It's funny how we fell in love with a car in the 80s and to this day it was our favorite. Mine was an 82 280zx Turbo. Handled like a dream and was very easy to work on.
@@donmoore7785 Still have and drive my 280zx daily. I have loved Z cars for a majority of my life. And have owned them for over 20 years. And yes they are quite easy to work on. And eventually I am going triple Webers and getting rid of the ancient fuel injection. lol
I remember someone bringing in an xt turbo into the shop about 20 years ago. They complained that the hight adjustable suspension did not work. Interesting enough the graphic on the digital dash still worked. And parts were hard to get even then.
Yep, had a loaded ‘86 turbo. 4wd. One of the coolest, yet weirdest cars. I loved it! If you get a chance just sit in one and look all the oddness. The gauges moved up and down with the steering column adjust. There was a “speed alarm” that you activated on the dash with a key, it alternated a cut out the radio and squawk if you went over 55mph. Wildly annoying when used. The spare tire didn’t fit under the hood with the turbo so it was mounted diagonal and blocked off half the truck. The large manual moon roof popped open or came out entirely, no slide back feature. The digital dash would partially freeze in sub zero temps. Only parts of it would work so it would display things like -3 for your speed, and show just one of the middle bars of the gauges until it warmed up inside. And so many more weird things to mention! Man, I loved that car.
I absolutely love Subaru's quirky cars. I was the final owner of the very first production model SVX ever imported into the USA. I'm very sad to say that the car was totalled 10 years ago when a lady rear ended it while it was parked along a neighborhood street and pushed it on to the curb, destroying the rear axle and suspension.
Great video! Another fun fact is that the "XT" title has been used in Subaru's line to identify turbo models, as an homage to the original XT-Turbo. I have a 1992 SVX with only 14k miles on the clock, a real time capsule. I'm excited for the upcoming video!
I had a couple Mk1 MR-2s in the 90s...I just got my 34th car, and the MR-2 is by far the most fun car I've ever had. But I also had a couple XTs in the 90s, and they are by far my favorite car I've ever had. It's a damn shame they are so rare--I can't even remember the last time I saw one on the road. They would make killer resto-mods, dropping in a modern turbo Subaru motor and AWD drive train. They felt like sports cars to drive...they just didn't go very fast. Or last very long. Such peculiar, quirky, bizarre and interesting cars. I've been hoping for decades that Subaru would have a wild idea and bring back a modern version with all of its high tech and performance chops. But, aside from being a tiny little car company--they are like Nintendo, completely unconcerned with pleasing their rabid followers.
I had an '85 grey/silver one. Bought used in college. Hit that 4WD button, raise the suspension, you could toast Z71's in 6" of snow. Front wheel drive and rear end locked up. Loved that car. Sadly, when it worked. That air suspension what a bitch, and expensive to repair. And it rusted out. But I kinda miss it now.
My mom drove a gl-10 back in ’86 when I was twelve. Once while visiting another town, we drove into the local Subaru dealer and that was the first time I saw this exact car. The dealer was closed, the XT’s windows were open and the keys were in the ignition. I thought it was a sign but mon said nope. :)
Car dealer lot attendants were notorious for doing stuff like that back then. Today they lock the keys up as soon as they get the car where they want it
You should cover the Subaru GL-10 Turbo. I had one. Four doors, turbo, air suspension, cruise, power everything, AC. Such a nice car. A 1989 model. Too bad I didn't appreciate how rare it was and still is where I live. The transmission went and it ended up in a junkyard not too far from me, stripped of the turbo motor.
I owned an XT-6. One of about 250 that came into Canada for it's year. Some cool features on it I've not enjoyed or seen since. Air ride had a 10cm lift button. There was a big differential lock button where I could hit it with an elbow shifting the joystick. Would make car hop around corners downtown, but I lived rural...it was GREAT for deep, Canadian snow! Lock diffs, push snow until stuck, lift 10cm, back out, drop and push again. Bought used when it was 15 -ish years old with 250,000+lm on it Drove from Ontario to BC and back a couple times in it. Add 1/2 litre of oil every second fillup, or few days. Kinda drippy/burny. It's the only Subaru I've owned, and had a neat feature. When both clutch and brake were depressed together you could take foot off brake pedal,. Lifting the clutch actually released the brakes.
