lets face it he only does them because they are being sold on cars&bids I don't think he wants to do these as a normal roundup! but either way I'm glad for it!
@AdamG I agree. I never knew that this car even existed until just this minute but it is such a cool ride!!! LOVE it!! 😂😂😂👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 I hope he keeps reviewing things like this moving forward.
And! It actually looks something ”from the future” because it doesnt look too dissimilar to my cars full display gages! My car has adaptive cruise control and the screen displays it by showing my car in the bottom with colorful lines indicating the distance you want to keep. And the of course it displays a car in there if you have something in front of you. And those 3D fuel/temp indicators also look similar to many modern electric car displays showing the battery lvl etc. So it doesnt look that weird compared to some modern displays but sure looks different from that era.
The way those were made was a black LCD that turned off bits to clear and let a backlight shine through. It's basically as durable as any calculator display (read: VERY). The most likely failure is the backlight, and as long as that can be serviced, it's good indefinitely. Some similar designs from that era were just mechanical gauges with backlight, and those haven't aged as well. The XT one is solid state though.
I bought the 1986 XT 4WD Turbo with a manual transmission. It was my first new car that cost a little over $16,000.00 dollars new. The color was Marina Blue with the same color seats as the one you showed. There are other cool things about this car that were new to the industry and that was the hill holder clutch. You didn't show how the roof panel removes and was stored in the trunk with special tie downs and cover. I loved this car and the pneumatic height suspension which raised the car to clear deep snow of Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I bought it. I even shipped the car to Italy while in the Air Force and drove all over Southern Italy with it. Memories I will never forget in what Subaru made us in the 80's!
Man that must have been such a joy! Yeah the moon roof was a fun feature. The hill hood was nice for me as a 19 year old kid driving around in Seattle.
I used to have a silver Subaru XT Turbo. I got stopped by people all the time asking what car it was. The 4 wheel drive was useful in the winters when there was snow, but there was no differential between the front and back wheel, making it useless when the roads where dry. It was constantly broken, spending more time in the garage than home.
I remember back in the 80's, my brother and I were visiting my Grandparents and they had one of these at the mall. We thought it was the coolest looking car we had ever seen. The next time my grandparents came to visit us, they drove up in an XT. I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 14 in that car. My grandfather kept that car until the early 2000s and never really had a problem with it. The turbo still worked even with over 100K mile on it. Unfortunately, someone rear-ended him and the insurance company totaled the car. BTW their back seat had the same checkered fabric that was on the front seats.
Amazing find! This might be the only XT left on the planet where all the features work & has not rusted back to the earth. Well worth snapping this one up. Great example of 80's radness.
I agree 200% I was thinking Automatic? Then I was doing the motions of a five speed using my imagination with that handle. Yeah, it’s awesome. I was more surprised when he mentioned it was a manual.
I wanted this car when I was in high school in the 80’s. Got to work on one when I worked in a body shop. This is still a car I would like to have if my vision did not go bad.
Former XT owner here. Coolest online forum group out of any car forum. My 1985 was the FWD XT turbo, it was the first motor I did a head gasket on it. It had a non-interference motor so when the timing belt snapped it was no problem. Such a fun car. It handled pretty well, and for its time had a lot of power.
I've never heard of a Subaru described as having a lot of power, ever - not even 'for the time '. I had a 1980 Subaru wagon (front wheel drive only) that was pathetically underpowered, and none of the Subaru owners I've ever known thought that their cars were powerful...
@@AndrewAMartinIn the 80's and 90's subaru def had a good amount of quick cars. Their awd system at the time was also one of the best so 0-60's were always nice
@@menace2society00 Acceleration is more a function of torque and traction, not power - so yes, AWD and a light car have an advantage. However, just getting to top speed quickly doesn't mean a whole lot when that top speed is 75 mph... Downhill... With a tailwind... 😁
My dad managed a Subaru dealership back in this era and I was a teenager. He drove the 4WD version home during a snow storm at one point and I absolutely thrashed it around the neighborhood. Thanks for waking the memory, Doug!
THIS... is the car I've hoped you'd review! I've owned THREE of these... an XT Turbo and two XT-6 models. None were fast. But they *looked so cool with the wedge-shaped styling and fighter cockpit controls. And the air suspension and push-button 4WD on the turbo was just wild. The V6 sounded better and pulled harder, but it was auto-only. Still, I loved each one and would buy an XT again if I could find a nice one. Sadly, most of them seem to have disappeared. (p.s., that one button on the left pd IS missing... it was an indicator, yes, but it had a button-like cover like all the rest.)
Found a european one on the internet. 136hp -81 Turbo, but sadly not with the wild digital dash and normal stick. 4WD though. Same color as in the video. 266k km on the clock
Doug has talked about this in various interviews/podcasts… the quirky and classic car reviews are a lot more interesting to enthusiasts, but they bring in far less views (translated as $) than his new car reviews. A large portion of his audience mainly uses his channel as a tool for new car shopping, so much that he has mentioned a desire to cease all older car reviews on his channel. However, despite the incessant “Cars and Bids” speak being thrown around, it seems that same entity has provided him easy access to a local source for these older, quirkier cars, to the benefit of all those who enjoy seeing them. 👍🏼
As a kid, we went to pick up a new GL wagon at the dealership and this was sitting in the lobby having just launched. Hard to appreciate how mind blowing and futuristic this felt at the time, and how different it really was from other import coupes/sedans. I believe this didn't take off because people were so worried about "what if the gauge cluster fails? it'll cost a fortune" and other seemingly-futuristic tech that mechanics couldn't work on. Of course, solid state displays like that don't really fail. Shame, it deserved better
We also had one in my household, I always like to brag and show off my parents digital dash, felt awesome to ride around in this as a kid, I can still remember the smell.
I've had an 85 XT Turbo for about 8 years now, it always puts a smile on my face, you're right about it feeling fast while not being fast! Every time I take it out people go nuts over it, it's a great way to meet car people haha
Here in Australia, this car was badged as Subaru Vortex XT. Back then, as a teenager, I thought this car looked so futuristic. I have been keeping my eyes on the used car websites here trying to find one for sale, and have not come across a single one in the last 15 years! This car is definitely a very rare find, especially in that condition.
There was a non turbo, non 4x4 up for sale on Carsales about 5 years ago. I think they were asking $15k for it. Yep, been looking for one too but after a turbo 4x4 manual. I had a 1987 Leone GLT4A in 1989. The 1.8 turbo in auto was very dissapointing. About as powerful as a 2.6 Sigma.
I owned a last model year (1991) XT6. I really enjoyed its weirdness. You're right, it wasn't fast, but it was fun to drive anyway. I've always been a lover of the weird cars and I thank you for this trip down memory lane.
I regret selling mine. It’s not a great car by modern standards but it’s brilliant for what it was. Also that locking differential was amazing on snow or off road.
Loved the locking diff. If you locked it stomped the throttle and dumped the clutch waited till the tires got going and cranked the wheel it would basically spin in a circle like a top more than like you were doing donuts in it. Only reason I got rid of it was because it go hard to find parts for and it was almost impossible to have an alignment done on it without replacing major parts. But I always had a blast driving it. Found it sitting in the weeds behind a used car dealer and asked what he wanted for it. His answer was well I honestly never planned on selling it it was for parts. Talked him into selling it for like 1200 bucks out the door. Never regretted it once lol.
