This Converted Subaru Impreza WRX STI Ute Looks Stock

It’s been a long, long time since Subaru sold the Subaru Brat pickup truck, but somebody has been pining for one so much they converted a Subaru Impreza WRX STI hawkeye into the performance pickup truck the Japanese brand never made. This Subar’ute has come up on Cars & Bids and we have to say it looks pretty cool…

Sometimes a home conversion can turn out to be pretty hideous, but the Impreza pickup looks like it could have come out of the factory like this, with a reasonably polished fit and finish from what we can see in the pictures. The 2006 Impreza WRX STI appears to have spent most of its life in California, but now has New York plates. It was allegedly given the ‘Ute’ conversion treatment in New York by Smyth Performance – the same company behind pickup truck conversions of the Dodge Charger, Audi A4, VW Beetle and more.

We particularly like the modified taillights, which abruptly cut off to allow for the dropdown tailgate. Lift the tonneau cover and there’s an aluminium bed measuring 79 inches (around 200cm) in length and 35.5 inches (around 90cm) side-to-side. Smyth Performance even made it possible to install rear-facing seats like in the old-school Subaru Brat, should the new owner wish to.

Despite the extreme modifications to make this Impreza WRX STI into a pickup, the car’s engine and performance have been kept mostly stock, with a few light additions – if it ain’t broke then don’t try to fix it! It’s got a COBB Accessport for remapping the ECU, a boost control solenoid and a turbo blanket to make the most of the power from the factory engine. It’s also been fitted with a high-flow catalytic converter and a three-inch stainless steel exhaust system to allow for better airflow out of the car.

There’s no word on this particular WRX STI’s performance figures, but its 2.5-litre flat-four engine is capable of around 300bhp from the showroom, and we’d imagine the tuned ECU should bump this up, too.

The car also sits on 18-inch fifteen52 ‘Integrale’ wheels and has an IAG Performance engine skid plate protecting the underside of the car. Although with quite a high 178,300 miles on the clock, the Subar’ute seems in good condition, and plenty of important servicing and maintenance work seems to have been done recently, including replacements to the timing belt, oil filter, spark plugs, ignition coils and more – plenty of love has gone into this rally-style pickup.