Subaru XT Turbo 4WD
The 1986 Subaru XT Turbo represented Subaru's bold vision of future automotive design. Its radical wedge shape featured a drag coefficient of just 0.29, pop-up headlights, and flush-mounted door handles. Inside, the aircraft-inspired cockpit featured a single-spoke steering wheel, digital dashboard, and joystick-style transmission selector. The turbocharged flat-four engine combined with Subaru's symmetrical AWD system delivered confident all-weather performance. Despite its unconventional appearance, the XT pioneered technologies that would define modern Subaru performance cars, including the WRX and STI lineage.
Check for turbocharger issues and boost leaks. Verify AWD system functions properly. Interior plastics become brittle with age. Digital dashboard components can fail and are difficult to repair. Pneumatic suspension components wear. Finding clean, unmolested examples is challenging.
Built at Subaru's Gunma plant. Known as the Alcyone in Japan, named after the brightest star in the Pleiades constellation (Subaru's logo). Production ended in 1991 with no direct successor.