Last week, Subaru succeeded in creating some hype around a big announcement they were going to make at the New York Auto Show. They put a big countdown timer, entitled “A legend will be reborn - April 5th”, on their web site. Everyone was expecting to see the all new 2008 Impreza then.
A short time after the timer had been running, the magazine Motor Trend leaked some pictures of the 2008 WRX hatchback. A lot of people were doubting the photos… we’ve all had our share of “photoshopped” Impreza pictures. However, seeing all the negative comments the pictures from Motor Trend generated around the web, Subaru felt the need to release official pictures before the official announcement was made.
Today, as the counter reached 0, Subaru announced the 2008 Impreza at the New York Auto Show. I was still hoping for some kind of late April’s Fool joke on Subaru’s part when they first released the pictures - but sadly it was not so.
This is the real thing. The car has become much more mainstream. Heck, it even looks like a Corolla. Judging from the comments left here on this blog and on the Subaru forums around the world, current WRX owners are not too pleased by the Impreza’s new looks.
Please Subaru, change the front grille, remove that silly antenna and give us our sports car back.
