With just under 100,000 made in a single generation, the Subaru XT was known as the Vortex in New Zealand (home of our own Adam Clarke) and Australia, and the Alcyon in Japan. It was reportedly the slipperiest car of its time, aerodynamics-wise, and only came in one body style, a two-door coupe. This 1989 Subaru XT6 has to be the nicest example left of this top model.
The XT was made from 1985 to 1991 and this example was born after the 1987 refresh, even though they had only been made for two years up until that point. It’s hard to believe that just two decades after the two-cylinder, suicide-door, two-stroke, “unacceptable” (Consumer Reports) Subaru 360, came the incredible moonshot Subaru XT. Available with either front-wheel drive or AWD, and later on with four or six cylinders, they added to Subaru’s quirkiness.
I think this is the best view of this wedge design. Pop-up headlights are cool in a weird RADwood sort of way, but in real life, they can be troublesome and take away some of the aerodynamics that the wedge is all about in the first place. The continuous and wraparound rear lights, though, that’s just fantastic. They have always reminded me of Gort from the movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
While this car looks almost perfect in most of the photos, the seller says to not expect perfection, it has rust, dings, dents, and oil leaks. Now there’s an honest seller! The driver’s cockpit looks just like that, the cockpit of a crazy spaceship. By now you’ve noticed that this car doesn’t have the coveted five-speed manual and that’s a crying shame. This one has a Jatco E-4AT four-speed automatic transmission. And you thought the gold Citroen wagon had a funky steering wheel, that’s nothing compared to the Subaru XT. The seats look perfect from what I can see both front and back.
As an XT6 this XT has, yes, a six-cylinder rather than a four or turbo four as found in other XTs. This is Subaru’s ER27, a 2.7-liter boxer-six with 145 horsepower and 156 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through the automatic to all four wheels as needed and the seller has this one listed here on eBay in Joppa, Maryland, there is no reserve, and the current bid price is $4,050. Hagerty is at $5,400 for a #3 good-condition car and $10,000 for a #2 car. Our own Jeff Lavery owned and restored an XT6 a few years ago and it can be a nightmare to find certain parts. Have any of you owned a Subaru XT?
Not sure if a turbo 4 would have been an improvement. All ours provided in our ’89 Legacy was a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Now, the intercooled turbo in my Legacy GT wagon is a totally different story. This XT would really benefit from another 100HP…even if the hood needs to be revised.
I agree, Fahrvergnugen. My ’88 RX Turbo Sedan only had 115 hp and I bet this XT would seem like a rocket compared to that.
Awd Subaru always popular w the skiing ⛷️ crowd. Saw plenty of em, not many of these wedges though, may be the nicest Gilbertson.
No digital displays
These were such neat cars, even then. It’s too bad Subaru sacrificed its uniqueness to go mainstream.
Had a coworker with one of these, he insisted it wasn’t a car, it was a “unit”.
After many years driving the ea82 , I thought the turbo was a huge improvement.
The Subaru with the EFI was okay in a 2400 pound wagon with 7 hp? Standard tranny , the extra 45 hp was a big improvement in my gl10,
I could get on the road without everyone being pissed at me for going sliw
I’ve only ever encountered a couple of people who owned these.
The first was a friend’s sister who had a new XT6. It was the first non-Ford in the family and I’ll bet the parents had a heart attack when she showed up with it for the first time.
The other one was much later, a younger guy that I knew had a well-used one. He proceeded to deck it out with a killer stereo with the required 12″ subwoofer. I remember that it rattled the rear luggage rack something fierce.
The XT Subaru was the only car I’ve bought brand new. My issue with the car was a factory defect in the roof the tube that should run the water that accumulates around the roof window was installed incorrectly back in those days. I took it to the dealership and all they would do for me was move the hose over where belonged, I asked I asked if they would repair some of the damage caused by the water leaking into the car. The response was a straight up no. This , I asked I asked if they would repair some of the damage caused by the water leaking into the car. They response was a straight up no. To this day I talk bad about Subaru and will never own another.
If no joy from the dealer go to the manufacturer, who was really the responsible party in this case.
Proof that aerodynamics don’t have to mean jellybean styling, these had a Cd of 0.29, still an impressive figure even today.
The engineers wanted a full fastback for the least drag, whereas the stylists favored more of a formal coupe profile, so they tested models with varying degrees of rear window rake in the wind tunnel until they arrived at this, the most upright rear window profile they could get without sacrificing anything in drag.
Note also how the greenhouse starts tapering inward along the rear quarter windows, then tapers even more where the rear window wraps around the sides, approximating a subtle teardrop shape to reduce drag.
First off, pop up headlights should be down when they’re not illuminated. That goes for anything from Miura to Miata to this. I don’t understand the fascination. And get off my lawn.
That said, give me the RX Coupe instead. I did give my daughter one. She really liked it, especially that dual-range transmission. Rust bug loved it too. Received a modest honorarium from someone who was going to save that poor baby. Alas, some service type didn’t secure the hub caps and they all went awol. Alas, they’re rare.
Ya gotta love Clint. First, it was “Make my day”. and then, much later “Get off my lawn”.
Statements, by themselves seemingly without merit, until Clint said them.
Go ahead, make my day.
I loved the advertising commercials on this car when it came out especially when the car shows up on the display for 4 wheel drive.so cool.The look on Grand dads face when he realized it was a Subaru. Priceless
“Thought we agreed you’d buy a Subaru.”
“…but Dad, I did.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6L2VcyfP5o
Auction update: this one sold for $4,750, a great price for the buyer, considering what everything else is seller for these days.