I actually got to drive this car in college. My friend and roommate owned a Subaru XT and he taught me how to drive a stick shift in that car. It was a little quirky as described but he loved it - and it was actually fun to drive. Subaru never really had a sports car that did well in the marketplace until a few years ago, when the BRZ came out and reset people's thoughts on a good handling sports car (also known now as the Toyota 86 as they make it for them as Toyota just provided the 6 speed automatic unit for the car).
I had a brand-new black xt6 in 1988. The car was a blast to drive and way ahead of its time. I loved it. I remember cruising late one night on the New York State Thruway after 1 in the morning with the cruise control set at 117 miles an hour. I drove that way for well over an hour. Simply Amazing. I still miss that car.
Bought a new XT6 AWD automatic in 1988. My wife called it her spaceship. It was weird but fun to drive and very reliable. We got rid of it after 5 years, I really didn't want to own it long enough for all the complex and expensive oddball systems started to develop problems. I rarely see one on the road today, but when I do it still looks better to me than most of the new cars with grills the size of houses.
Another one of my old cars! Man you're really on fire here. I had an XT turbo 4WD and although it was a cool car, the air suspension blew out on me multiple times. It cost $300 per wheel and that was for used parts. I was a broke college kid and I couldn't afford to keep it on the road. It had the digital dash, and whenever the air suspension failed, the little car would bounce up and down incessantly. And because I couldn't afford to fix it right away, that car bounced more than a low rider. I wished I would've got the regular one, it would have been slower but it wouldn't have failed so often.
Got one of these with 56K in 2013. It was a work car. Driving home one Day and a Pickup tried to pass another car coming my way and totaled it... no injuries
I bought an XT in 1987, the first new car I bought from a dealership. Nearly every detail about the car was different from normal and I loved it for that. Once I got used to the scattered control layout it was actually fairly intuitive for me to use; for instance, those pods allowed me to operate functions without taking my hands off the steering wheel. I'm NOT a fan of pop-up headlights, however. Commuting from Nashua, NH to Boston, MA every day gave me a lot of time with it and while she wasn't quick off the line, she was happy and stable on the interstates. Cruising @ 90 mph seemed to be the sweet spot for the car's handling. I guess the aerodynamics worked well there. In fact, I had a coworker whose first comment when he saw it was that I'd have no problem with wind resistance. For me it was the nearly perfect sports coupe at that time.
A friend's mum - hairdresser - had one and it was cool. The rear greenhouse was particularly striking in the era. In white it had very sharp looks. Most Subarus in the UK at the time were the Forester estate cars with 4WD. The XT6 was from the future rather than a feature packed Japanese car. Turbo was also cool at the time. In the Cotswolds the 4WD had great utility and the engine size was actually okay for British roads.
My grandfather had one. It was like a jet on the inside. Very weird, but it drove well. The suspension was dead, but he made a way he could pump it back up himself. The 4wd was great.
When I was 17 in the late 90's, I got a 1988 Subaru 4WD DL Wagon. Practically everyone I knew in Blue Hill Maine, had either a DL, GL or Loyale. I would love to see you do a video on these cool 4WD cars.
I’m a new subscriber and fan. I have been a huge Doug DeMuro fan for years and I’m very pleased to have found your channel. Very informative and entertaining. Thank you, sir!
I could be wrong about this, but the steering wheel looked like the early 90s, mid 2000s Forester logo, if you squint your eyes, tilt your head, AND BLUDGEON YOURSELF WITH A HAMMER.
My 2000 Subaru Forester I recently got rid of had similar airplane-type graphics! It was an optional gauge package above the radio in the center. It showed a compass and a car outline as well as dashed lines that would move more rapidly along the sides of the car at higher speeds and would be stationary when stopped.
Thank you for this video. I also have to thank you I saw my comment in the opening of your video. These were and are truly unique cars, I loved the two I owned and would like to have another one again.
While I never owned an XT I did own an '89 RX. It was basically the same EA82T drivetrain wrapped in a 3-door Leone body with factory ground effect package. It had permanent 4WD with a diff control and high/low gearing and 115hp flat-4 turbo engine. Rare beast that one, only 2600 made of both sedan and hatchback. The car was quite awesome in the snow and fairly frugal but of course rusted quickly in New England and was still quite weak. I did like it but the drivetrain was quite fragile as well requiring lots of repairs. After driving it for 1 year and about 8500 miles I dumped it right after investing $600 worth of work to keep it going. For a college student on a budget it wasn't a good option. Nowadays, I own a WRX as well as something with an aircooled rear mounted flat-6. ;) And if I see a good clean XT-6 offered up for sale I might have a very hard time to say no to it.
