In the rear-view mirror: only around 20 of the first Subaru were produced

Just seven months after it was founded as the automotive division of the technology group Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru launched its first vehicle, the P-1, in February 1954 - and will celebrate further milestone birthdays in 2024.

Later renamed the Subaru 1500, the P-1 was a 4.24-meter-long four-door model with a 55 hp (40 kW) 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. However, the company only took the step towards mass production four years later with the 2.99-metre short Subaru 360. The fact that only around 20 pre-series examples of the P-1 / 1500 were built was due to problems in setting up the sales network and production lines as well as the policy of promoting the Japanese subcompact car segment of the kei car class. The latter also led to the development of the 360.

Ten years after the launch of the P-1, the company opened a test track with a 1.6-kilometer circuit in Gunma, Japan. The 1000 model, which followed in the footsteps of the 1500 from 1966, was also tested here. It brought with it one of the two typical brand features that have been retained to this day: the low-slung boxer engine. In prototypes of the FF-1 presented 55 years ago, the Japanese engineers then combined the engine principle with all-wheel drive for the first time. The brand has remained true to this concept to this day. It also characterized the Justy, E 10 Wagon and L-series model ranges introduced 40 years ago: a three- and five-door small car, a microvan and a mid-range consisting of a saloon, estate and coupé, which made headlines not only in advertising as the "turbo trio".

While the 3.54-metre short Subaru Justy caused a sensation as the first Asian city car available in Europe with four-wheel drive as standard and three years later came up with the world's first ECVT (Electro Continuously Variable Transmission), the Subaru E 10 Wagon scored with plenty of space in the smallest of spaces. With a length of 3.42 meters and a width of just 1.42 meters, it offered six seats (with special registration, seven people were even allowed in the car). With the seats folded down, there was up to 2500 liters of space for luggage or a complete camping set-up. The all-wheel drive could be engaged. In 1993, it was replaced by the Libero (E 12), which was only ten centimeters longer. The roots of the segment, which is now extinct in Europe, lie in the Subaru Sambar from 1961.

However, the third generation of the Subaru Leone (Italian for "lion"), which was marketed in Germany as the Subaru L-Series, proved to be the best-selling new model with all-wheel drive worldwide 40 years ago. The second edition of the Leone (sold in Germany as the Subaru 1800) was the world's first all-wheel drive passenger car to exceed the production mark of one million units. The successor, available as a saloon and estate, was powered by a 136 hp (100 kW) turbo boxer engine, which provided almost sporty driving performance. This also benefited the futuristic XT coupé presented in 1985, which delighted sports car buyers with folding headlights and a chassis with innovative electro-pneumatic independent wheel suspension with height adjustment including automatic level compensation.

While the second-generation Subaru Legacy as a station wagon paved the way for the Outback crossover SUV that followed in 1995 and the Subaru Impreza made its mark in the compact class with the brand-typical combination of boxer engine and all-wheel drive, the sporty WRX STI based on the Impreza started its career 30 years ago. At the Acropolis Rally in 1994, Carlos Sainz won the first WRC victory for Subaru with an Impreza, and by the end of the season the brand was second in the manufacturers' standings of the World Rally Championship. This laid the foundation for a total of six world championship titles. The road version of the WRX STI (Subaru Tecnica International) was built in four model generations until 2018 and enjoys cult status among fans. Like the Legacy estate in Germany, examples from the first year of production are now recommended for the H license plate. (aum)