Every once in a while your favorite automakers try to do hot takes. I think pickup trucks are better than luxury cars, Thomas thinks the Mazda RX-8 is what everyone wanted in the Honda S2000, and David thinks timing belts are unreliable. Matt took a swing this morning by calling Tesla a legacy automaker. Here’s his logic:
Why? Because “legacy” was a term practically invented to pit Elon Musk’s Tesla against old car companies like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen. It was, more than anything, a bit of a ‘pejorative’ that implied that those automakers weren’t capable of catching up with Tesla by building a product as good or desirable. But now it’s Tesla that’s on its back foot in China as it faces competition from companies building more interesting products — ones that outprice Tesla and even offer free self-driving that’s built specifically for the market. In a younger market like China, Tesla is definitely a “legacy” automaker.
Sure, that’s fine and all, but we all know who the real Legacy automaker is. Take it away, ExAutoJourno!:
I would say Subaru is a Legacy automaker.
Honorable mentions to Fratzog:
Nissan is too, but i fear they’ve gone Rouge, and Datsun has set on them as a brand. Kinda sad that this is their Altimate fate
And Nlpnt:
Honda was willing to do their Civic duty and merge with them even if it wasn’t a good Fit, but the couldn’t reach an Accord.
Today, Jason wrote a Cold Start asking for more information about a sweet Volkswagen Beetle-based truck that he found in Denver. I have good news, Jason, Rusty S Trusty has the goods!
Found it!: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713228
Today, Jason also wrote about one modern car feature that is pretty great, and it’s the kick-to-open tailgate. Well, there’s one small hilarious caveat, from Groover:
My MINI Countryman has this feature, and I love it with one caveat:
One option that the Countryman had is the Picnic Bench – probably a dealer-install accessory – is a little cushion/bench which goes over the bumper to provide a soft, comfortable place to sit and ponder your life’s choices. It’s great – as long as you don’t swing your feet beneath the bumper – in which case, the hatch will close upon your head and your happy little picnic bench dreams.
I shouldn’t be laughing so hard right now. Have a great weekend, everyone!
“Every once in a while your favorite automakers tried to do hot-takes”
Not criticizing, just pointing out what turned out for me to be a bit of a long-fuse joke
I watched a review of the ’25 base Impreza yesterday and kind of liked it (I’d like it a lot more if it were available with a manual, which it no longer is sadly) and then when I went to Subaru’s site, I discovered that the base Legacy (sedan only, and even more sadly, CVT only) MSRPs for just a $1,600. more than the base Impreza.
While I actually prefer hatchbacks to sedans (assuming a wagon isn’t available… the Legacy wagon is no more… you have to get an Outback with all that silly black plastic all over it) the Legacy gets Subaru’s 2.5 liter boxer vs. the base Impreza’s 2.0 liter which is notoriously slow (though probably adequate for me personally). Plus, the Legacy is just a bigger, more solid-and-adult-looking car (IMO). I’ve driven and ridden in various Subarus over the years, but never owned one. Their CVT isn’t the worst, but even a 5-speed traditional torque converter automatic would be so much better.
I was under the impression (from somewhere… it all blurs together after a while) that the Legacy was now on it’s final generation, being a (relatively I assume) slow-selling traditional sedan. Burdened by its own name, if you will. Which is kind of a shame IMO. Maybe I’m mistaken?
Subaru is solely to blame for slow Legacy sales, given the painfully monochrome color pallet available on the base Legacy: https://www.subaru.com/build/LEG/SAB/colors.html …I mean, like really… are you trying to imagine we all live in a world of black and white film and tv for nostalgia reasons? I mean, I wouldn’t expect them to offer the base Legacy in a hot blue or pumpkin orange as they do sometimes on the Crosstrek (I also seem to recall a pastel mint green like you’d see on a Fiat 500) but still: I find their lack of chroma and saturation to be disturbing (to paraphrase Lord Vader). Even the highest-end ($38K!) Legacy only gets one more color than the base, and it’s a pretty generic/unremarkable metallic maroon, like you’d see on an inexpensive early 80s American or German car.
OK, I’ll shut up now. I woke with a headache and the coffee isn’t helping and despite it being so nice out, I think I best go back to bed.
In Australia calling Subaru a legacy automaker would be taking a liberty.
https://www.drive.com.au/news/subaru-liberty-to-be-axed-usa-2025/
Liberty truly is dead.
Australia? You do realize that the last car built in Australia was David Tracy’s Dl Camino right?
My famiily worked in the plant that birthed the mighty Val ute. infact my high school was pretty well at training college for a job at Chrysler / Mitsubishi Lonsdale engine plant.
It’s a little known fact that the cosmetics division of Nissan is what’s been keeping them afloat the last few years.
That’s why I think Honda made a mistake. because they have a great foundation to build on.
Of course, their designers are more skilled with make up than any Fairlady