The Subaru XT Is Probably the Weirdest Subaru Ever Made

Doug, please never abandon reviewing weird old cars like this. Your OG fans (myself included) love those the most.

The fact that the gauge cluster is still working and looking new is mind blowing

I bought the 1986 XT 4WD Turbo with a manual transmission. It was my first new car that cost a little over $16,000.00 dollars new. The color was Marina Blue with the same color seats as the one you showed. There are other cool things about this car that were new to the industry and that was the hill holder clutch. You didn't show how the roof panel removes and was stored in the trunk with special tie downs and cover. I loved this car and the pneumatic height suspension which raised the car to clear deep snow of Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I bought it. I even shipped the car to Italy while in the Air Force and drove all over Southern Italy with it. Memories I will never forget in what Subaru made us in the 80's!

That is without a doubt the coolest gauge cluster I've ever seen. It looks futuristic even today.

FINALLY some more quirky cars again. So nice to have you back.

I remember back in the 80's, my brother and I were visiting my Grandparents and they had one of these at the mall. We thought it was the coolest looking car we had ever seen. The next time my grandparents came to visit us, they drove up in an XT. I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 14 in that car. My grandfather kept that car until the early 2000s and never really had a problem with it. The turbo still worked even with over 100K mile on it. Unfortunately, someone rear-ended him and the insurance company totaled the car. BTW their back seat had the same checkered fabric that was on the front seats.

The rims, the steering wheel and dash, the interior, and body shape are SO cyberpunk.I love it. Feels so retro futuristic

Former XT owner here. Coolest online forum group out of any car forum. My 1985 was the FWD XT turbo, it was the first motor I did a head gasket on it. It had a non-interference motor so when the timing belt snapped it was no problem. Such a fun car. It handled pretty well, and for its time had a lot of power.

I would rather have those climate controls than have them built into a touch screen menu. And that gear shift lever is SICK! 😁

Amazing find! This might be the only XT left on the planet where all the features work & has not rusted back to the earth. Well worth snapping this one up. Great example of 80's radness.

As a kid, we went to pick up a new GL wagon at the dealership and this was sitting in the lobby having just launched. Hard to appreciate how mind blowing and futuristic this felt at the time, and how different it really was from other import coupes/sedans. I believe this didn't take off because people were so worried about "what if the gauge cluster fails? it'll cost a fortune" and other seemingly-futuristic tech that mechanics couldn't work on. Of course, solid state displays like that don't really fail. Shame, it deserved better

The gauge cluster looks super cool even in today's standards!

That might be one of the coolest looking gauge clusters of all time!

My dad managed a Subaru dealership back in this era and I was a teenager. He drove the 4WD version home during a snow storm at one point and I absolutely thrashed it around the neighborhood. Thanks for waking the memory, Doug!

I've had an 85 XT Turbo for about 8 years now, it always puts a smile on my face, you're right about it feeling fast while not being fast! Every time I take it out people go nuts over it, it's a great way to meet car people haha

Doug is a real one. Totally committed to making the best car review videos on YT, no matter the car. Always brining insight, passion, and fun, every single episode. 10/10.

THIS... is the car I've hoped you'd review! I've owned THREE of these... an XT Turbo and two XT-6 models. None were fast. But they *looked so cool with the wedge-shaped styling and fighter cockpit controls. And the air suspension and push-button 4WD on the turbo was just wild. The V6 sounded better and pulled harder, but it was auto-only. Still, I loved each one and would buy an XT again if I could find a nice one. Sadly, most of them seem to have disappeared. (p.s., that one button on the left pd IS missing... it was an indicator, yes, but it had a button-like cover like all the rest.)

Who else likes when Doug reviews quirky cars other than expensive and exotic luxury cars?

This car was great. I remember it back in the 80s. It was like a concept car that they just went straight to production with. They followed this up with the legacy.

The quirkiest thing is that it took this long for Doug to review the XT. My favorite Subaru ever; like if Japan made a Citroën. FYI a plane’s joystick controls elevons and ailerons while the rudder is controlled by the foot pedals