I really like the styling of this car. That body panel crease line that goes the length of the car is clever. It emphasizes the wedge but also creates the illusion of different colors being used. It totally works. So much more fun than today's generic jelly bean cars. I think Doug could have given it better styling marks for that.
Doug is a real one. Totally committed to making the best car review videos on YT, no matter the car. Always brining insight, passion, and fun, every single episode. 10/10.
I have a mint 89 corvette convertible that is well known for its digital cluster resembling an F-14 tomcat's HUD....but I think the subaru XT has a cooler gauge. I am surprised I am barely hearing about this car as I love anything 80s. Still use the cassette deck in my car.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k I still have a few cassettes that I occasionally play in my still functional cassette deck. Unfortunately the CD player doesn't work.
@@stevenwilliams1805 I find that super strange. I have the same scenario in my 98 silverado. Cassette deck works amazingly but the cd player doesn't work...I figured the latter would be more reliable
That headlight button light display is indeed broken (or at least missing its cover). It would have had a picture of a headlight lighting up instead of the two exposed led lights. I owned an 1986 turbo XT in the mid 90s. Oh, and another quirk I think you missed is the one huge 22" windshield wiper. It looks crazy while it's wiping.
@@Emppu_T. That's right, I forgot about that. I had the air suspension removed on mine and replaced with regular shocks. The price quote I received to fix it was astronomical.
I like those exterior door handles. It probably helped aerodynamics some small amount. Looks cool. Also this is perhaps the most cyberpunk factory car I've ever seen.
We really have to appreciate how Doug after thousands of hours scrolling through eBay trying to find rare cars just decided to make his own car auction site. He's special like the weird cars shows us.
This car was great. I remember it back in the 80s. It was like a concept car that they just went straight to production with. They followed this up with the legacy.
For the record, Doug mentioned the MR2 and that also did not have a shift lever with a ball on it. It's just a nicely contoured leather covered handle.
@@DriverDGaming Well, agreed, no ball on the shifter but it's great compared to the monstrosity in this Subaru. I have an '88 SC and it's so much fun to drive.
Doug, thanks for this short trip down memory lane. I'll try to be brief, but I am compelled to share my affection for the XT 4WD Turbo Coupe. My very first Subaru was a 1982 GL 4WD Wagon specifically purchased because of the need to get my first wife to cancer treatments on a very demanding schedule without fail to the Cancer Center a couple of hours away in Upstate NY lake-effect snow area. It was the perfect car in every way save one: an incurable pinging that niether the dealer nor Subaru of America could overcome, though given my having been a mechanic they agreed to let me try one modification without voiding the warranty. My installation of a water injection system completely eliminated the pinging, and the car gave me the best of service from then on to around the 260k miles at which the dealership gave me max trade-in value towards the newly released 1985 XT 4WD Turbo Fivespeed Coupe in a charcoal metallic grey. Subaru of America even worked with the dealership to add a full beltline black anodized aluminium w/rubber insert rubrail to protect both sides of the car, and to avoid dealer installation of a rear deck luggage rack (a "popular add-on option" that I thought would ruin the wedge airflow). My XT was fantastic! The higher "jack" position on the pneumatic suspension made up for the lower lip spoiler on the front during our major snowfalls, yet the lower suspension setting and wedge shape made for extremely stable highway driving. The combination became even more appreciated after being promoted to a management position in Rockland County near NYC which meant many/most weekends year-round traveling upstate through the Catskills. I finally stopped driving the XT after somewhere over 300k miles, but I have stayed with Subarus without regret. I hope someone deserving buys the video XT and gives it a good home.
I was fascinated with this car back in the 80s. It was weird even by 80s cars standards. The little clusters of controls on either side of the steering wheel was so unique. A far cry from today when most cars are high-waisted CUVs.
The older subarus had an anti rollback feature connected to the clutch, if you put the clutch pedal all the way down, it would hold one of the brakes so the car would not rollback on a hill until you started letting the clutch up. That's why it sticks a little bit on the floor and doesn't come up as smoothly as you'd like.
Hi Doug, I know you probably don’t read comments anymore, but thank you for videos like these. Always love hearing about cars I never knew existed and especially love the quirky ones. I’m gonna watch no matter what, but always appreciate the odd ball cars like this one. Thank you for this video!
Just a little note here, regarding the shifter: in an airplane the rudder is typically cotrolled by pedals, and this definitely looks more like a joystick, not like an yoke. What a funky car, anyway!
Yes! He kept saying a different plane part term, each one of them being incorrect. Thankfully he finally landed on joystick. See what I did.....landed....
Some of these features made it into the original Ford Probe including the wraparound glass, pull to flash pop-up headlights, and the instrument pod that moved with the steering wheel! I had an 89 Probe, and I loved its quirkiness!
Doug knows how to keep his viewers coming back. He reviews whacky, lesser known cars, and then uses the term "pokier" to describe its surprising driving experience. lol Well done, Doug, as always.
Doug DeMuro needs to do a review of the 1972 Brubaker Box Minivan with all its quirks and features🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 And just for good measure, he also needs to do a review of these other vehicles: 1967 Australian Chrysler Valiant Wayfarer Utility (Ute for Short) pickup truck 1968 Mercedes Benz 230 S Universal Station Wagon 1969 Acadian Beaumont Sport Deluxe 396 (GM Canada's version of the 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport 396) 1972 Australian Chrysler Valiant Charger E38/E49
You read my mind, Dougie! Was just looking for one of these. Buddy of mine had one in Germany during Desert Storm. Not super powerful, but taught and precise and FUN!
I’m surprised it took you so long to get one of these! It’s like the designers at Subaru took every part of the car and asked themselves, “How do I make this weird?” Regardless, I had a friend in the 90s that had two of these things. A front wheel drive NA that he used in winter and a turbo AWD that he preserved for summer use. I remember being blown away at how weird they were back then, and it still holds up.
I had an XT6 all wheel drive. It was an awesome little car. Had adjustable suspension too. With a set of Blizzak tires, that thing was incredible in snow
My mother bought a 1985 Subaru wagon (FWD, automatic of course). They were not called the Loyale until the Legacy model came out a few years later. The hatchback (rare for this body style), sedan and wagon were just known by that as well as the trim level: DL, GL, and the GL-10. I remember fawning over the XT when it was new in the showroom. The closest I got to one was a Tamiya model - which I still have somewhere. I predict this car will sell for more than $10K by a fair bit. If I had the room for it, I would be bidding. This is the epitome of a Gen X collectible.
WOW - Doug returns to his roots! My favorite type of videos!! That tilting cluster reminds me of my old Ford Probe. Well I mean old now - I had it when it was a couple years old - a check-all-boxes 1989 Probe LX. All options, including removable sunroof and digital dash that tilted like this. Today it was still one of my favs I've owned. Hope Doug gets to review one before those are all extinct.
@@Big.W. yes. Itwas gonna replace the Mustang but Ford got word that would have been a huge nail in the coffin. The Probe platform was a 626/MX6. Mine was a white check-all-options LX with Mazda RX7 15" BBS mesh wheels.
@Big.W. the second generation Probe was a MX 6 badged as a Ford. The first generation had a Mazda 2.2 motor found in the 626 and may have been sisters with the 2 door 626 before the second generation.
I’ve always wondered what this very unique car was really like, especially as they were quite a rare sight (even during mid-80s). Much odder than I expected. Thanks for the video.
Great review! Brought back some fun memories. I had one of these as a kid in high school and it was very fun and quirky. Enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
One quirk not mentioned that I saw in another video is that this car's transmission also has a hill assist, decades ahead of its time. Most even new cars sold in Europe today with a standard transmission don't have that!
