Subaru Reveals Travis Pastrana’s Latest Gymkhana Machine: The 1983 Subaru GL Wagon “Family Huckster”
Subaru Motorsports USA today officially revealed the next one-off machine to star in the 2022 installment of the Gymkhana franchise: an outrageous 1983 Subaru GL wagon dubbed the “Family Huckster”. The Family Huckster will receive its competition debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed June 23-26 competing in the Goodwood Hillclimb Shootout.
Building on Subaru’s experience with the 2020 Airslayer STI, the Family Huckster incorporates an 862-horsepower turbocharged SUBARU BOXER 4-cylinder engine, all-wheel drive, sequential 6-speed gearbox, long-travel World Rally Championship spec suspension and will incorporate new developments for the vehicle’s differential package from Pastrana’s record-setting and overall winning run at the 2021 Mt. Washington Hill Climb.
Also installed on the Family Huckster will be an active aero rear wing, which is controlled electro-pneumatically, front and rear hydraulic aero flaps located on the fender flares which can be controlled automatically or manually, and a functional carbon-fiber roof rack designed to direct air to the rear-mounted radiator via a NACA duct in the roof. The custom, one-off KMC Wheels were inspired by the eight-spoke wheels on 80’s Subaru models with all-wheel drive. To keep the wheels as light as possible, KMC Wheels engineered a forged monoblock design that also increases durability while running the car in harsh environments.
To make the Family Huckster as light as possible, the bodywork is composed of custom carbon fiber panels over a state-of-the-art tubular spaceframe. Rounding out the aesthetics of The Family Huckster, Subaru installed an authentic radio from a previous 1983 GL wagon into a scanned recreation of the 1983 GL wagon’s dashboard. The 12-inch digital gauge cluster was programmed to highlight the retro gauges that would have been found in the 1980s electronic dashboards that Subaru was known for. The exact replication of the dashboard also includes blue carbon fiber to mimic the old blue dashboard from the original.
“The GL wagon is an iconic Subaru that I thought would be pretty rad to see flying through the air,” said Pastrana. “Surprisingly, the Family Huckster is a lot smaller than the Airslayer. Combine that with the boxy shape and you have a perfect recipe for next level precision driving. An active rear wing is helpful to an extent but the ‘83 wagon flies about as well as you would imagine…kind of a like a brick. This makes the jumps way more sketchy but also more entertaining and less predictable. The Family Huckster is without a doubt my all-time favorite vehicle to drive. Can’t wait to show the world at Goodwood and later this year in the next Gymkhana.”
Travis Pastrana will be competing for Subaru Motorsports USA in The Family Huckster at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, motorsport’s ultimate summer garden party, taking place June 23-26, 2022. Last year Pastrana took home second place overall in the tightly contested Hillclimb Shootout in the Gymkhana 2020 Airslayer STI and looks toward another successful podium finish. For more information about the Goodwood Festival of Speed, please visit: https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/festival-of-speed/
