 At Subaru, he is often incorrectly credited with the controversial "spread wings grille" first introduced on the R2, and later the B9 Tribeca and the Impreza, Subaru have said that this concept was proposed before Zapatinas joined the Japanese company.This design created some controversy, and it was abandoned by Subaru.This controversy is said to have been related with Zapatinas's departure from Subaru in July 2006 when he was its chief designer.