Subaru’s “Baja” pickup truck exclusively for the North American market
The WEKFEST JAPAN event, which originated in the U.S., is a high-level custom car show in which only vehicles that have passed a rigorous screening process are allowed to participate. 2024, we found at the venue a Subaru pickup truck that was produced exclusively for the North American market 2003 to The Baja pickup truck, which was produced by Subaru exclusively for North America from 2003 to 2006. It was a drifting version that was so cool that it was almost unrecognizable from its original form. Here are some of the astonishing customization details.
A 2003 Subaru Baja was selected as the base for the drifting vehicle
“Miura501” was displaying a 2003 Subaru “Baja” that he had purchased on an Internet buy/sell site while on a business trip to North America. When he purchased the car, it was lifted and equipped with kangaroo bars and other off-road specs, but after maintenance in the U.S., he brought it to Japan and had it built in a hurry for this WEKFEST. Baja is not sold in Japan, so why did they select this model as the base vehicle?
“I have several Subaru DRI cars, and while I was in the US, I wanted to get a base car that was not sold in Japan, and this was it. It was cheap, had a manual transmission, and the body was rigid as a base for a drifting car, so I felt that it would be cheaper and easier to build than a Silvia.
Deep modifications were made to convert the Baja into a DRI car
The customization that was done after bringing the car back to Japan was quite hard. First, the body was turned into a dongara, and then the body was all painted in a matcha color (inspired by Japanese style), a color that he had mixed himself. The EJ20 engine and 6-speed manual transmission from an Impreza WRX STI were transplanted to the body, and the center differential was locked to make it RWD.
The rear suspension is an external full arm with Cusco coilovers, and the wheels are the rare BBS Racing GT II wheels. All of these modifications were made to convert the Baja into a drift vehicle.
More work will be done after shakedown
“Miura501” dared to select a pickup model that is not sold in Japan as a base vehicle for drifting, so what is the Baja’s potential as a drifting vehicle?
“There is a drifting event tomorrow (the day after the event), but I don’t know yet because it hasn’t been shaken down as a drifting car. But the ass is still heavy. The overhang is said to be much longer than a regular Legacy, so I think it will be a bit difficult to handle. But there is no other car like it in the world, so I wanted to do it.”
Miura501’s Baja is still in shakedown and will be further brushed up after the Drift event, but is there anything he wants to do at this point?
“As I continue to finish this car, I would like to get a license plate number and official approval for the final form. We are confirming that we can do this by using only parts that are made in Japan for Subaru vehicles, and if we can successfully combine them.”
translated by DeepL
