Saturday, November 22, 2008

Patent filed for DOA Tribeca-based Saab 9-6X


It takes no stretch of the imagination to look at the freshened Subaru Tribeca and see a stillborn Saab 9-6x. The grille and the headlamps may be slightly different from what a Saab version of Subaru's biggest crossover would wear, but if you park your Tribeca next to a 9-5, you'll notice the resemblance immediately. All the work had been done to morph the Tribeca into a Saab variant, and then General Motors decided to sell its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, and so broke the ties that bound the two automakers.
The tidy little story doesn't end there, though. Just this month a patent was filed for a Saab vehicle that can be nothing but the 9-6x that we all thought was dead. Why now? Well, the folks at TurboNines posit that we may yet see the Saabaru crossover for a couple of solid reasons. Right now, Saab has the 9-7x, which is a variant of the Trailblazer. It's in fact the best Trailblazer ever, but it's headed for extinction when General Motors shutters its Moraine, OH plant. That leaves an opening in Saab's lineup, and dealers would love to have something to sell. Enter the 9-6x; all the work has been done, so it can be pulled off the shelf and pressed into service without the cost of development or even styling. Of course, it might just be that we're talking ourselves into something, but the fact that the patent was just applied for makes us think that we could soon see a Saab 9-6x based on one of our favorite larger crossovers.

[ Via: TurboNines ]
[ Tag: saab, saab 9-6, saab crossover, saab subaru, Saab9-6, saabaru, SaabCrossover, SaabSubaru ]

Friday, November 14, 2008

Leave it at home: Subaru Dex


The JDM market is apparently enamored with vehicles that look like they're stuck in the shipping crate. We saw the first generation Toyota bB here as the Scion xB before it went on an eating binge and lost all its charm. That original bB went on to another generation, and has its own scions in form of some Daihatsu models. Subaru inked a deal back in April to share models between Toyota and Daihatsu, and this hideous little box with the star-motif badges is the result. There are three trim levels, and the Dex will relieve you of $15,000-$20,000. And here we thought even Subaru had relinquished its weird years ago. Turns out it was there all along, and the Dex is the ballcap-shaped box of contrived quirk that proves it.

[ Via: Inside Line ]
[ Tag: jdm subaru, JdmSubaru, scion xb, ScionXb, subaru dex, subaru toyota dihatsu, SubaruDex, SubaruToyotaDihatsu, toyota bb, toyota xb, ToyotaBb, ToyotaXb ]

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Japanese School Girl Wristcutters: So Wrong It Really, Really Hurts [Japan, Oh Japan]


Wowowow. I have no idea what the context of this clip is. I don't want to believe that these kawaii! schoolgirl wristcutters are real, peddled by schoolgirls winking and smiling as they lick the blood trickling down their wrists. But you know what? I honestly don't know what's real or not anymore. I just don't know. [Vidmax]

[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]

Thursday, November 6, 2008

SEMA: Save us Subaru Mountain Rescue Vehicle!


Click above for high-res gallery of the Subaru Mountain Rescue Vehicle

[ Via: Autoblog (Aftermarket) ]
[ Tag: emergency vehicle, EmergencyVehicle, mountain rescue vehicle, MountainRescueVehicle, national ski patrol, NationalSkiPatrol, sema, sema 2008, Sema2008, subaru, subaru mountain rescue vehicle, SubaruMountainRescueVehicle, suvs ]

SEMA 2008: Subaru trots out Forester XTI concept and tweaked WRX


Click any image for a high-res gallery

[ Via: Autoblog (Aftermarket) ]
[ Tag: fast and furious 4, fast and furious four, FastAndFurious4, FastAndFuriousFour, forester, sema, sema 2008, Sema2008, sti, subaru, subaru forester xti concept, SubaruForesterXtiConcept, wrx ]