Subaru Hid Six Darling Easter Eggs In The Redesigned 2026 Outback

As an outspoken warrior of whimsy, I'm a fervent proponent of doing things exclusively to elicit a smile. With the redesigned 2026 Subaru Outback finally unveiled to the public at the New York International Auto Show, I get to share some of the most darling Easter eggs in the automotive industry. Naturally, if you're planning to purchase a new Subaru Outback and you don't wish to spoil your own Subaru Outback Easter egg hunt, click away from this blog now as there will be spoilers ahead.

We are neither talking about real painted eggs that are hidden in your car, nor those novelty plastic Easter eggs that you find at Dollar Tree. In the automotive industry, designers will sometimes hide thoughtful little touches, funny drawings, and unexpected surprises for owners to uncover during their ownership. Jeep is widely credited with being the first automaker to include Easter eggs in its vehicles, but other companies including Volvo, Rivian, Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge have joined in the fun. I'd argue, though, that Subaru's Easter eggs are the most darling, without even a hint of pretentiousness or peacocking.

When you open the hood on the new 2026 Subaru Outback, you'd be forgiven if you don't notice any Easter eggs at first glance, but that's a part of the fun. Look down at the nose of the vehicle, and there are two flat pieces of plastic on either side of the hood latch that angle down toward the back side of the grille. On those pieces of plastic are two little plaques denoting a date that's very important in the history of Subaru's models.

The year 1966 is when Subaru's long love affair with the horizontally opposed boxer engine layout began. On the passenger side of the new Outback, you'll see an embossed logo that reads "Since 1966" in English, and the driver's side it's written in Subaru's native language, Japanese. Since the new Outback is a 2026 model year, it marks 60 years of Subaru's distinctive horizontally opposed boxer engines.

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The second and third Easter eggs are hidden at the back of the Outback, on the underside of the tailgate-mounted spoiler. If you're tall like me then you may not notice them until you open the trunk and look through the rear window at the underside of the spoiler, but on either side of the high-mounted brake light there are little series of embossed images of the new Outback's silhouette carrying different items on the roof. Some of the items are logical and depict real-life rooftop hauling situations, like the roof tent and the bicycle, and others are less realistic, like the shark.

The new Outback's standard roof racks are capable of supporting up to 800 pounds of weight, so these Easter eggs are there to remind you that you can chuck a heck of a lot of things up there. Keep in mind though, that the 800-pound maximum weight is only for static applications. The roof racks can support a still respectable maximum weight of 220 pounds of stuff while in motion, so you're limited to a small shark if you're planning to drive it anywhere.

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Subaru understands its customers well. The brand's commercials have starred adventurous canine drivers for a while now, and its dealers lead fundraisers each year to promote pet adoptions and support animal rescue operations in their local communities. Naturally then, Subaru assumes that more than a few of its new Outback customers will also be dog owners. Dog owners will likely transport their dog in the cargo area of their Outback at some point, so there are two Easter eggs dedicated to the dogs of Subaru owners.

When you open the tailgate on the new Outback to see its increased cargo capacity, you may notice two diagrams embossed into the plastic between each taillight and the rubber weather stripping on the perimeter of the trunk. On the driver's side of the car, the diagram shows the dimensions of the cargo space, with a 34-inch height and 44.2-inch width, and a little puppy in there for scale. On the passenger side taillight housing, you'll see the maximum depth of the cargo floor. With both rows of seats in place the cargo space is 42.7 inches deep, and with the back seats folded flat it's 75.9 inches deep. These diagrams also include dogs for scale, with one dog fitting behind the second row, and two dogs able to stand snout-to-snout when the back seats are folded flat.

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