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Started as a
small concern for the giant Fuji Heavy Industries,
manufacturing a moped named the 'Rabbit' in 1956,
followed by its first real car, the 360, a few
years later. During the 1960's manufactured the
full-sized FE saloon followed by the updated FF
Leone coupe. Entered the performance car segment
in the 1980's with the turbocharged XT coupe.
The 'Legacy' was released in 1989, Subaru once
again raising the bar in terms of quality and
performance.
Most noted for the famed 'Boxer'
engine, which found success in World Rally competition,
went on to release the immensely popular 'Impreza'
range in 1992 - although these first cars were
simply a Legacy with a shortened floorpan. The
iconic 'Impreza WRX' became an instant hero-car,
bringing an aura to the marque that remains to
this day. |
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1958 - 1970
As cars have become cheaper, it is easy to forget that
there was a time when the average car represented a huge
capital investment for the average person, and cars in
Japan could easily cost more than the average house!
So it was that in the mid 1950's, the engineers at Fuji
Jidosha (later Fuji Heavy Industries) set about creating
a low cost car "for the masses". More>> |
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1966 - 1969
Aimed at the domestic Japanese family car market (the car was not exported), the Subaru 1000 was available in two-door, four-door or station wagon body styles. Subaru were becoming well known for their flat-four water-cooled engine in the front driving the front wheels, in this case the engine developing 55 bhp net from 977cc. More>> |
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1969 - 1971
That the Subaru FF-1 was an outstanding product of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., helped ensure the marques success both here in Australia, and the world. At its introduction in 1969, prices ranged from $1895 tax paid, cheap but certainly not nasty. More>> |
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1971 - 1979
While Fuji Heavy Industries has gone on to manufacture
high quality, high performance and extremely well polished
cars today, during the 1970's the Leone was not all that
well sorted. The car lacked refinement, NVH was high,
the seats uncomfortable and the frameless doors added
to the feeling of the car being very "lightweight
and tinny". Soon rust would become the early model
Leone's biggest enemy, and seeing one on the roads today
would be an extremely rare occurence. More>> |
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1974 - 1979
After only a few short years of distribution in Australia,
Subaru quickly garnered a level of enthusiasm rarely
found in Australia for Japanese cars, although it certainly
nowhere near that for the revered Aussie sizes and bent
eights. Most found the Subaru simply “unusual and
mechanically interesting”, and who could blame
them. More>> |
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1982 - 1989
Unlike today, buying a good quality small car in the 1980's was not so easy. Those in the know will tell you that there was one stand-out car, the zippy little Subaru Sherpa. The car had quickly become the micro-mini market leader in the Japanese domestic market, and with good reason. More>> |
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1989 - 1993
The first generation Subaru Liberty was introduced
in 1989 as both a 4 door sedan and wagon. The name
of Liberty was chosen for the Australian market
over the overseas name of Legacy, owing to the
Legacy organisation in Australia which assists
war veterans and their families. More>> |
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1994 - 1998
In 1994 Subaru released the Generation 2 Liberty. The
new model carried over the conservative styling, with
most commentators of the day describing it as an evolution
rather than a revolution. This was something that, until
now, had been the styling methodology applied to car
design by the more prestigous European marques, and it
seemed totally out of character for a Japanese manufacturer. More>> |
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1999 - 2003
In 2001 Subaru released the wonderful (read awesome)
Liberty "B4". Powered by the EJ20B 69H turbocharged,
intercooler, DOHC, 16-valve, 2-litre engine (it being
the same basic design as the engine found in the Impreza
WRX and the Generation 1 Liberty RS), the B4 quickly
became king of the wagons, a real drivers car with blistering
performance. More>> |
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2004 -
In 2003 Subaru released the Generation 4 Liberty. The
styling of this model was a further evolution, exuding
both elegance and simplicity of form from an understated
profile of clean lines, reminiscent of the current crop
of Audi's. More>> |
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1992 -
The first WRX was launched in 1992 as the (far) hottest
version of the very-ordinary Impreza sedan. Powered by
a turbocharged 2.0-litre 16-valve boxer engine and putting
all 240 horsepower to ground via the permanent 4-wheel
drive, it immediately established itself as true drivers
vehicle and modern classic. More>> |
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