6:23 1) This scene from BIG was when I first became intrigued with the XT. 2) This street in BIG coincidentally is right up the hill from me in Cliffside Park, NJ 😉
Thanks for making this video, and well done! I do miss my 1988 XT-6, but I doubt I could even fit into it anymore. I had to sell mine after only a couple of years because my family was growing. It was an awful lot of fun while I had it though. With the hammer down, mine didn't even shift into 4th gear until I was doing 115 mph, and at 125 the car was still pulling like a train and handling like it was on rails. (do not try at home, kids - I was young and stupid then, and lucky I didn't hurt anyone)
I really like that you can give your opinion of the car now, and sense you were around when a lot of them came out you also give an opinion on how your opinion has changed
This channel is a great start up. Have enjoyed all the videos so far, especially this one since back on the late 80s I had a college roommate that had one and this brought back a flood of memories about that weird ass car. If I remember correctly he had that crazy video game instrument cluster. It seemed plenty fast to me back then. Had completely forgotten about this vehicle until I saw this. Thanks for picking this car for the vid!
lol I had a black 1989 XT6 but it was only front wheel drive. The interior styling definitely felt like an aircraft but was so hot, in the summer, that it melted my cassettes. The sunroof also leaked into the headliner so if you braked to hard the water would splash onto your head. Aside from those monumental gripes, it was great and I wish I still owned it
I had an 88 XT turbo. Loved it. Sus never worked but whatev... CPU went out and $900 everywhere but found one in EBay for $50! Actually worked! Haha. Now up here in AK junkers go for 4gs... Sold mine for what I got it for when the writing was on the wall.
I don't ever recall seeing a Daewoo in person where I live (Connecticut) but I do find it interesting that some Daewoos were actually sold in North America new (considering that I always thought they never had a presence here, Daewoo is not a really well known brand in the States)
Haha, cool seeing this. 👍👍 My parents bought (I believe a 1988) black new XT6. Such a cool car. Cool looks and typical 80s techno spaceship cockpit interior. Surprisingly though, not spectacularly sporty handling or performance when I took it out occasionally for a flogging on our local mountain roads as a kid. That 6 cyl was a gas guzzler and a relative dog. But for a Subaru at the time, it was very cool. We were a mountain Subaru family and to have something cool from Subaru other than our constant homely and boring GL's was nice as a kid. Subaru techs hated em. Ours had the usual electronic suspension woes that could never be fixed by Subaru Also began to have an intermittent stalling issue that also could never be fixed by Subaru. Parents fed up got rid of it cheap.
I had a red 86 XT 4wd Turbo, with the air suspension for a year or so. It was neat little car but parts were expensive and this was 91-92. The air shocks were leaky and in the mornings it was a radio flyer
Funny thing. A friend of mine had a maroon '87 XT with an automatic transmission. I believe it was the 1.8 litre. So after a few years it broke down and he sold it to a former roommate of mine. Then my dad picked up the car, when that person owed him money. Then my dad rebuilt the engine and fixed up the interior. And ironically sold it back to my friend. lol And of course he moved out of state years ago. It makes me wonder if he still has the car today. Sadly I can't find him, after trying to locate his whereabouts. He moved to Oklahoma from Arizona back in 2006.
I still miss my Subaru GL wagon. It was only front wheel drive. I took out the back seat and welded the back doors shut. I was gonna chop the top, but I never got around to it
Love this channel! Great work! I've owned or salivated over most of these cars you've reviewed lol. My first car was a brand new Dodge Lancer ES which I got as a junior in HS (if I knew about the Daytona at the time I woulda probably got it instead) but we did end up buying a used Laser for a minute around 89 (which we didn't keep long- lemon). Drove the Lancer for nearly 10 years and traded it in in 1994 for a used 93 Geo Storm GSI. Between current and 93 I've also picked up a 91 Dodge Daytona, 91 Chrysler Conquest (which I kept it!), 98 Chrysler Sebring Coupe LXI. Lol I guess I had a fascination for Chrysler/dodge cars and didn't even realize it!
