Ben's Car Blog
August 26, 2021 /

Subiefest Midwest 2021

Subiefest Midwest 2021

After a small hiatus in 2020, Subiefest was back and better than ever this year! While I haven’t made it to many car shows since the lockdown, I was sure as hell not gonna miss Subiefest two years in a row!

As a bonus, my wife and I decided to bring our puppy, Sophie, along for the ride! This meant the family truckster - the Outback - was our vehicle of choice for the drive down. While I was sad to leave the WRX at home, the Outback's Eyesight made the Illinois tollways a breeze as always.

Our puppy, Sophie loves rides in the Outback

We left later in the day this year, but arrived shortly after lunch. Even though the show had been open for a few hours, it was still jam packed! The parking sea of Subarus was incredible as always!

The parking lot at Subiefest

A beautiful Outback XT

The Subiefest photo booth

Right up front, Subaru had a section showcasing a few rare vehicles as well as some of their newest performance cars, like the STI S209 and the 2022 BRZ. They also had an Outback Wilderness and their 2021 rally car for ogling.

The 2022 BRZ

An STI S209

Some classic Subarus on display

A classic Subaru Brat

The new Subaru Outback Wilderness

The 2021 Subaru rally car

Like previous years, they had a wrapped Subaru that we could sign for charity - I left our mark on the front driver’s fender this time!

The signature-riddled Outback

Our signature on the Outback

Sophie got to meet a few of the puppies that the local animal rescue had brought in for adoption!

Sophie meeting some puppies

In the lot behind the show, the Autocross event seemed to be winding down. Considering the temperatures, I can’t imagine it was a great day to be doing track driving!

The autocross event at Subiefest

Further into the show I was impressed to see a variety of new vendors - including Subispeed! Fortunately for my wallet, I managed to make it past their booth without making any impulse purchases…

The Subispeed booth

Subispeed had their show cars on display, and it was awesome to see them up-close! The gray RAYS car in particular has always been a favorite of mine.

The Subispeed WRX

The Subispeed/RAYS STI

My good friend Ernie had his Heritage Blue STI on display at the Grimmspeed booth, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with him and see all the work he had put into his car since the last time I saw it!

Ernie's STI

Ernie's STI

Ernie's STI

Ernie's STI

The rest of the area was dedicated to the car show itself, and as always there was a huge variety of cars and styles!

Some of the other Subarus on display

A nice WRX

A VERY yellow WRX

A nice set of TE37s

Some of the other Subarus on display

One of my favorite cars from this year included this Mad Max-style STI:

A very Mad Max-esque STI

A very Mad Max-esque STI

And this extremely clean classic SVX:

A very clean, classic Subaru SVX

A very clean, classic Subaru SVX

A very clean, classic Subaru SVX

The owner of the SVX was really friendly, and was even giving out Matchbox versions of his car to kids who said hi!

SVX owner giving out Matchbox cars

After walking around for about an hour, my wife, dog, and I were all pretty toasty, so we decided to call it a day and head out early. I did make a pitstop at the Subaru swag booth before leaving though…

A Subaru dog collar for our puppy!

Overall, it was another great year and show! Having an opportunity to take a road trip with my wife and our dog was a treat, and it was great to be out and about with other Subaru fans again. We’re already looking forward to next year’s show!

My wife and our puppy at Subiefest

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