Concept Car- BRZ wagon called the Cross Sport Concept

Subaru soft-debuted a world-premier car here in Tokyo, and the rollout was so quiet we had to corner execs to find the scoop. Turns out, it's probably the coolest damn-near-ready for production car of the entire event. It's a thinly disguised BRZ wagon called the Cross Sport Concept. Ignore the silly name for a second. Underneath the slick wagon bodywork, this concept is all-BRZ everything. That means, most likely, rear-wheel drive and the familiar 2.0-liter flat-four engine.


Yoshio Hirakawa, corporate senior vice president, explained that the concept is a mere two inches
longer than the stock BRZ, for more usable rear legroom. But the real story is the excellent hatchback layout, an obvious Subaru strength. In concept form, a double liftgate/tailgate provides excellent utility (think of track days, when you could either chill on the tailgate or use it as a toolbench), and a completely fold-flat rear seat and front-passenger seat that collapses flat would ease big-box store runs.

 The concept looks fully baked, even if we likely won't get the gorgeous suede interior and wood-clad hatch area/liftgate. Other show-only goodies, we'd guess, are STi brakes and chromed stereoscope forward-collision safety cameras (they look like missile launchers here, but in production they're sure to get toned down).

 
Production? There wasn't a single peep from Hirakawa-san about future plans, but it's an absolutely obvious line extension for Subaru, since a BRZ coupe/hatch would fulfill not only a practical niche, but an enthusiast dream as well.