I love how Subaru just did everything they could to make sure that making yourself comfortable in the car is as close as possible to feeling like you're starting a rocketship
ikr f*ck this car is awesome, the 80's car always had cool mechanism like the doors of the deloreon the turn car seat on the japanese 1985 rex combi. have you seen the kenwood cassette player the tech way just 1980's scifi cool
DrewLSsix yea..but we are talking about affordable cars at that time...Japanese cars IMO will always be better than German because..u can pay 30,000 for a Benz but it doesn't come with nothing while a 30,000 Japanese car has everything
These XT6s were ultra cool what non-supercar was cutting right turns on city streets at 50 mph back in the 80s? Seriously I would love to get a bunch of fun 80s cars and restomod them
Pulling himself in by his hair was a nice touch. Somebody clearly let the comedian out of the basement. The car is totally weird inside and out, but I remember seeing them in the eighties and thinking they were very sci-fi looking things.
The most comfortable car I've ever owned. You may tout the controls, but I wouldn't have them any other way, having experienced them. It was an incredibly innovative design that I would love to see again.
+icemanroyal I LOVE crushed velour interiors and always have! I'll take one of those ANY DAY over leather! Leather is too-expensive vinyl that is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Give me cloth any day. My Impreza has a beautiful beige cloth interior.
Definitely a Robocop/ Total Recall era car. I love that car makers took great chances during these times. Today all cars look alike.... Keep the videos coming, I love them!
In the 80s a lot of cars looked the same too. Look up 86-89 accord the ae86 the 91 prelude the 89 integra the mitsubishi starion (my favorite of em all with wide body) and this subaru. Im sure im missing a few but you get the point. Each automaker had spies back then in eachothers factories or taking photos or videos hidden.
@@projectsixtars86 and i know accord prelude and integra are all honda just saying lots of cars looked a lot alike. Dont mind me im not trolling you, just want you to check out those cars so you can see how cool they all were too.
I was thinking og transformers series and androbot TOPO . back in 1999 nobody wanted these things! Or any 80s mobile for that they were so out of fashion
I miss mine...it was white too but it was awd with push button locking 4wd on the shifter and it would go thru anything...there's actually a switch under the dash that turns the wiper from summer to winter mode which just keeps the wiper raised a lil out of the cowl to help keep ice from freezing it up. Lil quirky touches like that made it so different and cool
i owned my XT6 since February 17th 2007 it is no doubt the best car i have ever owned, i will be lost with out it. today it grabs people attention, not to many are around these days.. all the more reason to love and keep my XT6 going.
My g/f of the past bought one of these brand new. This was the first car or truck I drove with AWD. I was amazed by its cat-like traction which gave excellent acceleration off the line. Even with snow and ice on Chicago's roads it pulled VERY well out of the hole. My g/f had unique tastes and this car fit her perfectly. Prior to that she had a 6 cylinder Peugeot 505. Like I said, unique taste. She ended up becoming a shrink. How fitting. :-D
@@wchomes106 yeah the regulations have caused the cars to look so much alike. However the performance of cars today is unparalleled. I will at least acknowledge it. It's kind of funny because I was just looking up 1985 Riviera convertible. Definitely some cool cars of the 80s. I like the 90s better
80s tech, gotta love it. It has an unmistakable Inspector Gadget aura about it. Petty though that the XT6 lacks the quirky digital dash.. A rare classic.
I had a white XT and a Pearl White XT6, both were fun cars. I likes the wing pods for the HVAC and wipers. I had the back spoiler on both and it made it look so much better. I had to replace the electric power steering pump on my XT6, but it was so easy and was right on the firewall above the power steering master cylinder. BTW, never had the problem getting in the back like the guy in this video did. I had my XT6 till 2004
The XT came out in 84 and the redesigned bumper and 6 cylinder came out later half of 87' for the 88' model year. The Prelude and Xt had the same bumper design the same year. I had both the XT and XT6
This video is absolutely perfect! Zero fluff. Straight facts. Good narration. Encompassed pretty much everything you'd wanna know about the car. Awesome!
Don't listen to the haters. These retro reviews are outstanding. I watch all of them. And I had the turbo version of this. It was an interesting car, but the air shocks kept blowing out. If I had the FWD version with normal suspension I would've had a much better opinion of the car.
PantomimeHorseMusic I test drove a AWD turbo version 10 years ago. The interior layout is stupid and very impractical. The exterior isn't that pretty either. It's a turbo but it is only as powerful and as quick as equivalent N/A model of a similar size. Plus the suspension had a little bit too much body roll for a sports car.
This was my very first car in ‘94 when I was 19 YO. My college basketball coach sold it to me for $1200. He told me I was going get in a lot of trouble in that car. He was right, 4 speeding tickets in the first year. Smh it was definitely a head turner. Definitely brings back memories.
2:55 this guy, after acting all serious at the controls, cartoonishly flinging himself into the backseat was the funniest thing I’ve seen on this channel by far! Hope he’s still doing well.
Had the 86 turbo XT. The interior looked like Knight Rider, with all the ridiculous digital gauges and the side mounted controls by the steering wheel. It served me well in the harsh NY winters. The air shocks blew out and I got rid of it.
Thanks for uploading! I've always admired these cars. Love the origami styling. And the why-not-do-it-this-way interiors. And the mono-wiper! The motorized seatbelts, not so much. For those who are outraged, angered, or confused by this car, I'm sure there is a Camcord or Civirolla just waiting for you on a dealer lot somewhere.
Bought a used 89’ in 94’. Man was it expensive to keep on the road. Dumped it when the exhaust went and they wanted $1500 to fix it. But boy was it a fun car. Recently picked up a BRZ and it has some of the charm of this car that brings back some great memories.
