We can’t try to hide our affection for Subaru, maker of slightly left-of-center cars as adept at slinging through muck as they are sliding around a race track – and neither can the buying public. The Japanese automaker’s sales are one of the few bright points in the auto industry and its diverse product lineup helps sets the pace regardless of segment. But it certainly wasn’t that way when the Pleiades star cluster brand first jumped on these shores back in the early 1960s.
Subaru – once pronounced sue-BAHR-oo - journeyed to America on the S.S. Malcolm Bricklin. Certainly Bricklin’s most successful long term launch in North America, Subaru really gained a place in the market when it launched its first Outback wagon in the mid-1990s.