Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Baja represents one of the last times Subaru got really funky. Let’s see if the price tag on this high-mileage but seemingly well-maintained weirdo pickup makes it funky fresh.
Pythons of the family Pythonidae are some of the fattest snakes around. Similarly, the 1990 Kelly Python prototype we looked at yesterday requires a fat wad of cash — $30,000, to be exact — to acquire. Well, that or the trade for some sort of SUV since the seller wasn’t being all that picky. We do tend to be picky, and that price tag didn’t sit well with most of us, settling in the end at a 90 percent No Dice loss.
Please allow me the opportunity to wish you all a wonderful and festive Saturnalia, which just so happens to be in full swing this week. Io saturnalia! Originally a pagan celebration denoting the end of harvest, the annual observance expanded during the Roman New Republic era to a fully week-long fest culminating on the Winter Solstice. That’s tomorrow on the present calendar, so there’s still time to celebrate and maybe even exchange a few presents.
Should you be on the hunt for a gift for that special someone—or maybe even the opportunity to treat yourself—you might want to look no further than this 2003 Subaru Baja car/truck/wagon.
I don’t know how familiar you are with the Baja since fewer than 30,000 were sold over its brief four-and-a-half-year model run, but one glance at it should clue you in on its Outback wagon origins. Instead of the wagon back end, though, the out-back portion of the Baja’s roof has been lopped off and replaced with a 40-inch long pickup bed. Lots of plastic cladding and a faux roll-over bar complete the picture.
This was Subaru’s first open-bed vehicle since the beloved Brat. It did not, however, include jump seats in the bed as the Brat did, likely because Subaru’s lawyers savvied up in the intervening years. Unlike the seemingly similar Chevy Avalanche, which offered a collapsable gate at the front of its bed to extend the load capability fully into the cabin, the Baja only offers a small under-window pass-through. On the plus side, the Baja did offer an optional fold-out fence that extended cargo space to above the lowered tailgate and an articulating license plate holder in the back that folds down when the gate is lowered.
This one, in a bold yellow and silver motif, sports a substantial 185,000 miles on the clock. Despite that high number, it seems to be in pretty decent shape. According to the ad, it has been well cared for and has had the major mechanical bugaboos of the head gaskets, timing belt, and clutch all refreshed. Along with that work, the ad touts new shocks, struts, and axles. Oil changes have been undertaken every 3K, a regimen obviously intended to keep OPEC in business.
Aesthetically, the car shows some obvious war wounds from its years and miles on the road. There’s nothing terrible here, although a sizable dent on the rear bumper corner stands out. On the plus side, that indent could serve as a handy step into the bed. One thing of note is that the car’s fuel filler door is still intact. For whatever reason, those tend to go missing on these all too frequently.
The interior is a bit more hard-worn, with a cover on the driver’s seat that may be protecting the leather upholstery beneath from damage or masking the damage that’s already occurred. An in-person inspection will be required to find out. A companion steering wheel cover makes the tiller look as puffy as a python. According to the seller, the car comes with a clean title, an accident-free history, and just one family’s ownership. The asking price for this silliest of Subarus is $6,500.
What do you think about that? Is this Baja worth that $6,500 asking? Or does that price have you exclaiming Baja-humbug?
You decide!
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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