See how Travis Pastrana's 1983 Subaru GL wagon family huckster was built.

Posted on February 18, 2023
Modified
See how Travis Pastrana's 1983 Subaru GL wagon family huckster was built.

If you are looking for a distraction, here is a video of the making of Travis Pastrana's gymkhana car, the Family Huckster, compressed into less than four minutes.

The Family Huckster, built for the filming of Gymkhana 2022, is a stunt machine modeled after a 1983 Subaru GL wagon. The car was built by Vermont Sports Car, the same store that built Pastrana's previous gymkhana WRX STI Air Slayer and several Subaru rally cars.

The video shows that the family huckster has little in common with the stock GL wagon. It is based on a custom-built tube-frame chassis, which is covered with carbon fiber body panels. In addition, it incorporates active aerodynamic elements similar to those of the Air Slayer.

Under the flat hood is the same 2.3-liter flat-4 turbo as the Air Slayer, but it features a unique exhaust system with a 3D-printed tip that exits the front fender on the passenger side. Output is 865 hp, which is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission.

After the vehicle is assembled, the bare carbon fiber bodywork will be wrapped in a vinyl wrapping inspired by the livery of the first GL Wagon, which Subaru created as a marketing tie-in with an American ski team. This livery is one of the reasons Pastrana chose the GL for gymkhana use instead of building another WRX.

Pastrana's relationship with Subaru extends beyond gymkhana to the American Rally Association (ARA) championship. However, he has announced that he will withdraw from the championship in 2023,

citing a desire to spend more time with his family while focusing on his own nitro rallycross series.

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