A co-worker of mine back in the 90's bought an XT6. When I saw it, I asked him "Hey, does this thing fold up into a briefcase like George Jetson's car?" Sadly, it did not. Haha. Interesting car, if a little on the weird side...but totally something Subaru would do. That same co-worker almost bought an SVX a few years later....I talked him out of it. LOL
Great coverage of this vintage vehicle. Always looked a bit odd to me, but now I want one! I like the quirky digital display. Off topic, but I bought a Subaru Brat in '83 - fun little car but it went through tires like water. I saw a later one on the road a week ago - 1st sighting for me in many years.
There was a teacher on my block as a kid who had this car. Her kids were my friends. I always thought it was strange to own such a small car because the family was a bit larger.
My mom had the base model when I was born. She had it until I was in 2nd grade when she figured out that carpooling with no rear seat or seatbelt isn't exactly safe. She traded it in for a Ford Windstar.
My first car was a Subaru Vortex XT Turbo (Australian version of the XT). Was bright blue. I bought it for $1000 and sold it for about the same. Miss it so dearly to this day (when $1000 means a lot less to me now than it did then). They are literally impossible to find now. :(
I had an 89 xt, to this day one of the coolest cars I 've owned along with my 1986 Starion.
Starion was a beast for the time
1986 Starion I have one before in 1990, but unlucky I crack in 1991.
It's funny how we fell in love with a car in the 80s and to this day it was our favorite. Mine was an 82 280zx Turbo. Handled like a dream and was very easy to work on.
@@donmoore7785 Still have and drive my 280zx daily. I have loved Z cars for a majority of my life. And have owned them for over 20 years. And yes they are quite easy to work on. And eventually I am going triple Webers and getting rid of the ancient fuel injection. lol
I had an 89 XT-6. I loved that car too bad I was in western PA and the body didn't last.
5:29 You know John Davis from Motorweek loves his gauges!
I loved the digital dash in my GL-10 Turbo. John Davis is something else.
I only remember seeing one XT6 when they were current. It really stood out. I thought it was beautiful!
I remember someone bringing in an xt turbo into the shop about 20 years ago. They complained that the hight adjustable suspension did not work. Interesting enough the graphic on the digital dash still worked. And parts were hard to get even then.
My XTs turbo graphics still work to this day being made by Atari they are surprisingly durable
Yep, had a loaded ‘86 turbo. 4wd. One of the coolest, yet weirdest cars. I loved it!
If you get a chance just sit in one and look all the oddness.
The gauges moved up and down with the steering column adjust.
There was a “speed alarm” that you activated on the dash with a key, it alternated a cut out the radio and squawk if you went over 55mph. Wildly annoying when used. The spare tire didn’t fit under the hood with the turbo so it was mounted diagonal and blocked off half the truck. The large manual moon roof popped open or came out entirely, no slide back feature. The digital dash would partially freeze in sub zero temps. Only parts of it would work so it would display things like -3 for your speed, and show just one of the middle bars of the gauges until it warmed up inside.
And so many more weird things to mention! Man, I loved that car.
I've always remembered the last line of that commercial: "But Daadh, I diidh"
All I could think of was "Nobody talks that way"
I absolutely love Subaru's quirky cars. I was the final owner of the very first production model SVX ever imported into the USA. I'm very sad to say that the car was totalled 10 years ago when a lady rear ended it while it was parked along a neighborhood street and pushed it on to the curb, destroying the rear axle and suspension.
THIS is the one I was hoping you’d do! I LOVED my XT Turbo! Coolest cockpit design ever. I had the digital dash
Me too
My buddy lowered his in high school when doing that with subwoofers was a new thing. It looked pretty sweet. Was like '89 or '90
@@toupac3195 wow even than they were doing that I was just born 😆 🤣 😂
Great video! Another fun fact is that the "XT" title has been used in Subaru's line to identify turbo models, as an homage to the original XT-Turbo.
I have a 1992 SVX with only 14k miles on the clock, a real time capsule. I'm excited for the upcoming video!
Very true...I once owned a 2005 Forester XT; commonly referred to as the FXT.
@@declansdad love a fozzy
True. Makes searching for a XT online THAT much more difficult 😣
Nah. Xt does not signify turbo models. Many Xt's run engines without turbos.
@@cjackfly name one? I can't speak for international but in the USA every model with the XT badge except the original xt6 coupe has been turbo.
The Subaru xt looks like a front engine mr-2, wait, that would be a good my new car episode. Love the vids man!
