subaru baja (my dream car)

I would cut off a limb to get a subaru baja.

The baja started as the Baja ST-X concept in 1999 and as a spiritual successor to the BRAT. It went into production in 2002, and sold from 2003-2006. It was only available in the American market. Only about 30,000 units were sold in the three years it was available.

The style of its body is closest to a "ute" which is a type of vehicle popular in Australia. It is short for "utility." Utes are so huge in Australia that there are ute-centric events called "ute musters." Sometimes, pickup trucks are referred to utes, but I personally keep them seperate.

Utes are popular in Australian surf culture because they're practical for carrying surfboards and gear. Because of that, the Subaru Baja was aimed at Californian surfers. You can open the cab into the bed and easily fit surfboards in it. It came in totally radical colors too.

The Baja came in two trims: sport and turbo. Sport was essentially the base model. The engine changed halfway through production from the EJ251 to the EJ253. Both are four-cyl boxer and 2.5L. The Baja Turbo was introduced in 2004, and it had a turbocharged EJ255 engine which was also 4-cyl boxer with 2.5L. The Baja Turbo has about 90 more HP than the sport, 100 more ft-lbs of torque, and a dual exhaust system. The same engine was used in Impreza WRX, Legacy GT, Forester XT, and Outback XT. Downside is that this is the engine that loves to have headgasket failures which a bigger issue than normal because it is a boxer engine.

Depite the issues, the Subaru Baja is my dream car. It being a Subaru, and mostly an Outback, there's a lot I can do to it. I could turbo a Sport model if I wanted or lift/lower it. Some STI parts from the same year can fit perfectly. I'd be just in love with it if it was bone stock too. I just adore the look of it.