The quirkiest thing is that it took this long for Doug to review the XT. My favorite Subaru ever; like if Japan made a Citroën. FYI a plane’s joystick controls elevons and ailerons while the rudder is controlled by the foot pedals
Totally agreed. He is the only person I’ve ever seen to just call everything weird and strange. My friend had one of these and it was absolutely incredible.
My Mom had the non-turbo version of this. She had an '85 GL Wagon for only about a year when she saw this in the showroom when she had her car serviced and ended up leaving the wagon there and drove home in this. As an 80's tech nerd kid I was ecstatic - easily the coolest car ever. It was so different than anything else on the road. For the first year or two we'd always have people coming up to us asking questions about it.
Oh yes! I have always LOVED the XT - the quirkiets quirkmobile out there! The closest thing to be a Citroën, without actually being one. Great to get a review on it, but now I want one even more. Did not expect it to be fun to drive beyond the avalanche of quirks. Was dreaming of owning one 30 years ago, when I had my drivers license, but they where out of reach then and now they are all but gone...
I bot want an xt turbo and a Citroen BX Van, which was a special edition in my country for tax dodging, sporting a fiberglass roof box made by a canoe company.
Yet somehow for him the Fiero was ranked higher even though compared to this Subaru XT the Fiero was a mid-engine coupe of 2 seater only pile of junk.. Tis XT should be above the Fiero just for the fact it has so many cool option : 2+2, selectable AWD, raised suspension, jet-dash cluster, and powerful motor for its era.. Subaru XT was ready for Rally cross, Fiero was just a cheap unreliable show-off city junker..
How the heck did you not mention the windshield wiper? 😆 And another fun fact is you can’t drown out the speed alarm by cranking up the radio because the radio turns off and on while the alarm is going off!
Modern Subarus will mute the radio if the anticollision stuff is going off. It's annoying because the collision warning can be triggered while the adaptive cruise control is slowing down at the proper rate. The car freaks out at itself.
One of my favorite cars of all time. I was a bit disappointed that you did not cut to the different areas of the car as you talked about it. And it sound like a fabulous interior, but only a couple minor shots of it. Please add some interior shots, shots from the back seat, pan shots of the engine bay, etc., with voice overs. That will bring your production value sky high. Thanks.
When I was about 10 years old my parents were at a used car dealership buying a car (Ugh. A Ford Tempo, if I recall) and they had an XT6 on the lot. I instantly fell in love with it. I swear to God that car was my first true love. Of course, in the early 90s nobody wanted this thing and the sales guy knew he could get way more money for that Tempo and said "Oh this thing's junk it's probably just going to be scrapped anyway..." That was my first Brave Little Toaster moment and I remember the trauma to this day. I hope that car is still out there somewhere making someone as happy as it would've made 10 year-old me.
Ah the Brave Little Toaster. To this day I'm still overly cautious when vacuuming, so I don't suck up the power cord. That movie traumatized me too....
I owned an '88 XT 6, loved the car, and tried to find another recently. Almost impossible to find, miss that car as it was always cool to show off the interior and the many quirks. I remember mine having one large front wiper blade and the washer spray for the headlights.
I love this thing and I want one! I would modify/modernize some things -- but it is just so cool! I even love the gauge cluster. Looks honestly more modern than almost every car that arrived for the next 30 years. Super interesting with a lot of neat, forward-thinking features 🤩
I had a 1988 XT6.....2WD drive....for 10 years! Was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned. So weird. Definitely an attraction at a cars and coffee or even just parking it downtown. Not many were around in Western Canada.
Me too, auto trans, shifted at too high an rpm i think the shift points were for the four cylinder,,, but still went like a mini fighter jet, blew a lot of cars right off the road. loved it, Aldergrove, late '90's....sold it and always regretted it...
I had an acquaintance with an XT6. Very cool car. At the time I was a teen and had a 93 Dodge Daytona ES with a V6. Very evenly matched against the XT6, we did drag race a few times(both manual transmissions). I wish Doug would review a 90s Dodge Daytona sometime - maybe one of the late model IROCs.
About 20 years ago we had to remove one of these for my aunts property and we rolled it off a cliff, dead serious. It had a big wing on it and was the four-wheel-drive turbo, if we would’ve known someday, it would be valuable lol
I bought one that was a museum piece, bought on its release amd immediately displayed in a museum in brimingham. It was purchased alongside a ahort wheel base quattro amd had a sister personalised plate to that . When i bought it for 200 quid. The quattro that was bought at the same time in the 80s changed hands for 100k. This was early 2000s. If i had the soace id have kept it but it was so rotten and all the airbags were done for.
And here I was, thinking that the SVX was the weirdest Subaru ever made. But I was totally wrong. The XT is weird, but it's awesome. I just love these quirky and weird cars, especially when they are from Japan.
The strange position of the ignition key is because this car was never designed to have the steering wheel on the left of the vehicle. The quirkiest feature of this car was the 4wd engaging when the windscreen wipers were on.
I love it! Clearly inspired by Citroen (in a good sense). I once saw one, here in Athens, Greece, and I was like "What is THIS?". The owner came by and he told me "There are only two of them in Greece - and I own them both!"
I saw this car overtake me a year ago. I still remember looking up the plates and being stunned that it is a Subaru. I like the right angles, it reminds me of a prettier 1st gen MR2
They are fast, my sister and her boyfriend both had one and he would race down the highway blasting music. I didn't drive then and was a passenger but always wanted one of these cars. They still don't look dated to me and I still want one
The Subaru Flat-4 is the only engine in my history to ever break a *camshaft* just from normal driving. I never raced it or modded it, just drove it daily. Went on a trip driving the then speed limit of 65mph and a few miles into the trip - BAM! Lost all power. Find out one of the camshafts twisted off. Not a crankshaft, the camshaft. The mechanics all said they had NEVER seen that before in any car. Never trusted Subaru's after that.
@@stalincat2457 Yes he did! I missed that episode so I had no idea. I should have searched for it instead of looking dumb. But yes I did watch it last week. My friend had one, it was a cool car at the time. Had the rear wheel steering.
@@brettconv83 I saw one half a year ago in Belgium but it was in a horrible state (fieldfind). Also I already had a Subaru Libero (sort-of-Sambar) so my Quirky itch was scratched.
This is so awesome. 😎 It kind of looks like an elongated version of the ‘83 Nissan Pulsar I had back in the day: simultaneously one of the most fun to drive and biggest turd of a vehicle I ever owned.
in the late 90's a good friend of mine who lived down the street from me had one of these (XT turbo non 4wd), it had a custom paint job and is still one of my fav cars I've ever seen... I only got to drive it a few times but it was such a neat looking and strange car. It was the most aerodynamic car sold in the US at the time and it really had that super aerodynamic 80's look... I wanted to buy it when she sold it a few years after HS but that never happened :( haha
I have two of these, my mint 1987 5 speed, no: power steering, ac, passenger side mirror, power windows, moonroof, back seats, cup holders, turbo, fancy air suspension, rust, so nothing to go wrong, love it, also soon after I bought it I found an automatic with a non running engine as a parts car, I love my xt and am glad to see Doug giving it recognition, also I saw one in the background of a Donut episode were they disassemble a Honda k engine, just sitting there and no one commented on it
When I was younger, I saw a few for sale while car searching and not knowing much besides it looking weird, I wanted it. After watching this, I want it more than ever.
