A bit ago I wrote about Travis Pastrana’s film, 199 Lives in Subaru’s Love Letter to Travis Pastrana and directly on the heels of his victory this week, I went to hear Tim Mahoney, VP of Subaru America’s marketing division at a Motor Press Guild event. Mahoney’s talk gave me a lot to think about and the one thing that really struck me was that Subaru is actually more green for three reasons (and these are my reasons, not Mahoney’s):

1. Subaru’s manufacturing plant in Indiana is 20 years environmentally conscious and is an industry example of how factories can co-exist with nature and communities. Among its accomplishments is that the plant recycles 99.3% of excess/leftover steel, plastic, wood, paper, glass, and other materials. The remaining 0.7% is shipped to the city of Indianapolis and incinerated to help generate steam and includes a wildlife habitat on site.
2. Something ridiculous like 90% of Subarus sold in the last 15 years are still on the road. It is completely normal for a Subaru to last 300,000 miles or more. And, Subaru owners are loyal: they will drive them until they can’t go anymore and then get a new one meaning that over a lifetime, owners will own a minimum number of cars. That means that these are not disposable cars that increase nasty manufacturing waste.
3. Travis Pastrana may use a lot of fuel in his races but by endoring such a highly energetic young personality, Subaru has made a wise choice because Pastrana fans tend to be the young, outdoorsy, athletic and loyal customers that will make great converts to the Subaru way of life: manufacture clean and manufacture less.

Mahoney also mentioned that Subaru Japan will be working closely with Daihatsu in Japan on alternative energy cars but frankly, I find it refreshing to see that they are not jumping on the band wagon of throwing a hybrid or diesel engine in every model without knowing the full implications of a quick sale vs. unproven and questionable technologies.

Here is an example of 2 great used Subarus with a lot of life and pep left in them.

Originally published here

After sitting on an leaked copy for a full month of the new movie 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story,which is finally released today across the country in theaters, I can write a review of this documentary with a clear conscience.

Pastrana is a fascinating story. He has many enthusiast loyal followers and as he has transitioned from SuperCross and freestyle motocross, through Nitro Circus and shenanigans of such epic proportion that even critics just can’t look away as he jumps out of airplanes without a parachute and ramps flips into the Grand Canyon on his bike with a parachute.

This film highlights previously used footage of all of that but includes a lot of nice coverage of 24 year old Pastrana’s latest passion: WRC for Subaru’s Rally Team. But the really special parts of the film are the interviews with his parents, friends and industry experts/fans and Pastrana himself discussing his view take on risk management and speculates why he suffers from night terrors so severely.

Pastrana is an inventor, an athlete and I would even say a performance artist. From his parents to all of his sponsors (Red Bull, Suzuki and Subura) to his friends and family, all show him unconditional support and love while he risks his life with every thing he tries. Pastrana has changed every sport that he has touched and will move WRC into a whole new realm of popularity.

In the last month I have watched this movie no less than 8 times. I had it to show my daughter who is a 14 year old scaredy-cat, my post-teen nephews who are Pastrana’s generation, my pre-teen neighbor who plays hockey, my earth-mother best friend….all because I wanted to see their reaction to someone who is living life without fear and is surrounded by people who not only let him live like that but wouldn’t expect anything less for him. It isn’t a the best documentary ever and it will probably stay in limited release in theaters but the story is an inspiration of how someone can live by choice in danger and completely without fear. It means something to me to see that.

If my daughter broke free and chose to be fearless, could I let her unconditionally live and just be grateful for her time on the earth that I gave her? If I lived my life as he does could I get by with it? Maybe we don’t have to take it to his extremes but we both were so elevated and inspired. At what cost? I hope his parents never are fulfilled with what they both expect. I hope he loses his night terrors. I started to say that I hope that he lives a full life but I think that he is every day.

Jason at mota.net told me today that Travis should be the host of an American style Top Gear. Isn’t that what Nitro Circus is? When some sponsor figures out how to wrestle this guy to the ground we will miss him.

For theater locations visit: 199 Lives

Originally posted here