Soft-serve Subie

When it comes to wandering the wilderness, the Israelites have nothing on Subaru. Known and loved for a generation of woodsy all-wheel-drive sedans, wagons and refrigerator boxes (Legacy, Impreza, Forester), Subaru has also pulled boners of biblical proportions, such as the Giugiaro-designed luxury sports car SVX in the early 1990s. Subaru's flannel-wearing, Walden-dwelling fans were precisely as thrilled as you might expect. About the same time, Subaru of America hired the advertising firm Wieden & Kennedy, whose enigmatic and daft "What to Drive" campaign could well have been shortened to just "What?" It took years for Subaru to get back on message.

By Dan Neil

October 31, 2007