It's almost as if this car were created and designed to, one day in the not so near future, be reviewed by the king of quirks and features. It's the final crescendo in the quirk category.
I was looking to buy one of these back in the day. I wanted something 4WD because I was into snow skiing at the time. But then I discovered an AMC Eagle SX/4 hatchback for sale, and the rest is history. Probably a good decision, as my AMC was super reliable, unlike the only Subaru that I ended up owning (many years later), which was the quirky SVX.
Wow, the air suspension still works! The gauges still work! The miles are low! I'd buy this one. I've had 6 Subies and the Loyale mentioned early on. Heck of a car! Subies are great cars and the XT was a great design. Love this review!
2 weeks ago, I was talking about the old XT my grade school principle owned and the time I got to ride in it. Was thinking to myself afterwards, I’m surprised Doug hasn’t reviewed one yet…..
I had wanted this car ever since I watched the first commercial for it back in the 80s, and finally got an AWD turbo that was virtually new in the mid-90s. Good car overall, fun to drive, but had numerous transmission issues and sold it after the 2nd replacement.
I've owned two, I didn't think they were weird cars at the time (in early to mid 1990's). I probably should have kept the XT-6, it was actually quite a good driving car.
Rode all over Oahu in one of these for a full year in 1990. One thing this model is missing is the rear window louvres...OF COURSE IT HAD LOUVRES! I spent so much time in the mean-spirited back seat and yeah, it is totally stress position torture.
Doug, please consider filming a short clip of each car your test driving from the outside so we can see what it looks like moving toward us, passing by and down the road. Would make your videos so much better buddy. But once again, great review.
Dang, looking at the buttons at the 6:45 mark made me nostalgic. I actually liked those style buttons found in most cars that day, Subaru had them at your fingertips though.
My parents had one of these. We lived in Alaska, where Subarus were everywhere, but this one was rare. They got rid of it when they had to replace the windshield wiper motor and it was going to cost almost $1000 to repair.
Japanese 80s small cars had a real fun factor to them, as they all had this go-kart like driving experience. They were all adequately powered, low-slung, lightweight, and simply a lot of fun to drive.
Doug missed my favorite quirk with this car. When you raised and lowered the hydraulic suspension, the little avatar car in the digital gauge cluster also raised and lowered! Likewise, enabling 4WD made the wheels on that avatar fill in solid to let you know all 4 were powered. Such a fun car, my dad had a white xt4 turbo awd when I was a tiny child. Seeing that thing shift was mesmerizing, with the digital dash especially. It was like the future was here, but then everything paused for a few decades to catch up.
We got them in Australia but ours had a water to air intercooler the one you had looked like it did not have one due to the left-hand drive conversion. Also, it was called the Vortex.
I saw this car, and I was instantly sold. The weird wheel, the great shape and colors, the future retro screens, sexy pop-up highbeams, back seats, interesting features, sunroof, but most of all, the almighty jewel cooler ac vent. This may be my dream car that will take the place of the DeLorean for me.
Doug, please never abandon reviewing weird old cars like this. Your OG fans (myself included) love those the most.
lets face it he only does them because they are being sold on cars&bids I don't think he wants to do these as a normal roundup! but either way I'm glad for it!
@AdamG I agree. I never knew that this car even existed until just this minute but it is such a cool ride!!! LOVE it!! 😂😂😂👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 I hope he keeps reviewing things like this moving forward.
No doubt 😅
This, I remember I got into his channel from the Yugo video
💯
The fact that the gauge cluster is still working and looking new is mind blowing
And! It actually looks something ”from the future” because it doesnt look too dissimilar to my cars full display gages! My car has adaptive cruise control and the screen displays it by showing my car in the bottom with colorful lines indicating the distance you want to keep. And the of course it displays a car in there if you have something in front of you.
And those 3D fuel/temp indicators also look similar to many modern electric car displays showing the battery lvl etc. So it doesnt look that weird compared to some modern displays but sure looks different from that era.
There is zero chance any modern infortainment systems would work after forty years.
@@tatianaes3354 Haha! xD so Subaru didnt get that right!
The way those were made was a black LCD that turned off bits to clear and let a backlight shine through. It's basically as durable as any calculator display (read: VERY). The most likely failure is the backlight, and as long as that can be serviced, it's good indefinitely.
Some similar designs from that era were just mechanical gauges with backlight, and those haven't aged as well. The XT one is solid state though.
@@MicahGoldstein The gauges that really aged poorly used vacuum fluorescent displays; they get dimmer with age.
FINALLY some more quirky cars again. So nice to have you back.
It do be like that
Nice dude
I agree, this'll be fun, with the "shooting cars" channel also reviewing one, there's was a white, naturally aspirated automatic flat 6.
@bobhill3941 That was an XT6.
Cars and bids
I bought the 1986 XT 4WD Turbo with a manual transmission. It was my first new car that cost a little over $16,000.00 dollars new. The color was Marina Blue with the same color seats as the one you showed. There are other cool things about this car that were new to the industry and that was the hill holder clutch. You didn't show how the roof panel removes and was stored in the trunk with special tie downs and cover. I loved this car and the pneumatic height suspension which raised the car to clear deep snow of Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I bought it. I even shipped the car to Italy while in the Air Force and drove all over Southern Italy with it. Memories I will never forget in what Subaru made us in the 80's!
Man that must have been such a joy! Yeah the moon roof was a fun feature. The hill hood was nice for me as a 19 year old kid driving around in Seattle.
That's such a nice story! 😁
I like the orange lighted dash.
I used to have a silver Subaru XT Turbo. I got stopped by people all the time asking what car it was. The 4 wheel drive was useful in the winters when there was snow, but there was no differential between the front and back wheel, making it useless when the roads where dry.
It was constantly broken, spending more time in the garage than home.
I had this car. That hill holder clutch was a great feature.
The rims, the steering wheel and dash, the interior, and body shape are SO cyberpunk.I love it. Feels so retro futuristic
Nah fr playing cyber punk 2077 rn and alot of the cars in the game look similar to this
I love how the wheels sorta look like sketch paper.
@@Trija204 yeah you needed to have graph paper patterns on everything to let the public know your product was “high tech”
Cyber Truck anyone…
I remember back in the 80's, my brother and I were visiting my Grandparents and they had one of these at the mall. We thought it was the coolest looking car we had ever seen. The next time my grandparents came to visit us, they drove up in an XT. I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 14 in that car. My grandfather kept that car until the early 2000s and never really had a problem with it. The turbo still worked even with over 100K mile on it. Unfortunately, someone rear-ended him and the insurance company totaled the car. BTW their back seat had the same checkered fabric that was on the front seats.
My grandma had one of these as well
Totally cool memories.
@WhippingBrady: That's a cool story. You have beautiful memories. :D
Shame it was scrapped, hate when these old cars are just not worth fixing to insurance companies
@@Brian_Eugene_Leepretty much all automatics of this era were garbage
Amazing find! This might be the only XT left on the planet where all the features work & has not rusted back to the earth. Well worth snapping this one up. Great example of 80's radness.
A Car detailer up here in Canada recently detailed one of these that had been sitting abandoned for years.
In either malta or gozo there is an abandoned subaru shop that has a brand new xt in it. Might be completely broken tho after all these years
@lordwalker71 that video got recommended to me too, along with Doug's review. The world wants the XT to come back to life 😂
I would rather have those climate controls than have them built into a touch screen menu.
