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Subaru ends orders for BRZ in Japan as production winds down

Production of the Subaru BRZ has ceased, marking the end of an eight-year run for the small enthusiast car. The final examples have rolled off of the assembly line ahead of what is expected to be a brief hiatus before the introduction of its successor.  The wind-down of the current BRZ and Toyota GT86 should come as no surprise; Subaru even announced a "Final Edition" BRZ for the German market earlier this year. British outlet Autocar reports that Subaru's production partner, Toyota, is still taking orders for its version of the jointly developed sports coupe, though an announcement regarding its wind-down is expected to be forthcoming.  The timing is especially tricky for potential buyers in Japan who may be looking to snag the rear-wheel-drive sports coupe, as they are limited to whatever remains in dealer inventories. According to Subaru's Japanese BRZ landing page, there may not be a ton of options for shoppers still in the market.  "We have finished accepting orders for build-to-order manufacturing of the models listed," the translated page says. "Due to stock availability at retailers, we may not be able to meet customer requests for body colors and options . Please contact your dealer for more information." We don't yet know for certain when Toyota and Subaru will announce their plans for the next-generation GT86 and BRZ, which were first introduced eight years ago. Rumors have suggested that they could be powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder producing approximately 250 horsepower, which would be a healthy bump from the existing cars' 197-horsepower outputs.  The next-generation car is expected to ride on a new joint platform, and may ditch the current generation's boxer engine in favor of a more traditional inline layout. Despite hints that Toyota wants its next GT86 to "surpass" the Supra, it's unlikely that an affordable sports coupe will infringe too drastically on the more-expensive halo car's performance turf.  Related Video:    

Junkyard Gem: 1982 Subaru GL 4WD Wagon

As a junkyard aficionado living in Denver, I get regular opportunities to study the history of the Pleiades-badged brand every time I hit the IMPORTS section at one of my local yards. You won't find any Subaru 360s in U-Wrench yards these days (I haven't seen a discarded 360 since the early 1980s), but I still find plenty of Malaise-Era Subarus from the period during which they were mocked for their small size in novelty songs. Here's a seriously loaded (by early-1980s standards) 1982 Subaru Leone four-wheel-drive wagon, found last fall in a yard just south of Denver. Back in those days, Subaru USA just called this car "the Subaru" and used the trim levels as confusing model names. There was the base model with no name, the mid-grade DL, and the high-end GL.  Four-wheel-drive was optional on Subarus at this point, though nearly all Colorado buyers paid for this feature. Unlike later all-wheel-drive systems with center differentials, this setup was true four-wheel-drive, which would tear up your tires (or worse) if you drove for too long on dry pavement with 4WD engaged. This proved very confusing for many owners of these cars (as well as those with four-wheel-drive-equipped Toyota Tercels and Honda Civics, a bit later in the decade). Check out the controls for the extremely rare dealer-installed air conditioning! This car has everything. By far the coolest optional feature on this car is the rare "third eye" center-mounted driving light, which lives behind this flip-up panel in the center of the grille and was actuated via a dash-mounted switch. You're more likely to find one of these lights in a BRAT, which was the truck version of the Leone, and I've found a few third-eye-equipped BRATs over the years. Did I buy the entire grille and third-eye assembly, for installation as a ceiling-mounted work light in my garage? You bet I did! With just over 180,000 miles on the clock, this car appears to have been very well cared-for during its life. There's a bit of rust in the usual spots, but nothing too severe by the standards of a near-40-year-old Japanese car. Plaid seat fabric became fashionable on cars like this during the early 1980s, as you'll see on many a Toyota Tercel 4WD Wagon. The 1.8-liter boxer-four in this car generated 82 horsepower when new, and it got the job done (if you were patient). This underhood sticker shows that this Subaru's original sale almost certainly took place in Colorado (or maybe Wyoming).

2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid gets top IIHS safety rating

The IIHS has finally evaluated the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, the plug-in version of the subcompact crossover, and it performs just as well as its fully gas-powered twin. Its high marks earned it the organization's highest award of Top Safety Pick +. In every crash test, the Crosstrek earned the highest "Good" rating for protection, including both driver and passenger small overlap collisions. Forward collision prevention also earned top marks, stopping the vehicle before a crash at speeds up to 25 mph. This is one area where the Hybrid improves on the standard model, not for better results, but for the fact that the forward collision prevention system is standard on all Hybrid variants. It's an option on base and Premium non-hybrid Crosstreks. The headlights are a similar situation. The Hybrid's standard headlights also received the "Good" rating like top-trim Crosstreks. Where the non-hybrid Crosstreks trip up is that the base and Premium trims have headlights that have the worst "Poor" rating. Parity resumes with LATCH child seat anchor accessibility, which gets a "Good+" rating for having easily reachable anchors and having extras for seating flexibility.