalogMan]

Originally Posted by Dzmitry

I just wonder if there would be ENOUGH demand out there for it.

I think that's the essence of the question. The Subaru product planning person said that despite all the requests they get for the Baja, he admitted there was a lot of skepticism in 'senior management' because the first generation Baja was not considered a sales success.

I personally think one reason it didn't succeed was because of inadequate marketing. I'm hyper into cars, and I didn't know it existed at the time it was made. I only learned about it years later, when I saw the Doug DeMuro video I posted. I don't know how much marketing and advertising support Subaru gave to the Baja, but I never heard about it (the Subaru product planning person acknowledged this as well, that some internal people thought the car wan't adequately promoted).

It's hard to get over that kind of thinking and inertia - "we tried this before and it didn't work, so why would we want to try it again?". I got the impression that a Baja revival wasn't something that was on the table for Subaru (despite the fact that I think it would sell better this time, if it was marketed properly).