German Car Zone

Merc, from what I can tell, the addition of Alfa and Fiat desiner Andreas Zapatinas to Subaru was doomed form the start and we can at least partially blame him for initiating this whole mess. He was the wrong man for the wrong company. At the time, Subaru design wasn't terribly distinct, but it was finally starting to carve out a handsome image it could call its own. With Subaru's image problems in the States, the only thing needed were solid models that stood out as hadsome specimens amongst their peers.

Instead of nurturing what was already working in Subaru's styling arsenal, Zapatinas acted as an iconoclastic "personality designer," a la Chris Bangle. This led to the creation of the very Un-Subaru like Tribeca which got rave reviews from the press, confused the hell out of hapless consumers unfamiliar with the Subaru brand and alienated Subaru's loyal base.

The Tribeca was planned ot be a breakthrough product for North America, and deserved to be. Instead, Subaru laid an egg - the thing just looked strange, and didn't resonate with prospects or owners. Fast foward a little bit and we see the Imprezza being outfitted with the same distinctive grille seen on the Tribeca. Reaction is mixed.

The rest of the story can be left to conjecture. Basically Andreas Zapatinas parted ways with Subaru. Reading between the lines we can probably surmise that he was fired.

Now, left with a quasi-7er type situation on their hands, management scrambles to do some revisionist history and "Fixes" the Tribeca, and is probably pretty gun-shy about adventurous styling and all to eager to purge the Zapatinas grille from the Imprezza. Unfortunately, whatever momentum Subaru had before Zapatinas showed up on the scene seems to be lost.

The new WRX is a pity, not just because it looks watered-down, but because it has nothing to do with any Subarus, past or present. It's just a smattering of design cues plucked from around the world. This car deserves much better.

If Subaru hired the right talent years ago, we'd be looking at some beautiful, aggressive cars. It's a pity.

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I think it looks better every time I see it. Once again, if I consider the proportions of the under-selling Sportwagon against those of this new car I can see that, instantaneously, Subaru have a car with more mass-market appeal. Mechanically speaking, here we have what is arguably the best five door hatchback in the world in my opinion:

I agree with you Martin. Everytime I see it, I like it more and more. It's just such a nice, clean and friendly design. When I look at proportions, creases, angles, this car is great.

You're dead right Naruto. The design isn't nearly as offensive as some publications originally suggested. Sure, the tail-lights are a tad ricey but that's something we've come to expect from Japanese makers. In fact, it's almost like a national trademark or something!

What we can be sure of is the under-the-skin superiority of this new car; a lower centre of gravity, improved Boxer engines, tried and tested permanent AWD, double wishbone rear suspension... all of it makes for some seriously cool kit. I'll take mine in white please...

^^I'll take mine is STi trim with Blue on gold wheels.

Lotsa pics @ WCF...


2008 Subaru Impreza