From aircraft workshops to rally podiums — here's how six merged companies became one of the world's most distinctive car brands.
1953 Subaru starts life... building planes
Long before the cars, there was Fuji Heavy Industries — formed when five companies that once built aircraft joined forces. That aviation DNA never left. It's why Subaru engineers still obsess over structural rigidity, balance and precision, decades later.
✈ Fun fact: Subaru's first vehicle, the P-1 prototype, was designed by former aircraft engineers who had literally been building fighter planes a few years earlier.
1954 – 1958 The name, the badge, and the "people's car"
The new car needed a name — so the company looked up. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, and the badge's six stars represent the companies that merged to create it. In 1958, that philosophy rolled onto the road as the Subaru 360, a small, affordable car built for everyday Japanese families.
1966 The Boxer engine is born
The Subaru 1000 introduced the world to the flat, horizontally-opposed "Boxer" engine — pistons punching outward in opposite directions instead of stacking up or in a V. The payoff: a lower centre of gravity, less vibration, and sharper handling. It's been Subaru's heartbeat ever since — every Subaru made today still runs one.
1972 All-wheel drive goes mainstream
Subaru released the world's first mass-produced all-wheel-drive passenger car. Paired with the Boxer engine, it created the low, balanced, grippy formula — Symmetrical AWD — that still defines every Subaru today.
1980s – 1990s Rally blue takes on the world
The Subaru World Rally Team entered the World Rally Championship and never looked back. The Impreza WRX — that unmistakable blue paint, gold wheels tore through rally stages and turned Subaru into a cult performance brand almost overnight. The blue-and-gold livery is still instantly recognisable today.
2000s onwards - Obsessed with getting you home safely
Subaru was crash-testing its cars as early as 1960 — years ahead of most Japanese manufacturers. That obsession evolved into EyeSight, Subaru's driver-assist technology that acts like an extra set of eyes on the road: watching for hazards, braking before you can, and keeping you centred in your lane.
Today - Built for the great outdoors, driven by millions
From the family-favourite Forester to the adventure-ready Crosstrek, the rally-bred WRX and the pure sports coupe BRZ — every model still carries the same DNA: Symmetrical AWD, a Boxer heart, and a badge that points to the stars. Over 16 million Boxer-powered vehicles later, the philosophy hasn't changed one bit.
A brand built to deliver happiness to all.
And now, the story continues in Brunei.
Seventy-plus years after six companies looked up and named themselves after the stars, Subaru is writing its next chapter, coming home to Brunei with Imperial Motors.
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