05-04-2025
Jerry Seinfeld Talks about His Love of Certain Subarus
Comedian is well known. Turns out he's also into Subarus.
On podcast, he discussed owning a couple of special WRX STI variants, one of which he'd just re-bought.
He notes the appeal as being a throwback to a time when cars from different countries felt like they embodied national heritage.
If you're an automotive enthusiast, you know that Jerry Seinfeld is really into Porsches. If you're a Seinfeld fan, then you know that Jerry drives Saabs. And also, he really hates it when he reserves a mid-size and you give him the keys to a blue Ford Escort. But in real life, it turns out Jerry Seinfeld is a fan of pancake motors of a different sort.
Speaking on 'The Smoking Tire' podcast this week, which is just about to hit its 1000th episode, Seinfeld surprised hosts Matt Farah and Zack Klapman by revealing his surprising affinity for hot Subarus. In fact, it turns out he'd just bought one last week, a WRX STI S209.
The S209 is a pretty special car, especially considering that the STI is on hiatus at present, with Subaru offering its fans nothing more hardcore than the WRX tS. When new, the S209, which cost a staggering $65,000, was Subaru's tuning arm pulling out all the stops. Thanks to more boost for the 2.5-liter flat-four, it had a slightly laggy 341 horsepower and was festooned with aerodynamic extras from a huge rear wing to dive planes up front.
For a guy who's into vintage 356s and has the wherewithal to buy the '99 911 Classic Club Coupe—a million-dollar one-off Porsche that's the most expensive 996-chassis 911 ever made—a huffed-up boostmobile seems an odd choice. But as Seinfeld explained in the podcast, it's the way Subaru was expressing Japan's character in automotive form with the S209, that brought him back to his first interest in cars in the 1970s.
From test-driving an MG Midget to taking delivery of his first car, a 1973 Fiat 128 Sport L, Seinfeld's car history is pretty varied. But then, so were the cars: British cars were faintly tweedy, Italians flamboyant and emotional, Volvos stolid and Swedish. Country by country, cars used to be much more heterogeneous. In the modern sea of crossovers, there's less room for character.
But a rally hero with anime aerodynamics and a chunky six-speed transmission? That's straight out of Initial D. Seinfeld told the Smoking Tire that he first bought a STI RA, then the S209, then sold the latter. He missed the S209 so much, he ended up buying it back.
It's enough to make you reimagine the episode where George Costanza gets the big fur hat as one where he buys a flat-bill 555 baseball cap instead. Or where Kramer takes up vaping. But if Seinfeld's affinity for special performance versions from Subaru is surprising, it's also hugely relatable. We miss the STI too, Subaru. Can we maybe put in a reservation to get it back?
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