And that gear shift lever is SICK! 😁
I agree 200% I was thinking Automatic? Then I was doing the motions of a five speed using my imagination with that handle. Yeah, it’s awesome. I was more surprised when he mentioned it was a manual.
@@chriskalkman3815 It didn't register for me until I paused at an angle and saw the shift pattern on the back of the shifter!
I wanted this car when I was in high school in the 80’s. Got to work on one when I worked in a body shop. This is still a car I would like to have if my vision did not go bad.
The 80s version of the pistol grip shifter.
i got an xt, 160,000k, those levels are broken, the only way to get parts for these cars is junk yards. I havent been motivated to get a new one
That is without a doubt the coolest gauge cluster I've ever seen. It looks futuristic even today.
Meh
@@erikn.8626You realize that if you don't have anything interesting to say you can just shut up, right?
@@salacommander2674 why dont you apply that filosophy to yourself?
@@erikn.8626 I think you need to get back to school. You can't even spell "philosophy" 😂
@@itssidx i dont think you can Spell It in my language either mr. American Who knows ONLY one language
Former XT owner here. Coolest online forum group out of any car forum.
My 1985 was the FWD XT turbo, it was the first motor I did a head gasket on it. It had a non-interference motor so when the timing belt snapped it was no problem.
Such a fun car. It handled pretty well, and for its time had a lot of power.
это же машина кота леопольда
I've never heard of a Subaru described as having a lot of power, ever - not even 'for the time '. I had a 1980 Subaru wagon (front wheel drive only) that was pathetically underpowered, and none of the Subaru owners I've ever known thought that their cars were powerful...
Can you tell me what those switches between the steering wheel and the gauge cluster are??? they seem really weird i wanna know what are they!!
@@AndrewAMartinIn the 80's and 90's subaru def had a good amount of quick cars. Their awd system at the time was also one of the best so 0-60's were always nice
@@menace2society00 Acceleration is more a function of torque and traction, not power - so yes, AWD and a light car have an advantage. However, just getting to top speed quickly doesn't mean a whole lot when that top speed is 75 mph... Downhill... With a tailwind... 😁
My dad managed a Subaru dealership back in this era and I was a teenager. He drove the 4WD version home during a snow storm at one point and I absolutely thrashed it around the neighborhood.
Thanks for waking the memory, Doug!
Cool
bad boy
@@JohnGlen502 Did you get to see a Brat ? Definitely weirder.
THIS... is the car I've hoped you'd review! I've owned THREE of these... an XT Turbo and two XT-6 models. None were fast. But they *looked so cool with the wedge-shaped styling and fighter cockpit controls. And the air suspension and push-button 4WD on the turbo was just wild. The V6 sounded better and pulled harder, but it was auto-only. Still, I loved each one and would buy an XT again if I could find a nice one. Sadly, most of them seem to have disappeared.
(p.s., that one button on the left pd IS missing... it was an indicator, yes, but it had a button-like cover like all the rest.)
I still got my its na fwd, i drive it like a dog, just got a new transmission install in my garage
The six cylinder Subarus from this era only had autos because they didn't make a manual that could handle the torque. Same for the SVX.
Lucky man
OMG 4wd too! awesome car.
Found a european one on the internet. 136hp -81 Turbo, but sadly not with the wild digital dash and normal stick. 4WD though. Same color as in the video. 266k km on the clock
Who else likes when Doug reviews quirky cars other than expensive and exotic luxury cars?
I personally don't mind him reviewing normal everyday cars, but not the ultra expensive high end cars..
I like ‘em all. He’s got a lot of people with varying tastes. Can’t pander to one specific demographic or he wouldn’t get as many views
Doug has talked about this in various interviews/podcasts… the quirky and classic car reviews are a lot more interesting to enthusiasts, but they bring in far less views (translated as $) than his new car reviews. A large portion of his audience mainly uses his channel as a tool for new car shopping, so much that he has mentioned a desire to cease all older car reviews on his channel. However, despite the incessant “Cars and Bids” speak being thrown around, it seems that same entity has provided him easy access to a local source for these older, quirkier cars, to the benefit of all those who enjoy seeing them. 👍🏼
@@NC944er great info. I think he needs to mention that in his main videos more often. People need to hear it.
I'm hoping he'll do a few more Citroêns from the 60s 70s and 80s
As a kid, we went to pick up a new GL wagon at the dealership and this was sitting in the lobby having just launched. Hard to appreciate how mind blowing and futuristic this felt at the time, and how different it really was from other import coupes/sedans. I believe this didn't take off because people were so worried about "what if the gauge cluster fails? it'll cost a fortune" and other seemingly-futuristic tech that mechanics couldn't work on. Of course, solid state displays like that don't really fail. Shame, it deserved better
Fr
We also had one in my household, I always like to brag and show off my parents digital dash, felt awesome to ride around in this as a kid, I can still remember the smell.
I've had an 85 XT Turbo for about 8 years now, it always puts a smile on my face, you're right about it feeling fast while not being fast!
Every time I take it out people go nuts over it, it's a great way to meet car people haha
Here in Australia, this car was badged as Subaru Vortex XT. Back then, as a teenager, I thought this car looked so futuristic. I have been keeping my eyes on the used car websites here trying to find one for sale, and have not come across a single one in the last 15 years! This car is definitely a very rare find, especially in that condition.
And some markets called Alcyone too
There was a non turbo, non 4x4 up for sale on Carsales about 5 years ago. I think they were asking $15k for it. Yep, been looking for one too but after a turbo 4x4 manual. I had a 1987 Leone GLT4A in 1989. The 1.8 turbo in auto was very dissapointing. About as powerful as a 2.6 Sigma.
@@rolkabolkaseen a JDM Alcyone at an import dealer in Virginia a few months ago when I picked up my Legacy. Definitely a neat car.
Have a full video series on the Vortex.
I owned a last model year (1991) XT6. I really enjoyed its weirdness. You're right, it wasn't fast, but it was fun to drive anyway. I've always been a lover of the weird cars and I thank you for this trip down memory lane.
The best kind of cars are cars that are fun at any speed.
I regret selling mine. It’s not a great car by modern standards but it’s brilliant for what it was. Also that locking differential was amazing on snow or off road.
I still own my 1988 Subaru xt
Loved the locking diff. If you locked it stomped the throttle and dumped the clutch waited till the tires got going and cranked the wheel it would basically spin in a circle like a top more than like you were doing donuts in it. Only reason I got rid of it was because it go hard to find parts for and it was almost impossible to have an alignment done on it without replacing major parts. But I always had a blast driving it. Found it sitting in the weeds behind a used car dealer and asked what he wanted for it. His answer was well I honestly never planned on selling it it was for parts. Talked him into selling it for like 1200 bucks out the door. Never regretted it once lol.
Mine was fast.
Topped out at 142 mph
I really like the styling of this car. That body panel crease line that goes the length of the car is clever. It emphasizes the wedge but also creates the illusion of different colors being used. It totally works. So much more fun than today's generic jelly bean cars. I think Doug could have given it better styling marks for that.
It had the lowest drag coefficient of any production car at the time.
The body was designed around this principle
And at least a 6 for cool factor! Still, great video.
@@deadprivacy Also explains the interesting flush door handles design. Wonder how well they work in cold winters, though.
Doug is a real one. Totally committed to making the best car review videos on YT, no matter the car. Always brining insight, passion, and fun, every single episode. 10/10.
The gauge cluster looks super cool even in today's standards!
That might be one of the coolest looking gauge clusters of all time!
