Crushing the world’s most expensive Subaru Tribeca

We’re in the business of creating, not destroying. So, the idea of crushing one of our builds seemed like total heresy. Yet, we did. To understand, let’s go back to the beginning. 

We have a client who is infatuated with gadgets. Of all kinds. Back in 2006, he wanted to create his vision for the car of the future. A vehicle stuffed with cutting-edge technology, yet with a totally non-descript exterior that wouldn’t draw attention. He chose a Subaru B9 Tribeca, a seriously vanilla SUV that never earns a second glance. It was the ultimate q-ship and became known as Q-Car.

After coming up with a plan, we stripped out the entire interior and went to work. Over the course of two builds, we added hidden seatback TVs connected to Apple TV, Apple Mac Mini computers linked to the seatback monitors with keyboards, a touchscreen dash interface, forward and rear facing hidden strobe lights neatly integrated into the roof rack, folding rear seat desks, hidden video game controllers, rearview camera integrated into the rearview mirror, iPod dock (remember, this was pre-iPhone), auto-eject trickle charger, front and rear cameras, night vision, slim monitors in the sun visors, a power inverter, police sirens, a high-end audio system of course, and more.

Shortly after we finished phase 1, and as new tech become available, the owner asked us to give the vehicle a complete re-do of the tech. The completed Q-Car then made its public debut at a total geek fest called GadgetOff in September 2009. It was a sensation.

Fast forward a couple of years and the owner again wanted to install more new technology. We stripped out the interior and began work when the radical Tesla Model S debuted. To Q-Car’s owner, the Tesla represented the future he was chasing with the Subaru. So, he pulled the plug on the project and we parked it. And it sat. For 10 plus years. Finally, the owner asked us to get rid of it. Not sell it, but destroy it. The car had never been registered, had no title, and with no interior and much of the electrics removed, was not drivable or sellable. The decision was made to crush it. 

Since we already had another crushed car on the property—Matt’s ’73 Camaro—we create a car graveyard out behind our building. To crush the car, we located an auto junkyard in New Jersey that could handle the job. We drained the fluids, but left the drivetrain in the car and loaded it onto a flatbed for the journey south. To capture the Subie’s last moments, we put a Halloween skeleton in the driver’s seat with a GoPro camera mounted to its rib cage. Since this was a Subaru, naturally we put a skeleton dog in the passenger seat. When the crushed car came back, we installed it next to the Camaro in our Lady of Eternal Combustion Cemetery. Watch the full video here.