Subaru’s Secret Museum

Automobile manufacturers frequently establish museums, often near their headquarters, to show and celebrate their heritage and past products. Some go beyond their own products. For example, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, explores multiple forms of transportation and displays a history of the steam engine. Museums require resources to design and maintain, and since they represent their manufacturer, they need to live up to their own brand standards. So, in anticipation of such a future showcase, manufacturers will start their collections in advance. Having historical cars also allows the manufacturer to pull them out occasionally to provide some context to a newly introduced one. 

Subaru has such a hidden collection in a warehouse adjacent to their Camden, New Jersey headquarters. While not open to the public, automotive journalists are occasionally invited for a visit. MotorTrend magazine recently made such a visit and reported on it. Subaru of Rochester recounts what they saw. 

A False Start

Subaru had a strange entrance into the U.S. market due to Malcolm Bricklin’s actions. Bricklin later became known for the ill-fated Bricklin SV-1 gull-wing sports car and for importing the similarly ill-fated Yugo to the US. Bricklin’s dealings with Subaru were ill-fated as well. Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries was phasing out its scooter production in the late 60s to focus on automobiles. Bricklin planned to buy up the surplus scooters and sell them in the US through a network of gas stations. He named the Scooter the “Rabbit”. During a meeting in Japan, he spotted the egg-shaped Subaru 360. The 360 was a Kei car, a Japanese designation for the smallest car class in Japan with strict restrictions on size, weight, and displacement, and generally considered only for city use. Weighing under 1,000 pounds, the car didn’t need to meet US automotive standards and would get 60 mpg. The 360 proved ill-suited for US roads and was a sales flop. Seeing potential in the U.S. with the right product, Fuji Heavy Industries took over operations and formally established Subaru of America. While the vehicles are not all displayed in chronological order, the first models you see are the Rabbit and the 360, as well as a microvan version of the 360, briefly sold here by Bricklin.

A Pioneer of Both FWD and AWD

Subaru of America’s first product was the FF-1 Star, a conventional small 4-door sedan with a 1.1-liter engine. While the FF-1 Star was also not a big hit, it had front-wheel drive when most cars, including imports, did not. It also had a flat, horizontally opposed (boxer) 4-cylinder engine, establishing a tradition that continues to this day. 

So, Subaru already had experience with front-wheel drive when other imports were first introducing their front-drive models. Subaru was already looking ahead. It was in 1972 when Subaru offered an all-wheel drive in their Leone compact station wagon, becoming the first mass-produced all-wheel drive passenger car in the U.S. In the mid-70s, Subaru’s ad agency introduced the tagline “Inexpensive. And Built to Stay That Way”, a line that resonated with Americans dealing with their first significant increases in gas prices. Subaru’s all-wheel drive cars found a market in the northeast and mountain states and started spreading the drivetrain to its sedans, coupes, and, of course, the BRAT. 

The XT Coupe

Coupes are rare today, but almost every brand offered a compact sports coupe in the 80s, making the roads awash with Toyota Celicas, Honda Preludes, Mitsubishi Eclipses, and Ford Probes. Subaru naturally went its own way with the XT, a wedge-shaped coupe offered in either FWD or AWD. AWD was not unheard of in the class but still rare. The AWD model was propelled by a turbocharged 1.8-liter boxer-4, producing 112 horsepower and 143 lb-ft of torque. With a drag coefficient of 0.29, the XT was the most aerodynamic passenger car of its day. The dash featured pods on each side of the steering wheel, which grouped controls generally found on the dash and center stack. The steering wheel itself was a futuristic piece with one horizontal and one vertical spoke. It was very rare for the time and unheard of in the class; it had a fully digital driver display instead of analog gauges.

The SVX Super Coupe

In 1991, the XT was replaced by a much more upscale and higher-performing SVX, designed to compete against the Z-cars, Supras, RX-7s, and Mitsubishi’s 3000GT. It sported an eye-popping exterior by Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign, with an aircraft-inspired glass canopy with so much glass there were lowerable windows within fixed windows. Its coefficient of .29 matched its predecessor, and it was powered by a normally aspirated 3.3-liter boxer-6 that produced 231 horsepower and 228 lb-ft of torque. The power was routed through a 4-speed automatic to all four wheels, though a FWD model was added a few years later. Unfortunately, it fell victim to a high yen-to-dollar exchange rate that raised its costs along with those of its competitors, and the entire Japanese supercoupe category disappeared for a while.

2006 Legacy 2.5GT Spec.B

The 2006 Legacy’s grille recalled the SVX while otherwise being a conventional-looking mid-size sedan. However, in 2006, Subaru created a Legacy version called the 2.5GT Spec.B, fitted with a 250-horsepower turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer-4. It raided the STi parts bin for an aluminum control arm suspension with Bilstein dampers, had a 5-speed manual, replaced the following year with a 6-speed with a high-performance clutch, and, of course, had AWD. Still, aside from the hood scoop for the intercooler and flashy red seats, it generally appeared as a standard Legacy sedan, making it quite the sleeper. Only 500 were made, and the secret museum has car #1.

Singular Standouts

MotorTrend noted a few other special interest vehicles. The 1987 Justy sub-compact hatch holds the land speed record for the I-Production class (production cars with 1.0-liter engines) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Naturally, there is a WRX Sti and a Ken Block rally racer in Monster livery. One of the oddest models is a 1999 (1st-gen) Forester in full woody form with real ash and mahogany exterior side panels with additional ash trim on the wheels and bumpers. It was never sold, but it is quite interesting to look at. 

Unfortunately, all this Subaru history is under lock and key in a nondescript warehouse with no public access. Hopefully, Subaru will give all these models a proper venue someday. While it will likely be far from Subaru of Rochester and near Subaru headquarters in Camden, New Jersey, we look forward to visiting.