Automotive Recyclers Association - Archive

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Subaru Cars

Subaru and its six star logo are significant in Japanese documentation because the star cluster in the Taurus constellation is known from ancient times. Called “Pleiades” in the Western Hemisphere, the cluster actually holds two-hundred and fifty stars only visible with a telescope, but six can be seen by the naked eye. Those six are what comprise the Subaru logo. Further, the word Subaru was so important to the first president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the car company's parent corporation, that he decided to give their first automobile, the beautiful Subaru name. In his opinion, if one was going to build a car, one was obligated to give it a name of its culture or origin.

Creating the first prototype passenger car in 1954, the development name was P-1 but of course the end product was Subaru, officially named in 1955. One of the advantages Subaru has had over its competitors is being a division of FHI. This allowed much more innovation and development since FHI was already a leader in aerospace technologies with its roots firmly planted as an aircraft company in Japan. Because of this innovation and searching for more efficient methods, Subaru is credited with several firsts:
• 1982 signed a contract with Holland's VDT to jointly create CVT stepless transmission
• 1984 Subaru ECVT – world's first electro-continuously, variable transmission
• 1987 parent company develops new power steering with electronic motor
• 1988 Subaru MM – horizontally-opposed twelve cylinder engine

In addition, Subaru is known for the speed of its vehicles:
• 1989 Legacy recognized by FIA as making 100,000km world speed record
• 1989 new world record in Arizona with speeds of 134-207mph
• 1993 both the FIA and ACCUS recognize the Legacy for setting world speed record for station wagons
• 1996 Suburu Forester wins Hulman Trophy for twenty-four hours speed record at Indiana Motor Speedway



Other milestones in Subaru's history are:
• 1977 Subaru of America is established
• 1985 Subaru Design Centre completed
• 1988 Subaru Tecnica Intenational, Inc was founded to further the company's position as producing a performance based vehicle. It was also used to facilitate the Subaru World Rally Team entry into the FIA World Rally Championship
• 1989 Legacy entry announced into World Rally Championship 1990
• 1990 Subaru MM engine licensed to Italian Formula One racing team Coloni
• 2003 New slogan is introduced “Think Feel Drive”
• 2009 Subaru Canada, Inc. announced that in May 2009 all sales records were broken, even breaking last year's amazing records. As a result, “Subaru's Canadian sales are continuing to grow faster than any other Japanese manufacturer in 2009”.
• 2009 Australia also breaks its own sales records with increased sales of the Impreza, Forester and Tribeca. Libertys and Outbacks were so popular that inventory was depleted.
• 2009 Subaru Forester named as one of the "Best Family Cars for 2009" by Parents Magazine and Edmunds.com

Another area in which Subaru is concerned is the environment. In fact, FHI has a separate division of the company dedicated to promoting healthy driving. Among their many eco-friendly goals, one is to ensure that vehicles are recyclable from front to back. They actually began working on that goal as early as 1973. In fact, their cars are listed as having a recycling ratio of close to seventy-three percent. Other methods are focused on sustaining nature and reducing pollutants within vehicle parts. Fuel efficiency in gas powered cars is actively being addressed and recently, they launched their new electric vehicle.

Model names and years developed or released are:

• 1955 Rabbit Junior
• 1957 Rabbit Super Flow
• 1957 Prototype K10 later the Subaru 360
• 1958 Subaru 360
• 1961 Sambar
• 1965 Subaru 1000
• 1969 Subaru R2
• 1971 Subaru 1300G 4wd Van
• 1971 Leone
• 1972 Rex
• 1977 BRAT (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter)
• 1983 Domingo
• 1984 Justy
• 1985 Subaru XT (Alcyone) US
• 1990 Legacy
• 1991 Alcyone SVX
• 1992 Vivio
• 1992 Impreza
• 1995 Subaru Outback
• 1997 Forester
• 1998 Pleo
• 1999 Traviq
• 2001 Subaru Baja
• 2002 Legacy B4 Sedan CNG (in development) announced
• 2003 Concept cars B9 Scrambler and R13 unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show
• 2003 Concept car B11S shown at Geneva Motor Show
• 2005 Concept car B5-TPH shown at Tokyo Motor show
• 2005 B9 (Tribeca) – US market
• 2006 Subaru Stella mini car sales in Japan
• 2005 Subaru R1 released
• 2009 Subaru Plug-in STELLA electric vehicle (EV)

A worldwide company known for quality, speed and vision, Subaru continues to break the barriers of technology.