Subaru 'Forester Woody' concept<
CHICAGO - Subaru celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first four-wheel-drive passenger car in America with a retro wagon show car called the Subaru "Forester Woody" concept. Essentially, it's just a doctored version of a new Subaru Forester made to look like an old "woody" wagon, similar to those made popular by California surfers of the 1950s.
Like America's original wood-sided wagons, the "Forester Woody" was made by attaching real wood to the sides of the vehicle. In this case, nearly 70 individually fitted pieces of genuine Philippine mahogany and white ash wood veneers were affixed to the Subaru concept using a space-age, all-weather adhesive. And, yes, almost every automotive journalist old enough to remember picked up on the use of classic "Baby Moon" hubcaps on painted steel wheels with chrome trim rings.
The "Forester Woody" also features a custom-made roof rack (specially designed to hold two snowboards), as well as a retro-look interior with wicker cane-type textured upholstery and trim, a wooden steering wheel and wood rub strips on the cargo load floor. At the same time, it is fitted with the world's first AutoPC, a computer system made by Clarion that controls the vehicle's entertainment, navigation and communications systems with voice-recognition technology.
Perhaps the most surprising part of Subaru's Chicago press conference was the announcement that 1998 marked the third consecutive year the company has been the top seller of station wagons in the United States (sorry, Ford). Subaru has also been the No.1-selling import wagon for 17 years in a row.
Tim Mahoney, director of marketing for Subaru America, used the "Forester Woody" to illustrate the company's long-standing commitment to the sport-utility market. The idea behind Subaru's original 4WD subcompact wagon in 1974 was "to blend the go-anywhere ability of a truck with the comfort and safety of a car," he said. Consequently, Mahoney claimed Subaru was the first car company to produce a car/truck "hybrid" on a car-based platform - one of the hottest concept trends at auto shows of late.
Just as the "woody" of yesterday was embraced by the surfers, Mahoney said, the Subarus of the '90s are designed to attract today's snowboarders. (Subaru is the official car of the American Association of Snowboard Instructors.) We're not so sure the correlation being made there truly exists -- but hey, we'll give them credit for thinking of it.
Now, if Subaru could only persuade Chevy Chase to drive a Forester "American Family Truckster" in the next Vacation movie sequel, we'll start believing in some of the marketing hype.
CHICAGO - Subaru celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first four-wheel-drive passenger car in America with a retro wagon show car called the Subaru "Forester Woody" concept. Essentially, it's just a doctored version of a new Subaru Forester made to look like an old "woody" wagon, similar to those made popular by California surfers of the 1950s.
Like America's original wood-sided wagons, the "Forester Woody" was made by attaching real wood to the sides of the vehicle. In this case, nearly 70 individually fitted pieces of genuine Philippine mahogany and white ash wood veneers were affixed to the Subaru concept using a space-age, all-weather adhesive. And, yes, almost every automotive journalist old enough to remember picked up on the use of classic "Baby Moon" hubcaps on painted steel wheels with chrome trim rings.
The "Forester Woody" also features a custom-made roof rack (specially designed to hold two snowboards), as well as a retro-look interior with wicker cane-type textured upholstery and trim, a wooden steering wheel and wood rub strips on the cargo load floor. At the same time, it is fitted with the world's first AutoPC, a computer system made by Clarion that controls the vehicle's entertainment, navigation and communications systems with voice-recognition technology.
Perhaps the most surprising part of Subaru's Chicago press conference was the announcement that 1998 marked the third consecutive year the company has been the top seller of station wagons in the United States (sorry, Ford). Subaru has also been the No.1-selling import wagon for 17 years in a row.
Tim Mahoney, director of marketing for Subaru America, used the "Forester Woody" to illustrate the company's long-standing commitment to the sport-utility market. The idea behind Subaru's original 4WD subcompact wagon in 1974 was "to blend the go-anywhere ability of a truck with the comfort and safety of a car," he said. Consequently, Mahoney claimed Subaru was the first car company to produce a car/truck "hybrid" on a car-based platform - one of the hottest concept trends at auto shows of late.
Just as the "woody" of yesterday was embraced by the surfers, Mahoney said, the Subarus of the '90s are designed to attract today's snowboarders. (Subaru is the official car of the American Association of Snowboard Instructors.) We're not so sure the correlation being made there truly exists -- but hey, we'll give them credit for thinking of it.
Now, if Subaru could only persuade Chevy Chase to drive a Forester "American Family Truckster" in the next Vacation movie sequel, we'll start believing in some of the marketing hype.
Add A Comment »