Subaru thrust its method into the mainstream within the twenty first century because of its rugged, dependable, all-wheel-drive automobiles, together with crossovers that drive extra like regular vehicles than the truck-based SUVs of yore. As the standard sedan was starting to get changed by the onslaught of those extremely versatile crossovers within the late Nineteen Nineties, Subaru utilized the lifted all-wheel-drive remedy to its midsize sedan the Legacy to see if consumers would chew.
Only a few of those lifted all-wheel-drive sedans have been offered regardless of Subaru producing three-generations of them, however now they exist as intriguing automotive oddities. Subaru’s first off-road-oriented sedan was the Legacy Sport Utility Sedan, or SUS, that was launched to America in 1999. It was mainly a Legacy that had all of the styling cues and lifted suspension from the Outback wagon. The primary Subaru Legacy SUS was a U.S.-only mannequin, and it lasted only one yr.
After 1999, Subaru redesigned the Legacy and its ruggedized Outback sibling the Outback, and the Legacy SUS returned, now referred to as the Outback Sedan. The brand new Subaru Outback Sedan adopted the identical recipe because the SUS, and it lasted from 2000 to 2004. Subaru redesigned the Outback Sedan for what could be its remaining time in 2005. The third-generation Outback Sedan was solely offered for 2 mannequin years from earlier than ending manufacturing ceaselessly.
The Subaru Legacy SUS and Outback Sedan by no means offered in addition to the standard Outback wagon or their normal Legacy counterparts, which makes them fairly uncommon. Off-road sedans as a automobile class are fairly uncommon — except for the Subarus the one trendy one is basically the Volvo S60 Cross Nation, after which you could have the originator, the AMC Eagle four-door sedan. Subaru’s contributions to this elite group of segment-busting sedan issues have been essentially the most profitable of the lifted off-road oriented sedans, and it feels ripe for a return given how widespread crossovers (and crossover-y alternate options) proceed to be.
