The Subaru XT is a 2-door coupé from Subaru, built from 1985 to 1991, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. Under the bonnet: 1.8 L Subaru EA engine#EA-82. Tetsuya Hayashi, Kiyoshi Sugimoto, Hiroshi Yako (interior) drew it. The total made was 98,918.
Where it came from
The Subaru XT is a 2+2 car manufactured and marketed by Subaru from 1985 to 1991, with a facelift in 1987. It is a two-door coupé with a front-mounted engine and either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. When the XT debuted, it was the most aerodynamic car in the US market. Marketed as the Alcyone in Japan; as the Vortex in Australia and New Zealand; and as the XT (with the EA-82 four-cylinder engine) or XT6 (with the ER-27 six-cylinder engine) in North America and Europe, all XT cars were assembled at Subaru's Yajima Plant in Ota, Japan. Over its single generation, production reached just over 98,000.
The XT was conceived in the United States for the US market, and thus debuted globally in the US. After sales began in February 1985 in the US, the XT Turbo 4WD debuted in Europe at the March 1985 Geneva Motor Show, followed by its Japanese debut in June 1985. The XT was noted for its pronounced wedge shape, low coefficient of drag; aviation influences from the aircraft division of parent company Fuji Heavy Industry; and its host of features, either innovative or uncommon in the XT's class — including height-adjustable pneumatic suspension, digital dash, central locking system, op-art upholstery, fold down rear seat, pod- and center console-mounted HVAC controls, advanced trip computer, and instrument cluster which tilted with adjustment of the steering column. With available front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, depending on the model year, the XT offered three trim levels, DL, GL (non-turbo, front-drive only), and GL-10 Turbo. The name referred to the star Alcyone, the
Under the skin
Power comes from 1.8 L Subaru EA engine#EA-82; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1130 kg. It shifts through a 3-speed Automatic transmission / automatic (Japan) / 4-speed automatic / 5-speed Manual transmission / manual. The wheelbase is 97 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Subaru SVX; assembly was at Yajima Plant, Ota, Gunma, Japan. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Ferrari Testarossa, the Jeep Wrangler, the Renault Espace — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Subaru catalogue sit the Subaru Chiffon and the Subaru Lucra.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Subaru XT has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.
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