Not only front engine, the Subaru XT also had front wheel drive (besides AWD) - while the MR-2 had rear wheel drive
Both are copies of the bertone X 1/9 in overall style I have an 87.
I had a couple Mk1 MR-2s in the 90s...I just got my 34th car, and the MR-2 is by far the most fun car I've ever had.
But I also had a couple XTs in the 90s, and they are by far my favorite car I've ever had. It's a damn shame they are so rare--I can't even remember the last time I saw one on the road. They would make killer resto-mods, dropping in a modern turbo Subaru motor and AWD drive train.
They felt like sports cars to drive...they just didn't go very fast. Or last very long.
Such peculiar, quirky, bizarre and interesting cars.
I've been hoping for decades that Subaru would have a wild idea and bring back a modern version with all of its high tech and performance chops. But, aside from being a tiny little car company--they are like Nintendo, completely unconcerned with pleasing their rabid followers.
Thanks for the videos I love them my dad had worked at a Subaru dealership since 1976 I’ve been till he retired in 2020
We had this in 1994. Burgundy. Manual. I had forgotten the model name and the internet was 0.00% helpful . Bravo!
Thanks for taking my suggestion! This was my first car!
You should do an episode on the Subaru Just. A sub compact on demand 4wd hatchback, that was Subarus answer to the Geo, sprint and fiesta/focus.
This is one of my dream cars (believe it or not)! I don't think I've seen one on the road in about 15 years.
I had an '85 grey/silver one. Bought used in college. Hit that 4WD button, raise the suspension, you could toast Z71's in 6" of snow. Front wheel drive and rear end locked up. Loved that car. Sadly, when it worked. That air suspension what a bitch, and expensive to repair. And it rusted out. But I kinda miss it now.
My mom drove a gl-10 back in ’86 when I was twelve. Once while visiting another town, we drove into the local Subaru dealer and that was the first time I saw this exact car.
The dealer was closed, the XT’s windows were open and the keys were in the ignition. I thought it was a sign but mon said nope. :)
Car dealer lot attendants were notorious for doing stuff like that back then. Today they lock the keys up as soon as they get the car where they want it
I'm not a fan of anything subaru really made/makes. I'm a mechanic. Yet, I love what you do and here I am.
You should cover the Subaru GL-10 Turbo. I had one. Four doors, turbo, air suspension, cruise, power everything, AC. Such a nice car. A 1989 model. Too bad I didn't appreciate how rare it was and still is where I live. The transmission went and it ended up in a junkyard not too far from me, stripped of the turbo motor.
As someone who has only owned American cars I drove a wrx back in 2006 and boy was it fun. What a bad ass car
My Dad owned the 4WD Turbo model .. I had to borrow it for just over a month.. when I was in between jobs and cars … I really enjoyed it …
I owned an XT-6. One of about 250 that came into Canada for it's year.
Some cool features on it I've not enjoyed or seen since. Air ride had a 10cm lift button. There was a big differential lock button where I could hit it with an elbow shifting the joystick. Would make car hop around corners downtown, but I lived rural...it was GREAT for deep, Canadian snow! Lock diffs, push snow until stuck, lift 10cm, back out, drop and push again.
Bought used when it was 15 -ish years old with 250,000+lm on it Drove from Ontario to BC and back a couple times in it. Add 1/2 litre of oil every second fillup, or few days. Kinda drippy/burny.
It's the only Subaru I've owned, and had a neat feature. When both clutch and brake were depressed together you could take foot off brake pedal,. Lifting the clutch actually released the brakes.
Isuzu Impulse!!!!!!!!!! I had the 1985 without the turbo. great car, well most the time.
God I love the over the top
80s styling on this one
I actually got to drive this car in college. My friend and roommate owned a Subaru XT and he taught me how to drive a stick shift in that car. It was a little quirky as described but he loved it - and it was actually fun to drive. Subaru never really had a sports car that did well in the marketplace until a few years ago, when the BRZ came out and reset people's thoughts on a good handling sports car (also known now as the Toyota 86 as they make it for them as Toyota just provided the 6 speed automatic unit for the car).
The Subaru svx is one of the coolest looking cars, especially in the two tone pearlescent white and black.
I had an 88 xt6 Loved it. Drove it to 200k and still got a couple thousand when I sold it. That drivers seat was something else
I loved the digital dash layout.
