SEDONA, Ariz. – Subaru Outback Planning Manager Nikkie Riedel smiled mischievously. “Did you know you can carry a shark on top of an Outback?”
I admitted the idea hadn’t occurred to me, and probably wouldn’t have as we drove a new 2026 Outback through Arizona’s high desert. A cholla, maybe, but not a shark.
“I’ll show you,” she said as we pulled into a National Parks Service plaza.
She directed me to open the hatchback, stand under it and look up at the trailing edge of the black plastic spoiler on the roof.
There it was: a drawing of the Outback’s profile, with a shark on the roof.
There’s a friendly competition at Subaru between the teams working on the Forester and Outback SUVs.
Designers went all-in on Easter eggs — visual inside jokes for devoted fans — for the new 2026 Outback, leaning into owners’ activities and the vehicle’s place in Subaru history.
But back to the shark
The image was the second in a series of drawings depicting Outback hauling things: canoes, rooftop tents and more. All in fun, things Outback owners do, or might not do, she explained. The Subaru Outback hasn’t jumped the shark. The shark jumped the Outback.
Dogs: Don’t leave home without one
Another natural subject area for a Subaru Easter egg? The brand’s highly publicized affection for dogs.
A diagram on the hatch opening expresses the Outback’s capacity in dogs — a 42.8-inch load floor and one dog with the rear seat up for human occupants; 75.3 inches and two dogs nose to nose with the seat down.
Another diagram presents the hatch’s dimensions — 44.3 inches wide, 34.1 inches high — enough room for one dog and luggage.
And don’t forget, it’s a machine
Another pair of Easter eggs includes the words “Since 1966” in English and Kanji on the profile of a pair of pistons, commemorating the year Subaru first used a “boxer” engine, and portraying the engine’s horizontally opposed pistons. The boxer engine is one of Subaru’s signature features.
There are more Easter eggs on some of Subaru’s authorized accessories. The 2026 Subaru Outback is on sale now.
Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Did you hear the one about the Subaru Outback and the shark?
Reporting by Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
