2014 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Let's all take a moment to smile at this tiny Subaru van

The news is really depressing. You're stuck at home, hopefully working but possibly not. The kids home from school just ... won't ... calm ... down.  We need something to make us smile, so allow me to present a tiny morsel of happiness that is this 1993 Subaru Sambar Dias van currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer. One might call this a mini van if a minivan wasn't already a thing (and in no way mini any more), but the actual term is a "Kei-class van," referring the Japanese Kei class of vehicles that are teeny-tiny and capped at an engine displacement of 660cc. Some fun stuff: this Sambar Dias has beautifully maintained cloth upholstery with oh-so-Japanese lace covers for the headrests and upper seat backs. There are also rear captain's chairs, so really, the 1993 Subaru Sambar Dias is exactly like a 2020 Subaru Ascent Touring. It rides on 12-inch wheels, meaning you can use a Chicago deep-dish pizza as a spare tire in a pinch, and there are side wind deflectors because of a reason. There's a cassette deck and crank windows, but as the Sambar is roughly eight inches wide, it should be pretty easy to just reach over from one side to the other and roll'em down. Which is good news since, as a right-hand-drive car, that would otherwise be a pain in the lace-covered neck at drive thrus or parking garages. A 1993 Sambar would be from the nameplate's fifth generation, which perfectly spanned the 1990s. The "Dias" bit refers to the wagon version you see here as opposed to the commercial trucks and vans. There was also a Dias Classic, which is in a whole other league of wackadoo cuteness. Unlike any literal minivan in 1993, the Sambar Dias came with dual sliding rear doors -- Chrysler wouldn't introduce their dual-slider option until 1996. That rear-mounted 660cc engine produced 54 horsepower and is paired here with a five-speed manual transmission. There was an all-wheel-drive version, but that was apparently exclusively paired with the automatic.  There's actually one of these buddles of van joy in my neighborhood here in Portland, which like the entire Pacific Northwest, is a hotbed for oddball Japanese vans from the 1990s and earlier. The trend apparently started up in British Columbia where vans like the Mitsubishi Delica and Toyota Hiace started to be imported after the Canadian 15-year waiting period rather than the American requirement of 25.

Toyota, Lexus dominate KBB's Best Resale Value Awards

Toyota and Lexus stormed the 2014 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value Awards, winning a combined 18 categories including best brand and best luxury brand. This marks the third year in a row that both automakers have won the Brand and Luxury Brand resale value awards. In all, Toyota won 11 categories and Lexus won seven.
Honda made a good showing, as well, winning two segments (Accord Plug-In Hybrid and Civic Si) and putting one car on the top-10 Best Resale Value list (CR-V). Chevrolet did even better, winning two segments (with the V6 Camaro and the Corvette) and placing three cars on the top-10-overall list (again, the Camaro and Corvette, plus the Silverado 1500).
The other winners came from Jeep, Dodge, Infiniti, Subaru and Audi. To give you a clearer picture of the Toyota and Lexus domination, their 18 mentions represents more than half of the 34 awards (including the top-10-overall list).

Subaru teases Viziv Adrenaline Concept crossover for Geneva

The latest installment in Subaru's Viziv line of concept vehicles is set for a reveal at the Geneva Motor Show next month. It's called the Viziv Adrenaline, and it'll add to a pair of electrified "e-Boxer" models on display, possibly the e-Boxer version of the Forester and a Crosstrek plug-in hybrid, which is branded as the XV in Europe. We're limited to this darkened, front three-quarters view for clues about the Viziv Adrenaline. It appears to be a two-door, raised crossover with bulging quarter panels, an interesting undulating belt line and plenty of creases for a rugged look. It also appears to sport futuristic-looking rearview cameras in place of conventional mirrors, and the LED headlights look pretty close to the ones found on last year's Viziv Tourer. Also, two cutouts at the top of the hood may indicate the presence of a combustion engine. Given that this is called the Viziv Adrenaline, are we looking at a performance model? Viziv is Subaru-parlance for "Vision for Innovation," so there are doubtless more details in store for us in Geneva. Last year's Viziv Tourer Concept presaged a production WRX wagon, and the Viziv Performance Concept from 2017 previewed a possible future WRX (don't forget the Viziv Performance STI Concept from last year's Tokyo Auto Salon). While Subaru has given us reasons to be wary about its concepts' ties to future production models in the past, don't forget the Viziv-7 did indeed become the Ascent three-row SUV. The Viziv Adrenaline debut is scheduled for March 5. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.