For many years, Subaru wasn’t really seen as a company that would make performance cars, sports cars, or coupes. Then in the 1980s, Subaru came out with something that perhaps deserves a lot more recognition than it has ever had in its life. This is the XT Coupe. The XT Coupe is a car that has become a bit of an icon in the 21st century, thanks to its unique, fighter-jet style cabin and its wedge-shaped looks that made it the first real Subaru sports car.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect. It was not the most powerful car in the world, and Subaru would build better vehicles in subsequent years. And it also seems to be a car that very few people actually remember. But it was significant in the history of the company and a car that deserves plenty of attention. In this list, we give you all the reasons why we think this very cool car does indeed deserve all that more attention and why it is a Subaru classic.
10 Its Interior Cab Design Was Cutting Edge
The cabin of the XT was cutting edge. This was one area in which Subaru really went all out on the car, even if it initially might have looked a bit weird to many people. The best thing is its telescoping steering wheel and control stalk. The wheel comes closer, but so can the wiper, heater, and other such switches and levers as well.
The fighter jet styling included such features as bucket seats, and the square and jutting lines inside added an air of cool to the car. The cabin is weird, yes, but it's also a work of art.
9 The Car Was Possibly Subaru’s Best Looking Ever
Styling-wise, it's quite possible this is Subaru’s best ever looking car. The extremely low drag coefficient (we will come to this later) came courtesy of the car's graceful lines, flush door handles, and some very attractive-looking angles.
The greenhouse styling might have looked a touch clunky at times, but for the most part, the XT is an incredibly attractive-looking machine.
8 Four-Wheel Drive Helped Add Plenty Of Grip
While the two-wheel-drive version was perhaps the main edition of the car, four-wheel-drive was very much an option for XT customers.
The great thing about the four-wheel-drive was that it could be activated on the fly by a button at the top of the shifter, initially on turbo models before four-wheel-drive became an option on non-turbo models too.
7 It Is A Cult Icon In The 21st Century
The Subaru XT had relatively slow sales when it was first built and put on sale, but it has since become almost a cult Subaru icon in the 21st century. The wedge-shaped styling is more often reserved for cars such as the Lotus Esprit and Lamborghini Countach, so to see it on a Subaru was something of a revelation to many.
Plus, inside and out, the car is one of very few to actually look like its concept, the Subaru ACX-II
6 The Unbelievable Drag Coefficient
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We touched upon it earlier, but the XT Coupe had an incredible drag coefficient. That drag coefficient was just 0.29, thanks to its pop-up headlights and flush door handles.
The XT's drag coefficient rivals nearly every modern sports car built at the moment. The trunk of the car sat a bit high, but that was all part of the design.
5 Subaru's First True Sports Car
The Subaru XT was certainly the first true attempt by Subaru to create a sports car. Specifically, Subaru aimed to create a lightweight sports car, and they certainly succeeded, with the car only weighing in at 2,612 lbs.
Again, this rivals virtually every car produced today, as no matter what genre, cars have got much larger and heavier in the 21st century.
4 Its Flat-Four Engine Was Also Aerodynamically Advantageous
The flat-four engine was a key component of the car's aerodynamic potential. The flat horizontally opposed cylinder layout was shared by all Subarus, but it helped to create the wedge shape that the XT Coupe had, which in turn led to the car's extremely low drag coefficient and aerodynamic bodywork.
A regular V-based engine simply wouldn’t have given Subaru the results it was looking for with the XT.
3 The Fantastic Six-Cylinder Option
While the flat-four was a good engine, Subaru had a surprise up its sleeve. Having gone from never doing a six-cylinder engine, Subaru then went ahead and did a six-cylinder engine for the XT Coupe. This was the ER27 flat-six, with a 2.7-liter displacement that made 145 hp with an impressive 156 ft-lbs of torque.
That flat-four that was the basis for this engine was the ER82, which made 97 hp.
2 The Genius Pneumatic Adjustable Suspension Option
Subaru offered a very clever suspension system on the XT Coupe when it came out in the form of the Pneumatic Adjustable Suspension Option. At the push of a button mounted near the steering wheel, the car could go into both a taller and lower ride height.
Amazingly, it could do this while on the move as well. This was something even Mercedes-Benz cars did not offer at the time. Sadly, thanks to customers not really understanding it, Subaru discontinued the option in 1991.
1 Paved The Way For The Subaru SVX
What also made the XT Coupe so good was the car it spawned. The Subaru SVX was the company’s next step and its first step towards modern sports cars. This was a car designed to take on the likes of the Supra and the GT-R.
The XT Coupe was the building block for the incredible SVX—a car that like the XT had four-wheel and front-wheel drive and incredibly classy and aerodynamic styling.