I had a brand-new black xt6 in 1988. The car was a blast to drive and way ahead of its time. I loved it. I remember cruising late one night on the New York State Thruway after 1 in the morning with the cruise control set at 117 miles an hour. I drove that way for well over an hour. Simply Amazing. I still miss that car.
Bought a new XT6 AWD automatic in 1988. My wife called it her spaceship. It was weird but fun to drive and very reliable. We got rid of it after 5 years, I really didn't want to own it long enough for all the complex and expensive oddball systems started to develop problems. I rarely see one on the road today, but when I do it still looks better to me than most of the new cars with grills the size of houses.
My aunt had one of these in the 80s, I loved that car. Still want one to this day.
Another one of my old cars! Man you're really on fire here. I had an XT turbo 4WD and although it was a cool car, the air suspension blew out on me multiple times. It cost $300 per wheel and that was for used parts. I was a broke college kid and I couldn't afford to keep it on the road. It had the digital dash, and whenever the air suspension failed, the little car would bounce up and down incessantly. And because I couldn't afford to fix it right away, that car bounced more than a low rider. I wished I would've got the regular one, it would have been slower but it wouldn't have failed so often.
Got one of these with 56K in 2013. It was a work car. Driving home one Day and a Pickup tried to pass another car coming my way and totaled it... no injuries
I bought an XT in 1987, the first new car I bought from a dealership. Nearly every detail about the car was different from normal and I loved it for that. Once I got used to the scattered control layout it was actually fairly intuitive for me to use; for instance, those pods allowed me to operate functions without taking my hands off the steering wheel. I'm NOT a fan of pop-up headlights, however. Commuting from Nashua, NH to Boston, MA every day gave me a lot of time with it and while she wasn't quick off the line, she was happy and stable on the interstates. Cruising @ 90 mph seemed to be the sweet spot for the car's handling. I guess the aerodynamics worked well there. In fact, I had a coworker whose first comment when he saw it was that I'd have no problem with wind resistance. For me it was the nearly perfect sports coupe at that time.
A friend's mum - hairdresser - had one and it was cool. The rear greenhouse was particularly striking in the era. In white it had very sharp looks. Most Subarus in the UK at the time were the Forester estate cars with 4WD. The XT6 was from the future rather than a feature packed Japanese car. Turbo was also cool at the time. In the Cotswolds the 4WD had great utility and the engine size was actually okay for British roads.
My grandfather had one. It was like a jet on the inside. Very weird, but it drove well. The suspension was dead, but he made a way he could pump it back up himself. The 4wd was great.
Thanks for the memories. I worked for a Subaru dealer back then.
When I was 17 in the late 90's, I got a 1988 Subaru 4WD DL Wagon. Practically everyone I knew in Blue Hill Maine, had either a DL, GL or Loyale. I would love to see you do a video on these cool 4WD cars.
My first car was an 88 XT. God that was such a GREAT car. Bear in the snow and a blast to tool around in.
Owned an ‘85 xt turbo and have an ‘88 xt6. Understanding their limitations, loved them much.
I’m a new subscriber and fan. I have been a huge Doug DeMuro fan for years and I’m very pleased to have found your channel. Very informative and entertaining. Thank you, sir!
I could be wrong about this, but the steering wheel looked like the early 90s, mid 2000s Forester logo, if you squint your eyes, tilt your head, AND BLUDGEON YOURSELF WITH A HAMMER.
My 2000 Subaru Forester I recently got rid of had similar airplane-type graphics! It was an optional gauge package above the radio in the center. It showed a compass and a car outline as well as dashed lines that would move more rapidly along the sides of the car at higher speeds and would be stationary when stopped.
Thank you for this video. I also have to thank you I saw my comment in the opening of your video. These were and are truly unique cars, I loved the two I owned and would like to have another one again.
While I never owned an XT I did own an '89 RX. It was basically the same EA82T drivetrain wrapped in a 3-door Leone body with factory ground effect package. It had permanent 4WD with a diff control and high/low gearing and 115hp flat-4 turbo engine. Rare beast that one, only 2600 made of both sedan and hatchback. The car was quite awesome in the snow and fairly frugal but of course rusted quickly in New England and was still quite weak. I did like it but the drivetrain was quite fragile as well requiring lots of repairs. After driving it for 1 year and about 8500 miles I dumped it right after investing $600 worth of work to keep it going. For a college student on a budget it wasn't a good option.
Nowadays, I own a WRX as well as something with an aircooled rear mounted flat-6. ;) And if I see a good clean XT-6 offered up for sale I might have a very hard time to say no to it.
