Subaru does not build many cars like the Subaru Baja: a 4-door coupé utility with 2.5 L Subaru EJ engine#EJ251, built from 2002 to 2006 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids.
How it came about
The Subaru Baja is an all-wheel-drive, four passenger coupé utility manufactured from 2002 to 2006 by Subaru and marketed for model years 2003 to 2006. The Baja combines the handling and passenger carrying characteristics of a traditional passenger car with the open-bed versatility and load capacity of a small pickup truck. The unibody design borrowed heavily from the existing mechanicals, platform and sheet metal of the Subaru Legacy/Outback wagon.
Production began on July 18, 2002 as a 2003 model at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. factory in Lafayette, Indiana. The name Baja derives from the Mexican peninsula of Baja California; home to the Baja 1000 off-road race.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 2.5 L Subaru EJ engine#EJ251; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 4-speed Automatic transmission / automatic / 5-speed Manual transmission / manual. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The wheelbase is 104.3 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Subaru's history is not in doubt: the Subaru BRAT came before it; it was built at Lafayette, Indiana (Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc.), United States. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Citroën C3, the Honda Accord, the Volvo XC90. Its Subaru stablemates include the Subaru Chiffon and the Subaru Lucra.
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