.... and the award for dramatic performance while climbing into a back seat goes to....😂😂😂 I think his name is Craig Singhaus. I remember watching these as a kid. Thanks for the memories.
I remember seeing these driving around when I was a little kid but what I most remember is when I was like 14 or 15 years old coming across one on a used car lot. I was scoping out potential cars to hit my parents up to buying for me for my upcoming birthday. I remember gasping at the steering wheel design. It was such a weird weird car. I wanted either a Nissan Pulsar NX or a Toyota Paseo unfortunately for the sixteen-year-old I got stuck with my mom's 89 Camry DX but after over 300,000 miles of all most trouble-free driving as I've aged I've only purchased Toyota Camrys. I currently drive a 2000 Camry with 399000 miles on the odometer and was just assured by my mechanic she had at least another 100,000 miles to go.
I lived across from a counciling center in the 80's. One of the workers had a blue one and had it for years. Always thought it was super weird looking. I want one!
I'm from the UK. When these were new Subaru did not have a dealer network in the UK so Subaru sold them at shopping malls & farmers markets. I saw one of these at a shopping mall but I've never seen one on the road in the UK.
I always wished Subaru would have put a turbo or two on one of their flat sixes hooked to a manual transmission with awd. Even this XT6 could have really been something with a pair of the little turbos from the previous flat four on this six. 250-300hp easy then a strong enough transfer case and 5 speed manual. Could have been a pour man's Porsche killer. People would have clamoured to get them to this day if they would have continuously updated and improved a drivetrain like that. With today's tech in a newer Impreza, Legacy and ever the BRZ...a 400-500hp twin turbo 3.6L flat six would be a monster and would be heralded for decades as a legendary must have car that the everyman could afford.
You can bet that I was surely singing along with "Margaritaville" at 2:24, & have ALWAYS laughed my ass off watching Craig Singhaus try & shoehorn himself into the back seat at 2:54!!!
Had one and loved it...until the oil pump failed. I didn't know it, and drove 'til the engine started ticking 'n clicking. Mechanic opened up engine and said all valves should be replaced (at $27 each!!!). Since 24 x 27 = $648 in 1998 ($1037 in 2019), he was asked if any corners could be cut. He reluctantly said that the left side of the Porsche-esque flat six can do without it, but not the right, so 12 valves were imported from Japan. Parts & labor totaled 900-something ($1425-ish here in 2020). Sold it to a brainless hispanic man after the repair, who didn't take the best care of it (he left a cantina drunk on tequila and got a DUI). After neglect it was probably junked, melted down, and is the chassis of a new Forester right now...? Sad. Thanks for the video. Brought back a lot of great memories! I agree with about 95% of Motorweek's assessment. They missed a few details (probably for time reasons) like a switch underneath the steering wheel, which prevented the wiper retratction motor from pulling in the wiper after you switched it off, for better aerodynamics / less visual obstruction. The stereo system sounded good (and I was an audio engineer). Both door handles were flush; your fingertips had to push in a horiontal 'lever' to allow you to pull out the handle. What else... The A/C had two settings: green & orange. One of them saved fuel or something? Also (unless I'm confusing w another car) no cheap LED; clock display/outdoor temp gauge had a VFD, like the Alesis XT, MG1214, Speak & Spell, Prius C.....soooo cool. Since I was all about efficiency at the time, the only complaint was the 27-ish MPG. The Honda CRX HF got like 51, the Justy similar, Metro XFi got 58 - and those were from the same era. At least it was faster than those economy cars. I'm kinda eccentric so a unique car like this suited me quite well. One chick got in the passenger seat at night, saw all the controls lit up, and said, "Am I in a spaceship!?"
I resurrected an xt6 10 years ago. non running and in a field. years of fun putting "honoria" back together and gave it to an aspiring teen. i am surprised this didn't talk about the air suspension.
9.8 seconds to 60 in a H6 coupe. Lol! That wouldn't work today. I would still love to have one of these. I love Subarus and this is one of the weirdest ones. It's amazing. If I ever see one that isn't rusted to hell, I'll pick it up.
I had one! Funniest car EVER! The pneumatic suspension...omg...cruising with the odometer pegged over 130 miles..(ok..i WAS young and undoubtedly stupid thinking I was invincible), nose to the ground; was like skating on glass. THEE smoothest, easiest car I ever drove then or since
In the 90s my friends parents had this car, we would jump the governor's Island bridge in Meredith NH. At around 60 mph the car would be airborne. WE WERE BO AND LUKE DUKE.
this baby would be great with a wrx engine,a rear wing,lowering and some styling...with modern tuning could have been an amazing machine...if one ever survived though...
Owned an XT Turbo. Total dog 1.8t, but very cool digital gauges and interior layout for an 87. It was a fun little car to throw around and fun in the snow.
had one when i was kid loved the car had lots of air ride problems kept falling had trouble finding parts loved the car great in the winter finely sold it because of many problems.
Yes, a lot of the controls are very “French”. The Japanese have always been the masters of flattery (copying) but making it better and more reliable than the original!
This car was actually pretty cool. My friend had one in high school. It was quick and great in winter. Issue was it was on the shop a lot but when it ran it could keep up with v8's of the time.
3:36 There are other ways to get a 6 cylinder engine by sharing parts with other engines. I'd rather have a 4 cylinder with 2 cylinders tacked on versus having an 8 cylinder engine with 2 cylinders chopped off. The Mopar 3.9 and 3.7 V6 were an example, and GM had too many to count, the 4.3 was the most common one I know of. Sure, some of those engines lasted for ages, however, controlling vibration wasn't easy.
