Start with what the Subaru Vivio is: a 3-door hatchback/van / 5-door hatchback / 2-door targa top with 658 , built from 1992 to 1998, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Subaru Vivio is a kei car that was introduced in March 1992, and manufactured by Subaru until October 1998. It is small enough to place it in the kei car class, giving its owners large tax breaks in Japan. The Vivio has a spacious interior considering its small size, thanks to a relatively tall profile and large windows.
The name "Vivio" is a reference to the engine's displacement of 660 written in an approximation of Roman numerals (VI, VI, O), and also inspired by the word vivid. It replaced the Rex nameplate that was introduced in the 1970s, and was itself superseded by the Subaru Pleo. The Vivio was available in 3 and 5-door versions, with a two-door targa top version named T-top also available.
What is underneath
The engine is 658 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 650 kg-700 kg. Drive goes through a 5-speed manual / 3-speed automatic / ECVT / Paddle shift. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Subaru line-up the Subaru Vivio has a clear place: it replaced the Subaru Rex; it handed the line to the Subaru Pleo; the factory was Subaru-chō Plant, Ōta, Gunma, Japan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the GM (General Motors) Hummer H1, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Renault Twingo. Nearby in the Subaru catalogue sit the Subaru Chiffon and the Subaru Lucra.
Subaru1953