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As our reviewer requested when writing in regards to the 2003 Baja: keep in mind the subaru brat, Sure, from the 1978 to 1987 mannequin years, Subaru bought a model of the Leon with a pickup mattress in the USA, and the reminiscence of the BRAT remained contemporary even after all of the lawsuits over the accidents to passengers who averted the rooster tax. Jumpseat. That's why it appeared acceptable for Subaru to provide this nice legacy the BRAT remedy; At the moment's Junkyard Gem is a kind of first-year Baja pickups.
Many of the deserted Subarus I doc are present in automobile graveyards situated in my Subaru-loving dwelling state of Colorado, however I noticed this one 1,300 miles southeast. That's proper, New Orleans, Louisiana, dwelling of Louis Armstrong, Professor Longhair and the Can't Git Bayou 24 Hours of LeMans race. I used to be in New Orleans to guage on the 2024 Can't Git Bayou occasion and I discovered time to quietly go to a close-by pull-a-part.
I haven't been capable of finding a Baja in a Colorado junkyard that isn't burned and/or simply recognizable, maybe as a result of they’re so beloved within the Centennial State that house owners maintain specimens on the road that haven't been trashed an excessive amount of. Has been accomplished. , i noticed you Two Amongst them in New Orleans Pull-a-Half.
Subaru manufactured the Baja for the 2003 to 2006 mannequin years, ceasing manufacturing after disappointing gross sales numbers. Actually, this publication ranked the Baja in 2013 because the sixth most embarrassing automobile you could possibly drive (#1 was the Sensible Fortwo).
The Baja was basically a stretched Legacy Outback wagon with a pickup mattress. In 2003, American Subaru consumers may nonetheless get a Legacy Outback sedan (which remained obtainable till 2004), though the outside Legacy badging was faraway from the Outback sedan and wagon from the 2000 mannequin 12 months.
The rationale the Baja was made half a foot longer than its Outback wagon sibling was so it could have 4 doorways and room for a again seat.
There have been “sports activities bars” behind the cab to strengthen the construction and provides the Baja a troublesome off-roady look.
The mattress was small however helpful.
All Bajas had 2.5-liter boxer-fours underneath their hoods, both a SOHC naturally aspirated model rated at 165 horsepower and 166 pound-feet or a DOHC turbocharged model with 210 horses and 235 pound-feet. For 2003 the one non-turbo engine was obtainable and that's what we’ve on this truck.
The bottom transmission was a five-speed guide, however this Baja has an non-obligatory four-speed computerized.
These automatics usually had expensive issues later in life, however I believe a blown head gasket killed this truck. Inside is an unused gasket package; Maybe the final proprietor determined that eradicating the engine for gasket work was an excessive amount of bother and despatched it to the junkyard. That's the issue with boxer engines and their hard-to-access cylinder heads.
The keys are nonetheless within the ignition.
It's a bit unhappy, as a result of somebody beloved this automobile. We are able to see from the Subaru Love badges that this was its proprietor's fourth Subaru, and the proprietor's pursuits included pets, climbing, musical theater, cooking, tenting, scouting, and household life. I see only a few badges like this on junkyard automobiles.
It was a flexible car just like the Pontiac Aztek.
Lance Armstrong was nonetheless doing automobile commercials by the start of the subsequent decade, however then every little thing fell aside.
Reincarnation is true!