The Tribeca: Not Ugly Anymore

Subaru’s new 2008 Tribeca, unveiled today, did a miraculously good job of not making the audience’s eyes bleed. Similarly, the Subaru honcho who addressed the crowd did a pretty good job of making lemonade out of lemons, claiming brazenly that people had always liked the Tribeca—they just didn’t like it enough. To accommodate the Tribeca’s purported legions of fans, the company has given the infamously hideous SUV a nice cosmetic overhaul, including some reshaping of the quarter panels and a more refined front clip, which Subaru claims will be the “family face” that will show up on other upcoming crossover vehicles as well. The Tribeca’s powerplant, a beefed-up 3.6 L V6 with improved low-end torque, will also be new for ‘08. The Subaru Impreza’s big reveal isn’t until tomorrow. I’m hoping it’ll look better in person it’s looked in the recent pics, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Subaru’s ugliest-vehicle torch has been passed.