2008 Subaru Tribeca

Subaru has now established itself as one of the most reliable and proven brands in the world. Differentiating from the rest of the Japanese makers via their All-Wheel-Drive system, the Japanese brand is now well and truly at its best.

But, and I say but with extreme emphasis, the people in charge of Subaru’s exterior designs need to be lined up against a wall and ran into by every single ugly front end the brand has ever made, and there are a few of them.

Take the bug-eye Impreza 2000-2002 for example, 6 years on and even today Subaru owners hang their heads in shame knowing the company put the world’s ugliest front end to such a marvellous car.

The engineering work that goes into every single subie is above the fold, and that is a result of years and years of refusing to give in to temptation to build front-wheel-drives.

All other mainstream Japanese manufacturers decided a long time ago that in order to make the most money, front-wheel drive was the way to go, not Subaru, it’s either done the right way, or it’s not done at all, similar to BMW, no such thing as a front-wheel-drive BMW.

However the upcoming Toyota funded ‘affordable sports car’ will be rear-wheel-drive, which should pose an interesting dilemma for Subaru.

But enough about the brand, lets get back to the car. The first Tribeca that came out was unanimously labelled as the ugliest SUV on the road (bar SsangYong’s contributions).

One has to wonder sometimes how some car designs get approved. Manufacturers spend millions on focus groups and research before a car goes into production, so how then, did Subaru think the car was going to appeal to anyone except the visually impaired?

But it wasn’t even a big problem, it was simply the front headlights, they looked like they came from a 1960s Datsun. To put it bluntly, the front-end made a quality car feel mundane and repulsive.

The main issue with the original Tribeca design was its target audience. Americans. If you’re smart enough, you may even work that out from the name, Tribeca stands for “Triangle Below the Canal”, a neighbourhood in lower Manhattan, New York (and yes, the car is built in the States).

However the original Tribeca was not much of a sales success over there, even the Americans questioned the styling.

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