STI-Swapped Baja Turbo

The Baja was always Subaru's weirdest flex—a unibody sport ute that borrowed its bones from the Outback and its attitude from something considerably stranger. The Turbo variant added a 2.5-liter flat-four making around 210 horsepower, which was entertaining enough before someone decided this particular example needed more. Built from 2003 to 2006, these things have quietly become cult objects for people who want AWD capability, genuine bed space, and the ability to actually enjoy a back road.

This one's wearing black paint and sitting on multi-spoke aftermarket wheels that suggest whoever built it wasn't chasing concours points. Pop the hood and the STI badge on the intercooler tells the story—that's not the stock EJ255. The engine bay shows a proper swap with what looks like an aftermarket boost controller, fuel pressure regulator, and the kind of organized chaos that comes from a build done with some thought. Those green-tinted fog lights and the Hoonigan plate frame hint at the owner's sensibilities. At 185k miles, this thing has clearly been driven, but that's sort of the point with a car like this.

Here's the reality: you're buying someone else's project, which means inheriting their decisions (and mistakes). The swap appears coherent, the exterior looks straight, and a five-speed manual in a lifted ute with STI guts is hard to replicate for the money. Just know what you're getting into—this is a vehicle for someone who can wrench, wants something genuinely different, and doesn't mind explaining what it is at every gas station. For the right buyer, it's basically perfect.