6:23 1) This scene from BIG was when I first became intrigued with the XT. 2) This street in BIG coincidentally is right up the hill from me in Cliffside Park, NJ 😉
Thanks for making this video, and well done!
I do miss my 1988 XT-6, but I doubt I could even fit into it anymore. I had to sell mine after only a couple of years because my family was growing. It was an awful lot of fun while I had it though. With the hammer down, mine didn't even shift into 4th gear until I was doing 115 mph, and at 125 the car was still pulling like a train and handling like it was on rails. (do not try at home, kids - I was young and stupid then, and lucky I didn't hurt anyone)
Subaru XT & XT6 have a club in Japan, the founder works hard to arrange & sharing all update news & parts.
Do you have his contact information as I am trying to restore an XT six right now.
@@gr4608 I check for you, need time to check the old information.
@@gr4608 Send me an email, will send you to attach files
My wife purchased a brand new xt top of the line back then, the car was amazing!
I really like that you can give your opinion of the car now, and sense you were around when a lot of them came out you also give an opinion on how your opinion has changed
This channel is a great start up. Have enjoyed all the videos so far, especially this one since back on the late 80s I had a college roommate that had one and this brought back a flood of memories about that weird ass car. If I remember correctly he had that crazy video game instrument cluster. It seemed plenty fast to me back then. Had completely forgotten about this vehicle until I saw this. Thanks for picking this car for the vid!
The interior is amazing! Is there anything more 80's!!
I remember a teacher at my highschool had a
Fiat x 19 that always reminded me of the
Subaru XT
Good lord! Talk about a busy interior. Unreal.
I feel like Doug DeMuro would get a kick out of reviewing one of these
It needs to happen
@@JohnSmith-ef8nr #makeitso
He would blame it for not having Apple CarPlay and 500 horsepower coming from a 4 cylinder.
I want to see Doug climb in the back of the XT!
That was the best part of "Big" for me!
Great video. Our football coach had one back in the day. We lived in a small town so seeing subaru was rare but XT was like a ufo 🤣
lol I had a black 1989 XT6 but it was only front wheel drive. The interior styling definitely felt like an aircraft but was so hot, in the summer, that it melted my cassettes. The sunroof also leaked into the headliner so if you braked to hard the water would splash onto your head. Aside from those monumental gripes, it was great and I wish I still owned it
I worked at a carwash back in the early 90s and I actually saw an SVX in person,thought it was odd but cool!👍
I had an 88 XT turbo. Loved it. Sus never worked but whatev... CPU went out and $900 everywhere but found one in EBay for $50! Actually worked! Haha. Now up here in AK junkers go for 4gs... Sold mine for what I got it for when the writing was on the wall.
How about the Dodge and Plymouth Colt?
"All the Japanese you need to know"
Love my red 1985 to me,still a jewel.
I bought one of these new. It was way ahead of it's time.
Do a video about the daewoo car brand
I was about to say that
My dad used to own one
I don't ever recall seeing a Daewoo in person where I live (Connecticut) but I do find it interesting that some Daewoos were actually sold in North America new (considering that I always thought they never had a presence here, Daewoo is not a really well known brand in the States)
MAD TV vibes...
Please do a video on the XT6 competitor from the 80s, the Isuzu Impulse Turbo and Mazda 323 GTX turbo 4WD.
I know I’m late, but it is hilarious that the “arcade” gauges are exactly what are in cars now. I personally loved this car.
0:35-I do remember this commercial
I had a Plymouth Sundance, it was built like a tank an got great mileage, I loved that car!
I'd love to see the VW fox, quantum or scirocco
I had a 1988 XT6 4WD 5-speed for a couple of years. Fun car. It got replaced with a 1993 Camaro Z28.
Haha, cool seeing this. 👍👍
My parents bought (I believe a 1988) black new XT6. Such a cool car. Cool looks and typical 80s techno spaceship cockpit interior. Surprisingly though, not spectacularly sporty handling or performance when I took it out occasionally for a flogging on our local mountain roads as a kid. That 6 cyl was a gas guzzler and a relative dog. But for a Subaru at the time, it was very cool. We were a mountain Subaru family and to have something cool from Subaru other than our constant homely and boring GL's was nice as a kid. Subaru techs hated em. Ours had the usual electronic suspension woes that could never be fixed by Subaru Also began to have an intermittent stalling issue that also could never be fixed by Subaru. Parents fed up got rid of it cheap.
