Subaru introduced the Tribeca’s first generation in 2005, and it was one of the best examples of how not to design an SUV.
With an increased demand for SUVs on the market, Subaru couldn’t stay aside. It already had the Forester crossover and the Legacy Outback, but it didn’t produce a seven-seat vehicle. That one came in 2004 as a concept car named B9X unveiled at the South Florida International Auto Show, followed by the production model at the 2005 North American International Auto Show, and it was a shocking view.

Subaru had a few design failures before the Tribeca, but the big SUV was above them all. Its front fascia was the most debatable part of the vehicle. Its three-grille layout was obscene. Its headlights looked like they were forced to be on that car. From there on, it was a right SUV. It was slightly longer than the Legacy Outback, which with it shared the platform. The carmaker made the taillights small, narrow, and placed quite tall for the car’s height.

Inside, Subaru’s designers looked like they didn’t know how to make a dashboard for that kind of vehicle. Its instrument cluster was hard to understand. The carmaker placed the binocular-style speedometer and tachometer and then added the fuel and temperature gauges on the outer sides, in a place where they were difficult to see. Subaru offered the Tribeca with an option of seven seats but with minimal room for the last row. To compensate for that, the carmaker made the middle row slide forward.

The best part of the Tribeca was the platform. It was an extended version of the Outback, with a double-wishbone suspension in the rear. Thanks to its flat-six engine and the symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, the SUV handled better than most of its competitors.