Two Crosstreks, Two Visions: Same but Different

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ALI STRAIGHTSOUND

In the world of vehicle builds, every project tells its own story—and sometimes, those stories run in parallel. Sometimes they even run in circles. For those who know me, they’ll remember that while I’m no longer a stranger to all things off-road, it wasn’t always that way. It wasn’t that long ago that I found myself stuck on a dirt side road in Wrightwood, wondering how I was going to get out of 6 inches of mud, gravel, and slush. Fast forward almost seven years later, and what started as a casual conversation between two friends—Eric Dalcin and me—about buying Ford Mavericks turned into a dual-build adventure involving two identical Subaru Crosstrek Sports. These were vehicles I should have started with from the beginning.

The original appeal of the Maverick was its mix of load-carrying capacity and solid fuel economy—a welcome change from our gas-guzzling Jeep JKUs. But fate had different plans, and we both ended up with Crosstreks, purchased unknowingly within weeks of each other. That’s when we realized this needed to become something bigger, something that became known as Project Twobaru.

After realizing we both owned nearly identical Crosstreks, the idea of creating a project that reflected our personalities emerged. But we needed a hook. We knew that we’d be using a lot of the same partners, so there had to be areas where we stood apart. We leaned into who we are: I built my Crosstrek as a family adventure rig, focusing on simplicity, practicality, and bolt-on upgrades to suit family trips. Eric’s Crosstrek, on the other hand, evolved