A digital dash I wouldn't mind having! My aunt had a Loyale wagon and its digital dash was just plain sad.
Both the instruments and control pods moved with the steering wheel. Such a neat car.
I have a mint 89 corvette convertible that is well known for its digital cluster resembling an F-14 tomcat's HUD....but I think the subaru XT has a cooler gauge. I am surprised I am barely hearing about this car as I love anything 80s. Still use the cassette deck in my car.
@@user-pn3im5sm7k I still have a few cassettes that I occasionally play in my still functional cassette deck. Unfortunately the CD player doesn't work.
@@stevenwilliams1805 I find that super strange. I have the same scenario in my 98 silverado. Cassette deck works amazingly but the cd player doesn't work...I figured the latter would be more reliable
That headlight button light display is indeed broken (or at least missing its cover). It would have had a picture of a headlight lighting up instead of the two exposed led lights. I owned an 1986 turbo XT in the mid 90s. Oh, and another quirk I think you missed is the one huge 22" windshield wiper. It looks crazy while it's wiping.
And if you raise the car, the little car picture in the center of the digital cluster raises too!
@@Emppu_T. That's right, I forgot about that. I had the air suspension removed on mine and replaced with regular shocks. The price quote I received to fix it was astronomical.
Same year same time blew head gasket bummer
What is bilev?
The JDM version had a rear wiper.
I like those exterior door handles. It probably helped aerodynamics some small amount. Looks cool.
Also this is perhaps the most cyberpunk factory car I've ever seen.
Yep definitely got that retrofuturism going on, big reason i love it too.
+most aerodynamic car in it's time 0.29 drag co
Tesla copied those door handles but I’m sure Elon Musk would never admit to it
We really have to appreciate how Doug after thousands of hours scrolling through eBay trying to find rare cars just decided to make his own car auction site.
He's special like the weird cars shows us.
This car was great. I remember it back in the 80s. It was like a concept car that they just went straight to production with. They followed this up with the legacy.
For the record, Doug mentioned the MR2 and that also did not have a shift lever with a ball on it. It's just a nicely contoured leather covered handle.
My 89 MR2 supercharged has its own quirkiness, but the shifter is pretty normal compared to this one.
I had an 86 normally aspirated Mr2, that shifter was great.
@@DriverDGaming Well, agreed, no ball on the shifter but it's great compared to the monstrosity in this Subaru. I have an '88 SC and it's so much fun to drive.
Doug, thanks for this short trip down memory lane. I'll try to be brief, but I am compelled to share my affection for the XT 4WD Turbo Coupe.
My very first Subaru was a 1982 GL 4WD Wagon specifically purchased because of the need to get my first wife to cancer treatments on a very demanding schedule without fail to the Cancer Center a couple of hours away in Upstate NY lake-effect snow area. It was the perfect car in every way save one: an incurable pinging that niether the dealer nor Subaru of America could overcome, though given my having been a mechanic they agreed to let me try one modification without voiding the warranty. My installation of a water injection system completely eliminated the pinging, and the car gave me the best of service from then on to around the 260k miles at which the dealership gave me max trade-in value towards the newly released 1985 XT 4WD Turbo Fivespeed Coupe in a charcoal metallic grey. Subaru of America even worked with the dealership to add a full beltline black anodized aluminium w/rubber insert rubrail to protect both sides of the car, and to avoid dealer installation of a rear deck luggage rack (a "popular add-on option" that I thought would ruin the wedge airflow).
My XT was fantastic! The higher "jack" position on the pneumatic suspension made up for the lower lip spoiler on the front during our major snowfalls, yet the lower suspension setting and wedge shape made for extremely stable highway driving. The combination became even more appreciated after being promoted to a management position in Rockland County near NYC which meant many/most weekends year-round traveling upstate through the Catskills.
I finally stopped driving the XT after somewhere over 300k miles, but I have stayed with Subarus without regret. I hope someone deserving buys the video XT and gives it a good home.
I was fascinated with this car back in the 80s. It was weird even by 80s cars standards. The little clusters of controls on either side of the steering wheel was so unique. A far cry from today when most cars are high-waisted CUVs.
I’ve been trying to buy one of these for years but these cars are so hard to find. Super pumped to see some coverage on such an unappreciated car 👍
Here’s your chance!
I can imagine, I haven't seen one for decades in the he northeast.
The older subarus had an anti rollback feature connected to the clutch, if you put the clutch pedal all the way down, it would hold one of the brakes so the car would not rollback on a hill until you started letting the clutch up. That's why it sticks a little bit on the floor and doesn't come up as smoothly as you'd like.
Hi Doug, I know you probably don’t read comments anymore, but thank you for videos like these. Always love hearing about cars I never knew existed and especially love the quirky ones. I’m gonna watch no matter what, but always appreciate the odd ball cars like this one. Thank you for this video!
Just a little note here, regarding the shifter: in an airplane the rudder is typically cotrolled by pedals, and this definitely looks more like a joystick, not like an yoke. What a funky car, anyway!
Yes! He kept saying a different plane part term, each one of them being incorrect. Thankfully he finally landed on joystick.
See what I did.....landed....
Word
I'll add that the joystick/yoke controls the ailerons and elevetars to change a plane roll and pitch
And Doug has never seen the pistol grip shifter in early 70's MOPAR muscle cars.
I owned one and loved it. Way ahead of its time. Air suspension, adjustable ride height. Telescopic steering , and a boxer engine.
This was my first car. I love how unique it was. I love it when the turbo kicks in. I was so bumped when I wrecked it.
Some of these features made it into the original Ford Probe including the wraparound glass, pull to flash pop-up headlights, and the instrument pod that moved with the steering wheel! I had an 89 Probe, and I loved its quirkiness!
Doug knows how to keep his viewers coming back. He reviews whacky, lesser known cars, and then uses the term "pokier" to describe its surprising driving experience.
lol
Well done, Doug, as always.
I've been waiting a long time for this car review because I own it still
Doug DeMuro needs to do a review of the 1972 Brubaker Box Minivan with all its quirks and features🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
And just for good measure, he also needs to do a review of these other vehicles:
1967 Australian Chrysler Valiant Wayfarer Utility (Ute for Short) pickup truck
1968 Mercedes Benz 230 S Universal Station Wagon
1969 Acadian Beaumont Sport Deluxe 396 (GM Canada's version of the 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport 396)
1972 Australian Chrysler Valiant Charger E38/E49
Always wanted you to do a video of this car. I remember seeing one back in early 90's and I was absolutely fascinated by it.
You read my mind, Dougie! Was just looking for one of these. Buddy of mine had one in Germany during Desert Storm. Not super powerful, but taught and precise and FUN!
I’m surprised it took you so long to get one of these! It’s like the designers at Subaru took every part of the car and asked themselves, “How do I make this weird?” Regardless, I had a friend in the 90s that had two of these things. A front wheel drive NA that he used in winter and a turbo AWD that he preserved for summer use. I remember being blown away at how weird they were back then, and it still holds up.
I had an XT6 all wheel drive. It was an awesome little car. Had adjustable suspension too. With a set of Blizzak tires, that thing was incredible in snow
My mother bought a 1985 Subaru wagon (FWD, automatic of course). They were not called the Loyale until the Legacy model came out a few years later. The hatchback (rare for this body style), sedan and wagon were just known by that as well as the trim level: DL, GL, and the GL-10. I remember fawning over the XT when it was new in the showroom. The closest I got to one was a Tamiya model - which I still have somewhere.
