Subaru – A Japanese Legacy
By Fei Lim

Subaru is one of the most popular foreign car manufacturers of today. The Japanese automotive company was founded in 1917. In the beginning, they were not automotive manufacturers, in fact they were in the aircraft business. During World War 2, Subaru, then known as Nakajima Aircraft Company, was the primary supplier and manufacturer of airplanes for the Japanese during the conflict. After the conflict had ended, five companies formed together to form the automotive company, which is a Fuji Heavy Industries division in automotives.

The five companies formed Subaru, which means Pleiades in Japanese. You may recognize the Pleiades as the Subaru logo. This logo is defined with six stars, also known as star clusters and is representative of each of the five different companies that formed the large company of Subaru.

Throughout their history, they have been affiliated with General Motors, Nissan, and now Toyota. The first car to come from Subaru was in 1954, called Subaru P1. Subaru has been a leader in the automotive industry, even as one of the smaller car manufacturers. They continue to grace the world with powerful and inventive automobiles, making sure they hit the hot spots of the latest trends and developments.

History of Models

Throughout time as an automobile manufacturer, Subaru has developed a great many popular car models. With the company's very first automobile, Subaru P1, and through other automobiles such as Legacy, Alcyone, Domingo, Leone, R2, 1100, 1000, Sambar, and the 360, Subaru was making its mark. Today, Subaru has many of the latest models designed to suit the drivers of today. Many cars are made for sale in Japan only, known as Kei cars, which are smaller, more compact cars. These cars typically carry license plates yellow in color with black numbers, which make them identifiable to others.

Of the latest models of cars, available for sale anywhere, they include four wheel drive models such as:

Impreza – Compact and small, this car has gone through many changes. It has two generations of models in the Impreza category and expanded to two other versions in later years. The first Impreza was made available in 1992, with subsequent generations released in 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006. The car went through mechanical and body transformations during these times. What really takes Subaru and the Impreza above and beyond is the fact that it has prominence in the popular sport of rally racing.

B9 Tribeca – This is a medium sized, luxury vehicle, known as a crossover SUV. This new Subaru was released as a model for the year 2006, but was made available for sale within the U.S. in 2005, though a slightly different version was released for the 2007 year. The Tribeca includes a variety of the latest gadgets popular to American drivers today, which includes better spring rates, stabilizer bars, struts, and grill. However, other features of this car include, parking system, backup camera, pre-wired iPod connectors, and XM satellite radio, as options for the vehicle.

Forester – Although first introduced to drivers in 1997, the Subaru Forester has undergone many changes and expansion since. The latest line in 2007, include five new models of the Forester, Sports 2.5 XT, 2.5 XT Limited, Sports 2.5 X, 2.5 X L.L. Bean Edition, and 2.5 X, within the United States. The models X, XS, and XT were produce for Australian drivers. The Forester has received Best Small SUV from Car and Driver three consecutive years in a row from 2004 to 2006. It also receive the Best Recreational Four Wheel Drive from Australia three consecutive years in a row from 2000 – 2002.

Other current models manufactured by Subaru include Stella, Sambar, R2, R1, and Pleo, which are all Kei cars sold only in Japan. Nationwide, other models include Outback, Liberty, Legacy, Impreza WRX STI, and Impreza WRX.

Past, but popular models manufactured by Subaru include Vivio, Traviq, Rex, Loyale, Leone, Justy, BRAT, Alcyone SVX, Alcyone, Subaru GL 1800, 1600 Leone, 1400 DL/GL, FF-1 G, FF-1 Star, Baja, and the 360.

Subaru is best known for Mid-sized and compact vehicles, though in the beginning the company released sub-compact and sports/coupe vehicle as well. Throughout all the years, Minivans have been produced by Subaru and as of late, Kei cars, and Crossovers are seemingly the most popular models.