Subaru Debuts Project Midnight and Brings Back Family Huckster to Goodwood

The Annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in England combines the celebration of all that is motorized and special, like the American Pebble Beach Concours and the anything-goes hill climb competition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, albeit in a much smaller form. People bring their vintage vehicles to gather, and racers from F1 cars, LeMans cars, and Gonzo electric cars, plus vintage racers of all ages, engage in the hill climb. Like Pikes Peak, manufacturers will bring new projects to see how they do on the climb. For 2024, Subaru brought a familiar face and something wholly new, and Ewing Subaru of Plano is eager to tell you about it. 

Named in reference to the hyper-clunky “Family Truckster” station wagon driven by Chevy Chase’s character in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie, the Family Huckster is a 1982 Subaru GL wagon fitted with 862-horsepower turbocharged Boxer engine as well as active front/rear hydraulic aerodynamics. As before, it was driven by former moto-cross champion and current Subaru rally racer Travis Pastrana and seems to be tailored to his flat-out drift-heavy stunt driving style. As an insanely high-performance version of one of Subaru’s more dowdy vehicles, the family Huckster has been a constant crowd-pleaser.

 The Huckster livery is pure racecar with a white base, bold red and blue graphics, and plenty of sponsor stickers of its various components. Subaru’s other event vehicle couldn’t be more different. Derived from a WRX STi, the Project Midnight is an uncompromising pavement attack monster. It couldn’t look farther from the Huckster or more sinister with a black on black on black exterior. It had Subaru graphics, but they were gloss black on the flat back canvas. With multiple rear wings and front and side ground effect bodywork sitting barely an inch above the pavement, the Project Midnight appeared as a 4-wheeled malevolent shadow ready to consume and destroy all in its path. Inside was a 670-horsepower turbocharged Boxer engine evolved from the one that helped Speed earn Subaru the Nitro Rallycross Teams Championship in 2021. 

The hill climb is short and intense, at just 1.17 miles long, with nine turns and an ascendency of 304 feet, with an average gradient of 4.9%. Project Midnight set the fastest Shootout time for an internal combustion engine vehicle, with racing legend Scott Speed behind the wheel. That is all the more impressive considering the Pikes Peak hill climbers, retired Formula 1 racers, and other high-powered vehicles it competed against. 

“It’s one of the most unique things I’ve ever driven,” said Speed of Project Midnight after its showing in the Shootout. The main event of the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Shootout is a quick tarmac hillclimb – precisely the kind of run Project Midnight was built for. Says Speed of Goodwood: “I can’t emphasize enough how much this hill — or track — is such a special place.”

Subaru says Project Midnight’s next appearance will be at the Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway from October 4 to 6. Nothing has been announced, but it is hard to imagine it not showing up at the next Pikes Peak event. 

The Subaru vehicles at Ewing Subaru of Plano may not have 630 or 862 horsepower. Still, they are some of the best daily drivers you can think of, with standard symmetrical all-wheel drive and engineering that have made Subaru a winner of numerous safety and quality awards. Come see the award-winning but still fun Subaru lineup at Ewing Subaru of Plano.