I predict this car will sell for more than $10K by a fair bit. If I had the room for it, I would be bidding. This is the epitome of a Gen X collectible.
WOW - Doug returns to his roots! My favorite type of videos!! That tilting cluster reminds me of my old Ford Probe. Well I mean old now - I had it when it was a couple years old - a check-all-boxes 1989 Probe LX. All options, including removable sunroof and digital dash that tilted like this. Today it was still one of my favs I've owned.
Hope Doug gets to review one before those are all extinct.
Wasn’t the ford probe really a redesigned the Mazda Mx-6? I used to have a 1993 Mazda Mx-6 2.5 Liter V6
@@Big.W. yes. Itwas gonna replace the Mustang but Ford got word that would have been a huge nail in the coffin. The Probe platform was a 626/MX6.
Mine was a white check-all-options LX with Mazda RX7 15" BBS mesh wheels.
@Big.W. the second generation Probe was a MX 6 badged as a Ford. The first generation had a Mazda 2.2 motor found in the 626 and may have been sisters with the 2 door 626 before the second generation.
I’ve always wondered what this very unique car was really like, especially as they were quite a rare sight (even during mid-80s). Much odder than I expected. Thanks for the video.
Great review! Brought back some fun memories. I had one of these as a kid in high school and it was very fun and quirky. Enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
One quirk not mentioned that I saw in another video is that this car's transmission also has a hill assist, decades ahead of its time. Most even new cars sold in Europe today with a standard transmission don't have that!
subaru intruduced the hill holder in 1972
The quirkiest thing is that it took this long for Doug to review the XT. My favorite Subaru ever; like if Japan made a Citroën. FYI a plane’s joystick controls elevons and ailerons while the rudder is controlled by the foot pedals
*Elevator
Still love watching these reviews! Thanks to Doug!
This is such a frickin cool car. The styling, those hubcaps, the gear lever, the gauge cluster.
Yes everything just fits so well. Love the style
Totally agreed. He is the only person I’ve ever seen to just call everything weird and strange. My friend had one of these and it was absolutely incredible.
My Mom had the non-turbo version of this. She had an '85 GL Wagon for only about a year when she saw this in the showroom when she had her car serviced and ended up leaving the wagon there and drove home in this. As an 80's tech nerd kid I was ecstatic - easily the coolest car ever. It was so different than anything else on the road. For the first year or two we'd always have people coming up to us asking questions about it.
Yay! Love more normal/quirky cars reviews versus expensive ones
Oh yes! I have always LOVED the XT - the quirkiets quirkmobile out there! The closest thing to be a Citroën, without actually being one. Great to get a review on it, but now I want one even more. Did not expect it to be fun to drive beyond the avalanche of quirks. Was dreaming of owning one 30 years ago, when I had my drivers license, but they where out of reach then and now they are all but gone...
I bot want an xt turbo and a Citroen BX Van, which was a special edition in my country for tax dodging, sporting a fiberglass roof box made by a canoe company.
Yet somehow for him the Fiero was ranked higher even though compared to this Subaru XT the Fiero was a mid-engine coupe of 2 seater only pile of junk..
Tis XT should be above the Fiero just for the fact it has so many cool option : 2+2, selectable AWD, raised suspension, jet-dash cluster, and powerful motor for its era..
Subaru XT was ready for Rally cross, Fiero was just a cheap unreliable show-off city junker..
On one fairly recent car Citroen put loads of controls in the centre of the steering wheel yet they stay still when you turn the wheel !
These were totally cool in their day! Rare to see even back then and I always loved seeing one when out spotting.
I though most of them got scraped in 2010
@@Ambrose4k They sure didn't last long in the wild.
@@MrDDawson i got one still, seems like a skill issue
@@Ambrose4k You are my hero! Too cool, yes.
@@MrDDawson its na fwd drive tho
How the heck did you not mention the windshield wiper? 😆
And another fun fact is you can’t drown out the speed alarm by cranking up the radio because the radio turns off and on while the alarm is going off!
Modern Subarus will mute the radio if the anticollision stuff is going off. It's annoying because the collision warning can be triggered while the adaptive cruise control is slowing down at the proper rate. The car freaks out at itself.
I love how adorable this car is. I totally imagine buying this if I was alive in the 80s. We need more quirky cars nowadays.
One of my favorite cars of all time. I was a bit disappointed that you did not cut to the different areas of the car as you talked about it. And it sound like a fabulous interior, but only a couple minor shots of it. Please add some interior shots, shots from the back seat, pan shots of the engine bay, etc., with voice overs. That will bring your production value sky high. Thanks.
Damn, I worked at Subaru, built Outbacks for years, and thought I knew about all the Subis made... and yet here I am learning more from Daddy Doug.
I took my xt to a subaru dealership and spent 400$ and then didn't even fix it
My neighbor owned one of these when I was a kid. At that time I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
When I was about 10 years old my parents were at a used car dealership buying a car (Ugh. A Ford Tempo, if I recall) and they had an XT6 on the lot. I instantly fell in love with it. I swear to God that car was my first true love. Of course, in the early 90s nobody wanted this thing and the sales guy knew he could get way more money for that Tempo and said "Oh this thing's junk it's probably just going to be scrapped anyway..."
That was my first Brave Little Toaster moment and I remember the trauma to this day. I hope that car is still out there somewhere making someone as happy as it would've made 10 year-old me.
Ah the Brave Little Toaster.
To this day I'm still overly cautious when vacuuming, so I don't suck up the power cord. That movie traumatized me too....
I owned an '88 XT 6, loved the car, and tried to find another recently. Almost impossible to find, miss that car as it was always cool to show off the interior and the many quirks. I remember mine having one large front wiper blade and the washer spray for the headlights.
I love this thing and I want one! I would modify/modernize some things -- but it is just so cool! I even love the gauge cluster. Looks honestly more modern than almost every car that arrived for the next 30 years. Super interesting with a lot of neat, forward-thinking features 🤩
I had a 1988 XT6.....2WD drive....for 10 years! Was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned. So weird. Definitely an attraction at a cars and coffee or even just parking it downtown. Not many were around in Western Canada.
Me too, auto trans, shifted at too high an rpm i think the shift points were for the four cylinder,,, but still went like a mini fighter jet, blew a lot of cars right off the road. loved it, Aldergrove, late '90's....sold it and always regretted it...
I love how cool it looks. I wish they still made them like this.
I had an acquaintance with an XT6. Very cool car. At the time I was a teen and had a 93 Dodge Daytona ES with a V6. Very evenly matched against the XT6, we did drag race a few times(both manual transmissions). I wish Doug would review a 90s Dodge Daytona sometime - maybe one of the late model IROCs.
Oh the daytonas are really cool too!
Really enjoy Doug and Kennan's reviews. They're the absolute best and should be the only two doing them.
I’m happy Doug found one to review. So much ahead of it’s time innovation here, very 80’s. Imagine this with a modern boxer motor…
About 20 years ago we had to remove one of these for my aunts property and we rolled it off a cliff, dead serious. It had a big wing on it and was the four-wheel-drive turbo, if we would’ve known someday, it would be valuable lol
I bought one that was a museum piece, bought on its release amd immediately displayed in a museum in brimingham.
It was purchased alongside a ahort wheel base quattro amd had a sister personalised plate to that .
When i bought it for 200 quid.
The quattro that was bought at the same time in the 80s changed hands for 100k.
This was early 2000s.
If i had the soace id have kept it but it was so rotten and all the airbags were done for.
