The new Outback has been roasted online, but it faces tough competition from several other Subaru models
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- Unlike, say, Italian automakers, the Japanese are not synonymous with breathtaking car design.
- They’re more reliable but, cars like the Mazda RX-7 FD and Lexus LFA notwithstanding, not as pretty.
- Subaru has its fair share of models you wouldn’t buy for their looks, but which is the most awful?
Subaru debuted a brand new 2026 Outback at this year’s New York International Auto Show and it’s fair to say the internet didn’t hold back. In comments you left below our own story covering the launch, many of you criticized the design, even comparing it to the Clark Griswald’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster from the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie.
But is it really the ugliest of all time? Well, the Outback has got some serious competition in that regard because it’s not the only aesthetically challenging car to wear a Subaru badge.
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Let’s compare a few with the 2026 Outback and you can tell us which you think was hit hardest by the ugly stick, or add your own suggestions in the comments if you think we’ve missed one.
2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness
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The regular version of the new Outback is no oil painting, but much of the abuse meted out at the launch was reserved for the trail-styled Wilderness model, which gets a different front end design manages to look even worse.
1985-1991 Subaru XT
Yes, the 1980s is cool again, it’s hard to hate on a car with pop-up headlights and the front end of the XT coupe has a kind of sleek Toyota MR2/Honda Prelude look. But from there backwards things go badly wrong. The dropped window line might work on a Lamborghini Diablo, but looks weird here, messing up the glass-to-door-skin ratio, and the back end is straight-up awful, a mess of big overhang, narrow track and diving-board bumper.
2006-2014 Subaru Tribeca
Subaru’s 2000s attempt to push into premium territory gave us this gawky SUV named after a fancy New York neighborhood. With a face like a Kia Amanti wearing a false moustache, the Tribeca struggled to find friends and was facelifted, after which it strangely resembled a Chrysler Voyager. Weirdly, though I hated the original design when it was new, it somehow looks okay to me now. Could it be because I’ve misplaced my glasses and can’t find them or have I gotten soft as I grow older?
Subaru Impreza Casa Blanca
Retro designs dominated auto shows at the turn of the century and Subaru wanted in on the action. The result was a 1999 Impreza that identified as a 1960s British sedan, and was even more hideous than the blob-eye 2001 Impreza that got fans so worked up about a couple of years later.
Those are far from the only ugly cars the Japanese brand has built over the years. We probably ought to mention the fugly Baja pickup (below) and the cute but hardly beautiful 360. And while plenty of people gave the new-for-2025 Forester a hard time, park your sentimentality, take another look at what it replaced and try to convince me that wasn’t a design disaster. You can’t, right?
But what do you think is the worst-looking Subaru of all time? Maybe there’s an obscure model you believe deserves a spot in the “ugly car hall of fame” that we totally overlooked. Either way, we want to hear it all.
Drop your thoughts, complaints, or savage takes in the comments below. After all, a little friendly car-based banter never hurt anyone, unless you’re the one driving the car in question, in which case, we apologize. Well, not really – unless you’re a lawyer or willing to pay one to sue the hell out of us…
All images: Subaru
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