One marque, thirteen unrelated-feeling lineages. A kei car is not a WRX. Chassis codes stay visible next to the plain-language names enthusiasts actually use.
Japan's first mass-produced kei car and the small-displacement lineage that followed it — the 360, R-2, Rex, Sambar, Vivio, and Pleo — almost entirely a JDM story, with the 360's brief and famously rocky US import chapter as the exception.
Subaru's first genuinely global-market car, and the platform behind the disputed 1972 "first mass-production AWD passenger vehicle" claim (the Leone 4WD Estate Van). Sold in the US as GL, DL, and finally Loyale.
Subaru's first "world car" mid-size sedan/wagon, the platform STI's very first prepared car (the Legacy RS-RA) was built on, and the vehicle behind Subaru's 1989 Arizona endurance speed record.
Began as a raised, cladded Legacy wagon trim before becoming its own model line — a genuine "crossover before crossovers" story Subaru itself has credited with helping save the company during a difficult early-1990s stretch.
First generation1994/1995–1999Second generation2000–2004Third generation2004–2009Fourth generation2009–2014Fifth generation2014–2019Sixth generation2019–present
Subaru's rally-homologated performance icon, built to satisfy World Rally Championship Group A/N rules, and the single family with the deepest JDM-vs-US divergence in the whole marque — from the WRX/STI US introduction gap to a long list of JDM-only limited editions like the 22B.
A taller, more car-like AWD wagon launched before "crossover" was an established category — a genuine early-mover story, plus the SG-generation turbo XT and the JDM-only Forester STi.
An Impreza-based lifted crossover that became Subaru's entry-level adventure vehicle, with a brief transitional "XV Crosstrek" US badge before "XV" was dropped for MY2016.
Subaru's first three-row crossover, remembered as much for its controversial original "shark nose" front end as for the vehicle itself — and for the 2008 facelift that toned it down.
The XT's aerodynamic sport-coupe design and its SVX successor's Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed "window-in-window" doors and outlier flat-6 engine — a departure from Subaru's boxer-4 norm that ended in commercial failure.
A joint development with Toyota — Subaru's boxer engine paired with Toyota's chassis/engineering lead — that produced two badge-twins sold under different names across markets and years.