And here I was, thinking that the SVX was the weirdest Subaru ever made. But I was totally wrong. The XT is weird, but it's awesome.
I just love these quirky and weird cars, especially when they are from Japan.
SVX be worth 4x more
Absolutely!
I will always look forward to the quirky cars no matter what it is
The strange position of the ignition key is because this car was never designed to have the steering wheel on the left of the vehicle. The quirkiest feature of this car was the 4wd engaging when the windscreen wipers were on.
I love it! Clearly inspired by Citroen (in a good sense).
I once saw one, here in Athens, Greece, and I was like "What is THIS?". The owner came by and he told me "There are only two of them in Greece - and I own them both!"
😂 nice
Doug the type of guy to eat Blue M&Ms while driving blue Subaru to get “Full Experience” mode.
Mid 80s Subarus were crazy…I’d still love an SVX…
That gauge screen is incredible.
Like an early 80s video game or a Tomy Racing Turbo 🙂
I saw this car overtake me a year ago. I still remember looking up the plates and being stunned that it is a Subaru. I like the right angles, it reminds me of a prettier 1st gen MR2
They are fast, my sister and her boyfriend both had one and he would race down the highway blasting music. I didn't drive then and was a passenger but always wanted one of these cars. They still don't look dated to me and I still want one
My mother bought an XT Turbo in 1986 and me, her 15 year old son, LOVED IT!! Great car, great interior, lots of fun…..loved it!
One of my dream cars! It just _oozes_ 80s retrowave, and that is exactly my jam!
The Subaru Flat-4 is the only engine in my history to ever break a *camshaft* just from normal driving. I never raced it or modded it, just drove it daily. Went on a trip driving the then speed limit of 65mph and a few miles into the trip - BAM! Lost all power. Find out one of the camshafts twisted off. Not a crankshaft, the camshaft. The mechanics all said they had NEVER seen that before in any car. Never trusted Subaru's after that.
That's literally 1 in a million lol has nothing to do with it being a boxer.
At least the later versions of this engine were quite reliable. In the Northeast US Subarus often die due to rust before there’s a drivetrain problem.
subaru boxer engines are still falling apart even with the new brz
Twice the heads is twice the failure points. But I've never actually heard of that happening before. So who's confirmation bias is right?
@@Lemingtona-x5g the engines arent falling apart by themselves though, its the rtv they used thats clogging oil pumps
I would love to see Doug do a run down on a Subaru SVX. My friend had one back in the early 2000s. It was unique.
Yeah! With those stupid 1/4 windows!
Didn't he already do that?
@@stalincat2457 Yes he did! I missed that episode so I had no idea. I should have searched for it instead of looking dumb. But yes I did watch it last week. My friend had one, it was a cool car at the time. Had the rear wheel steering.
@@brettconv83 I saw one half a year ago in Belgium but it was in a horrible state (fieldfind). Also I already had a Subaru Libero (sort-of-Sambar) so my Quirky itch was scratched.
This is so awesome. 😎 It kind of looks like an elongated version of the ‘83 Nissan Pulsar I had back in the day: simultaneously one of the most fun to drive and biggest turd of a vehicle I ever owned.
in the late 90's a good friend of mine who lived down the street from me had one of these (XT turbo non 4wd), it had a custom paint job and is still one of my fav cars I've ever seen... I only got to drive it a few times but it was such a neat looking and strange car. It was the most aerodynamic car sold in the US at the time and it really had that super aerodynamic 80's look... I wanted to buy it when she sold it a few years after HS but that never happened :( haha
I have two of these, my mint 1987 5 speed, no: power steering, ac, passenger side mirror, power windows, moonroof, back seats, cup holders, turbo, fancy air suspension, rust, so nothing to go wrong, love it, also soon after I bought it I found an automatic with a non running engine as a parts car, I love my xt and am glad to see Doug giving it recognition, also I saw one in the background of a Donut episode were they disassemble a Honda k engine, just sitting there and no one commented on it
When I was younger, I saw a few for sale while car searching and not knowing much besides it looking weird, I wanted it.
After watching this, I want it more than ever.
It's almost as if this car were created and designed to, one day in the not so near future, be reviewed by the king of quirks and features. It's the final crescendo in the quirk category.
That steering wheel might make quirk of the year 😂
Together with the gear shift lever, for sure!
I remember a co worker having one of those, aside from having a couple of issues with the turbo. It ended up with around 250k miles on it.
I was looking to buy one of these back in the day. I wanted something 4WD because I was into snow skiing at the time. But then I discovered an AMC Eagle SX/4 hatchback for sale, and the rest is history. Probably a good decision, as my AMC was super reliable, unlike the only Subaru that I ended up owning (many years later), which was the quirky SVX.
I had one! I was just thinking the other day that Doug should find one and review it. This has made my day
Wow, the air suspension still works! The gauges still work! The miles are low! I'd buy this one. I've had 6 Subies and the Loyale mentioned early on. Heck of a car! Subies are great cars and the XT was a great design. Love this review!
I waiting till i get 10k$ so i can 6 speed swap my xt
If I lived in the US and had the money I would definitely bid on this
2 weeks ago, I was talking about the old XT my grade school principle owned and the time I got to ride in it. Was thinking to myself afterwards, I’m surprised Doug hasn’t reviewed one yet…..
The shift handle is called a pistol grip. Was in the Roadrunners and Cudas in the late 60s early 70s
I had wanted this car ever since I watched the first commercial for it back in the 80s, and finally got an AWD turbo that was virtually new in the mid-90s. Good car overall, fun to drive, but had numerous transmission issues and sold it after the 2nd replacement.
I've owned two, I didn't think they were weird cars at the time (in early to mid 1990's). I probably should have kept the XT-6, it was actually quite a good driving car.
Rode all over Oahu in one of these for a full year in 1990. One thing this model is missing is the rear window louvres...OF COURSE IT HAD LOUVRES! I spent so much time in the mean-spirited back seat and yeah, it is totally stress position torture.
Doug, please consider filming a short clip of each car your test driving from the outside so we can see what it looks like moving toward us, passing by and down the road. Would make your videos so much better buddy. But once again, great review.
Dang, looking at the buttons at the 6:45 mark made me nostalgic. I actually liked those style buttons found in most cars that day, Subaru had them at your fingertips though.
My parents had one of these. We lived in Alaska, where Subarus were everywhere, but this one was rare. They got rid of it when they had to replace the windshield wiper motor and it was going to cost almost $1000 to repair.
Japanese 80s small cars had a real fun factor to them, as they all had this go-kart like driving experience. They were all adequately powered, low-slung, lightweight, and simply a lot of fun to drive.
Doug missed my favorite quirk with this car.
When you raised and lowered the hydraulic suspension, the little avatar car in the digital gauge cluster also raised and lowered! Likewise, enabling 4WD made the wheels on that avatar fill in solid to let you know all 4 were powered.
Such a fun car, my dad had a white xt4 turbo awd when I was a tiny child. Seeing that thing shift was mesmerizing, with the digital dash especially. It was like the future was here, but then everything paused for a few decades to catch up.
We got them in Australia but ours had a water to air intercooler the one you had looked like it did not have one due to the left-hand drive conversion. Also, it was called the Vortex.
I saw this car, and I was instantly sold. The weird wheel, the great shape and colors, the future retro screens, sexy pop-up highbeams, back seats, interesting features, sunroof, but most of all, the almighty jewel cooler ac vent. This may be my dream car that will take the place of the DeLorean for me.