The Subaru ST-X Story

During the LA Auto Show in 2000 Subaru unveiled a concept called the ST-X.  Subaru was already confident from their success with the Crossover SUV idea with their Outback and Forester models and thought that their Subaru Truck Xperimental could bring similar success.  This concept was pitched as "the ultimate expression of the Subaru brand essence – fun, freedom, adventure, confidence, and control."  

Built around the Outback/Legacy chassis, the ST-X was in a class by itself with a four-door layout, extendable cargo bed with switchback design, four-wheel independent suspension, and a Supercharged 4-Cylinder Boxer Engine at it's core supplying power to their proven All-Wheel Drive system.  This concept embodied the exciting lifestyle it promoted with a bold aggressive exterior design wrapped in Solar Flare Orange paint.  That color made it's way to the interior as well, acting as upholstery and dash panel accents throughout the ST-X cabin.

The design of the ST-X already seamed feasible, as it was built on an existing Subaru model you could buy at the time.  As it was essentially a modified 2000 Subaru Outback, it was easy to picture this less as a fancy non-functional concept car and more as something that was actually possible.  Subaru even had a patent pending on the Switchback design for the car and looked poised to release this car with all the excitement the concept brought to the table.

Patent number: 6481772

Abstract: An automotive vehicle body including a passenger cab having a rear end, a cargo bed having a substantially horizontal floor extending rearwardly from the rear end of the passenger cab and a pivoted closure on the rear end of the cab. The closure is movable between an erect position to separate the passenger cab and the cargo bed, and a folded position to extend the floor of the cargo bed into the rear end of the passenger cab. In one embodiment, the pivoted closure is defined by a rear seat back in the passenger cab and that is capable of folding in a forward direction of the vehicle. A retractable window is slidable into and out of a top portion of the rear seat back when the rear seat back is in an upright position. In another embodiment, the pivoted closure is provided by a hinged door between the rear end of the passenger cab and the cargo bed.
Type: Grant
Filed: October 13, 2000
Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
Assignee: Subaru of America, Inc.
Inventor: Peter Tenn 

The ST-X Concept made it's way to retailers as a product called the Subaru Baja in late August of 2002 as a 2003 model.  In many ways, the Baja shared the main features that the ST-X concept had displayed 2 years earlier at the LA Auto Show.  Impressively, the bold exterior design remained mostly unchanged from the concept.  The other exciting aspects of the ST-X had been seemingly watered down with the production Baja.  Instead of a Supercharged engine, the Baja made its debut with a Naturally Aspirated 4-Cylinder engine.  The Baja also backpedaled on the Switchback design for the cargo area, only having a small opening below the back window instead of the larger opening of the entire back wall and glass.  The retractable canvas roof had been replaced with a standard power sunroof.  Solar Flare Orange had been diluted to Baja Yellow and the interior orange accents had been replaced with a more standard black with silver accents look.

Despite the watered-down aspects, Subaru still expected to sell 24,000 Bajas per year built out of their plant in Lafayette, IN.  With scarce advertising for this new model and a confused initial reception, the Baja was not off to a stellar start.  While it received awards for design and reliability, reviews of the vehicle were less than encouraging.  After it's first year, Subaru added a turbocharged engine option to give the sporty Baja some well-needed pep, but this didn't breathe much new interest into the already controversial design.  Over the Baja's limited 4-year sales period, a total of around 30,000 were produced.  Low sales reflected the underwhelming production design and, with the all-new 2005 Legacy and Outback being released in 2004, the Baja already seemed outdated among it's fellow Subaru models.

There are several problems one could use to explain why the Baja flopped, but it could attribute most of that to the expectations set by the successful ST-X Concept.  For a quirky Car/Truck design to work, the exciting adventurous spirit that the ST-X Team had put into the concept was a necessary component to it's success in the real world.  Unfortunately, when those elements were dialed back for the actual production of the Subaru Baja, it lost those stand-out features designed to propel it forward.  Ten years after the Baja's initial release, the Subaru XV Crosstrek delivered a bold compact crossover dressed in a familiar orange.  The Crosstrek has since become one of Subaru's top selling lines and continues to define and lead it's category.  It seems Subaru has learned the lesson for delivering an exciting new product to the market.  One can only imagine if the ST-X and the Baja's story may have been different had this formula been followed before.

Not all is lost.  The Subaru ST-X lives on in the Baja, which has recovered in popularity in it's age.  They enjoy strong resale value in the used market as the hard-to-find nature of this truck/car thing and enthusiast following have kept them alive and in-demand over the years.  The ST-X Concept was built around fun, freedom, adventure, confidence, and control.  Those ideas still ring true with the handful of Bajas being enjoyed today.