13-02-2025
Subaru's Gelandale Taxi Event Returns to Japan with Vintage Wagons
Subaru Japan brought back its Gelande Taxi event, using and as an alternative to the ski lift.
The event looks like it was plenty of fun, with racers and rally drivers handing out rides up the mountain.
Officiated by an Olympic gold medallist over two weekends, the event also featured demo drives with rally-spec WRX STIs.
Last month, Subaru of Japan offered skiers a more fun way to get to the top of the hill than the usual chair lift. Over four days at the Naeba resort, situated a couple of hours by car or transit northeast of Tokyo, snowsports enthusiasts could hop in a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid and have a pro driver slew it through the snow on the way up. Subaru calls this event the Gelande Taxi, and it's the first time it has been held since before the pandemic in 2019.
Even better—if you're more Subaru fan than ski bum—was the parade of vintage Subaru wagons that have been the official ride of the Japanese Ski Federation for almost a half-century. The parade was led by a bright red Subaru Leone wagon, which was joined by three Legacy wagons wearing Ski Federation liveries.
Riding along in the red Leone was Japanese Olympic gold medallist Masahiko Harada. A ski-jumping legend in Japan, Harada was part of a team that lost out on gold at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, but then tied the then-record jump in 1998 at Nagano, winning Japan the gold on home soil. His jubilation at the comeback earned him the nickname 'Happy Harada.'
Harada and two other ski-jumping champions presided over the event. Rallying ace Toshi Arai, who won the world Group N rally series that was the production-car companion to the WRC in 2005 and 2007 in a Subaru WRX STI, was also present. Arai was backed up by another rally driver and two SuperGT racers to make sure the rides to the top of the hill had plenty of snow-drifting oversteer.
The classic Subie wagons were for display only, but getting a lift from a rally champion in a Forester or WRX on Blizzaks sounds like just as much fun as hitting the moguls on the way down. After the sunset, Subaru its rally drivers loose to do demo runs up the hill in their race cars.
It all looks like a blast and is perhaps something Subaru's U.S. operations could learn from. Subaru was the official sponsor of the U.S. Ski Team through much of the 1980s, and the white Leone wagon with red-and-blue livery is still pretty recognizable. Sticking decals on a couple of Foresters, Crosstreks, and maybe even a WRX or two and hitting the local slopes would make for a heck of a PR stunt and be plenty of fun. And you just know Travis Pastrana would be up to shred Aspen in his Family Huckster.
You Might Also Like
Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades
How to Buy or Lease a New Car
Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
