--- title: "This ’90s Subaru Concept Was the Missing Link Between the Brat and the Baja" date: "2025-05-01" modified: "2025-05-01" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/this-90s-subaru-concept-was-the-missing-link-between-the-brat-and-the-baja" categories: - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Subaru News" tags: - "pickup" - "Subaru" --- # This ’90s Subaru Concept Was the Missing Link Between the Brat and the Baja ![]() *Subaru* I like Subaru. It's a brand that embraces its image and sticks to what its biggest fans want, which is more than you can say of most. However, I'll never forgive it for this. In the early '90s, [Subaru]() designed a car that was an equal-parts wagon and pickup truck, which would have been one of the coolest family cars ever. It was called the Subaru Suiren—Japanese for "water lily"—but sadly, it died in the concept stage. Subaru first showed the Suiren to the public at the 1993 [Tokyo Motor Show](), and supposedly, it was meant to replace the beloved Brat. Based on the contemporary Impreza, the Suiren was essentially a [ute]() with two doors, four seats, and a small pickup truck bed, but with the stance of a car. It also came with a removable hard top canopy for the bed, which would effectively turn it into a two-door wagon. The canopy had massive side windows that kept it from feeling like a normal pickup truck bed cap; they were apparently made from shatterproof plastic, too. Like the Subaru Baja that wouldn't arrive for almost another decade, the Suiren had a folding midgate bulkhead between the bed and cabin to store longer items. OK, so maybe Subaru should have left the Suiren's design in the oven a little while longer, because it wasn't exactly pretty. It introduced the world to Subie's bug-eye front-end, which was fine, but it looked weird and misshapen with the canopy in place. As a pickup, though, it looked pretty good. ![]() ![]() Under that oddball design was mostly typical Subaru. It had a 2.5-liter flat-four under its hood and a full-time all-wheel drive system, using the brand's famous viscous-coupling center differential. However, it's what could be sandwiched in between those that was interesting. While it was offered with a conventional manual transmission, according to *[Drive.au]()*, Subaru also co-developed a new automatic for the Suiren with Prodrive—the same Prodrive that builds race cars. It was a semi-automated sequential gearbox that could shift manually via steering wheel-mounted buttons and would have been revolutionary in 1993. In the current world of CVT-only Subarus, hearing about any sort of ambitious automatic makes me both happy and sad. Sadly, the Tokyo Motor Show was as far as the Suiren went. Instead, Subaru ended up replacing the Brat with the[ four-door Baja]() in 2002. At least the Baja kept the midgate. What a cool world it could have been with two-door utes running around, doubling as wagons when needed. *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()