Classic Car Insurance for Subaru

Subaru Classic Car Heritage

You can trace Subaru’s roots back to the WW2 Nakajima Aircraft Company, which was broken when the Allies banned aircraft production in post-war Japan. Five of the new companies joined together to form Fuji Heavy Industries, which would design its first car, the P1, in 1945. 

Fuji Heavy Industries needed a snappier name, and ‘Subaru’ – the Japanese name for the six-star Pleiades constellation – which means ‘to gather together’ was chosen. It’s the story behind the badge you see on the cars to this day. 

By 1965, the company had developed one of its engineering trademarks – the boxer engine. It offered two major advantages over inline or V-configuration alternatives: a low centre of gravity and smooth running because each piston counteracted the force of its opposing piston. 

But it wouldn’t be until 1972 that Subaru developed its cars’ most famous attribute – symmetrical four-wheel drive, more stable than other four-wheel drive systems because it continuously sends power to all four wheels. 

Subaru joined the UK market in 1976, and it displayed at farm shows where cars like the Brat won over farmers looking for a pick up that could operate in mud but was better on road and better built than the Land Rovers favoured up until that point.

Mainstream recognition wouldn’t come until Subaru competed in the World Rally Championship with Colin McRae behind the wheel of the company’s Legacy saloon. 

The Impreza WRC car would follow, attaining legendary status when McRae won the World Rally Championship in 1995. The sport perfectly encapsulated everything that was good about Subaru, its all-weather grip and its mechanical toughness with McRae’s legendary catch phrase “When in doubt, flat out” offering numerous opportunities to demonstrate both. 

As a result, the Impreza sold like hotcakes from the late ‘90s through to the early ‘00s, the offbeat warble of its flat-four engine becoming a sound that encapsulated the era.