I had a red 86 XT 4wd Turbo, with the air suspension for a year or so. It was neat little car but parts were expensive and this was 91-92. The air shocks were leaky and in the mornings it was a radio flyer
A great car in its time. I remember a guy who had one. Gosh, I loved it. Wish I had one today.
Funny thing. A friend of mine had a maroon '87 XT with an automatic transmission. I believe it was the 1.8 litre. So after a few years it broke down and he sold it to a former roommate of mine. Then my dad picked up the car, when that person owed him money. Then my dad rebuilt the engine and fixed up the interior. And ironically sold it back to my friend. lol And of course he moved out of state years ago. It makes me wonder if he still has the car today. Sadly I can't find him, after trying to locate his whereabouts. He moved to Oklahoma from Arizona back in 2006.
I still miss my Subaru GL wagon. It was only front wheel drive. I took out the back seat and welded the back doors shut. I was gonna chop the top, but I never got around to it
Out of all the cars featured on this channel this is one of the few I've never seen in real life.
Love this channel! Great work! I've owned or salivated over most of these cars you've reviewed lol. My first car was a brand new Dodge Lancer ES which I got as a junior in HS (if I knew about the Daytona at the time I woulda probably got it instead) but we did end up buying a used Laser for a minute around 89 (which we didn't keep long- lemon). Drove the Lancer for nearly 10 years and traded it in in 1994 for a used 93 Geo Storm GSI. Between current and 93 I've also picked up a 91 Dodge Daytona, 91 Chrysler Conquest (which I kept it!), 98 Chrysler Sebring Coupe LXI. Lol I guess I had a fascination for Chrysler/dodge cars and didn't even realize it!
A co-worker of mine back in the 90's bought an XT6. When I saw it, I asked him "Hey, does this thing fold up into a briefcase like George Jetson's car?" Sadly, it did not. Haha.
Interesting car, if a little on the weird side...but totally something Subaru would do. That same co-worker almost bought an SVX a few years later....I talked him out of it. LOL
My first car was a 1994 Ford Tempo and my dad drove an '84 Tempo for a long time. Would love to see a video on those. 🙂
me too they came and went so fast
man! It's like I'm living in the future!
My childhood next door neighbor bought a brand new silver XT Turbo. Cool fast little car for the time.
Thanks, now I want one of these with the digital dash :-D
The fiero or mr2 would be great cars to do episodes on!
I love your channel. You pick cars and automobiles that history has seem to forgotten. 👏 Great Video
Great coverage of this vintage vehicle. Always looked a bit odd to me, but now I want one! I like the quirky digital display. Off topic, but I bought a Subaru Brat in '83 - fun little car but it went through tires like water. I saw a later one on the road a week ago - 1st sighting for me in many years.
I always liked the ‘83-‘89 Isuzu Impulse. I had a 280ZX and never even test drove one. I wish I had
do a video on the chevy s10 or gmc sonoma
I own two of these 1986 white turbo XT and a 1988 XT gl definitely amongst my favorite Japanese cars
Oddly, it reminds me of the cyber truck.
Thank you I had forgotten about this car
I loved these when they came out, as well as the SVX!
There was a teacher on my block as a kid who had this car. Her kids were my friends. I always thought it was strange to own such a small car because the family was a bit larger.
My mom had the base model when I was born. She had it until I was in 2nd grade when she figured out that carpooling with no rear seat or seatbelt isn't exactly safe. She traded it in for a Ford Windstar.
73 Mercury Capri? Loved that car and this video!
Great, yet another car I want to own. Thank you.
Wow i cant believe i never knew of this car i hope they bring it back
My next favorite car from Subaru. I always wanted and XT turbo.
But my first love is a SVX.
I had one it was blue, none turbo. I loved it. Also, you forgot to mention the spare tire on top of the egine
The XT didn't have them on top of the engine like it's gl10 Brothers, ours are in the trunk on a drop down mechanism.
My first car was a Subaru Vortex XT Turbo (Australian version of the XT). Was bright blue. I bought it for $1000 and sold it for about the same. Miss it so dearly to this day (when $1000 means a lot less to me now than it did then). They are literally impossible to find now. :(
My mom had one of these, it was a awesome car.
I’m glad the Subaru didn’t fail as a company as they make a good car well worth owning.