Subaru debuted the Legacy Outback as a trim level option in 1995 in response to the growing popularity of SUVs like the Ford Explorer.
Subaru had carved out a profitable niche with variations on their Symmetrical All Wheel Drive system, first introduced in the 1972 Leone as an option. Their commitment to AWD, coupled with savvy marketing moves, like sponsoring the US Ski Team, helped them build a brand of go anywhere, fuel efficient cars that saw only marginal competition from the likes of Toyota, Honda, and VW. By the mid-1990s, Subaru was fully committed to AWD, making it standard across all models.
In the mid-1990s, in response to the growing threat from truck based SUVs, Subaru added a rugged looking version of the 2nd gen Legacy (and Impreza). Introduced in the US late in the 1995 model year, the Legacy Outback (and Impreza Outback Sport) was a Legacy option package that consisted of two tone paint, fog lights, a roof rack, unique alloy wheels and upgraded interior fabric. The 1996 model year debuted the look we have all come to know; a raised suspension combined with body cladding and a raised roof helped distinguish the Outback from the garden variety Legacy and with these changes, the Outback became a stand alone model. With early help from Crocodile Dundee, Subaru has managed sell over 2 million Outbacks since their introduction.
In late 1995, my wife and I found out we were expecting twins. Our first child was born about 3 weeks early, so when we got the news about the twins, due in August of 1996, we wasted no time in starting to shop for a car that would handle our growing family. We were still driving our 1989 Camry wagon but it was showing its age and limitations. Neither of us were much interested SUVs or minivans, just not our style. We both had fairly long commutes and valued the economy of smaller cars. With our son in tow, we would show up at dealer lots with three car seats and do the test. Could we fit three side by side and still close the doors?
I liked the look of the Ford Contour, still a bit of a rarity when we were shopping, but it failed the car seat test. It wasn’t even close. Next up, the the 5th generation Honda Accord, and again a fail, although it was close enough that we actually took it for a test drive. I liked the Accord a lot but we just couldn’t get those rear doors to slam shut.
Starting to think we would end up with something like a Taurus, my wife brought home a newsletter from 3M that outlined various discounts offered to 3M employees and their families. Subaru was on the list with what looked like a generous offer, $400 over dealer invoice. We stopped in at White Bear Subaru and immediately disclosed our intent to use the 3M pricing option. This turned out to be great because they stopped trying to sell us a car, always a process I dislike. We looked at an ’95 Outback on the showroom floor and asked if we could test out our car seats. With their approval, we strapped all three in and closed the doors, success!
Next up was a test drive. Coming from the Camry, this was a very nice upgrade in terms of comfort and handling. We found a 5 speed manual in two tone red over grey. The manuals came with a viscous limited slip center differential as opposed to the electronically controlled AWD in the automatics. All 1995 Legacys were equipped with the EJ22E boxer engine. Rated 135 hp, this engine did not share the head gasket issues that would plague the 2.5 liter boxers through the later 1990s to the early 2010s.
This car was just a pleasure to drive and we quickly made the decision to buy it. In my opinion, the first year Outback was the best looking of the bunch. The cladding on the later years did nothing for me, but then I was never a late model Pontiac fan either. With the standard Legacy suspension, we got good looks of the Outback treatment without the detriment of the higher center of gravity. This car was everything I had wanted the Camry wagon to be. We had zero issues with the Outback, although we learned that AWD won’t help you when you do stupid things. My wife lost control on an icy curve taken at relatively low speed and put it into a field. And I learned what happens when you attempt to drive into packed snow that is deeper than your wheel clearance.
This car would hold the top spot on my favorites list until another red, four door wagon came along in 2003. My wife and I separated in early 1999 and the Outback stayed with her, leaving me to source a replacement suitable for day care transport. Oh, and twin girls were born almost 5 weeks early on the 4th of July.
I’ve always had an appreciation for four wheel drive Subarus, though my favorites are the higher spec Leone sedans circa 1982-84… My Grandma had a metallic red 1982, though it was (sadly) only fwd. Having spent a bit of time in and around some Legacy models did cement my respect for the brand and most of their offerings.
That whole “World’s First Sport Utility Wagon” bit always irked me a bit. What exactly was the 1980-88 AMC Eagle, then?
I am amazed that the Outback aced your 3-abreast-car-seat test. Perhaps with two of the carseats being for newborns, they were smaller than some of ours? I was barely able to get ours buckled into the back seat of a 2 door Olds 98 (1984, the last year of the RWD C body). Even then, the fit was not ideal.
I always liked these too, but never had any firsthand experience with one. Our kids were 4, 2 and newborn in late 1995, and it would not be long before I decided that the two-row sedan or wagon that had served our families so well a generation earlier had gotten smaller (both actually and functionally due to the child seat requirements).
Relatives of mine owned the mid-90s Legacy sibling to the Outback with mostly satisfactory results. Both were ultimately finished off by the state where they resided, Pennsylvania. Copious use of road salt in winter and constant exposure as a commuter car did in a 1995 Legacy 5-speed, which died of tin worm infection. A stupid Pennsylvania annual “inspection” (read that as “ripoff”) which put a 1996 AWD on a two-wheel treadmill, burned up the transfer case on a 1996 automatic. Because of its all-wheel drive, that car was exempt from the smog test being done but the inspection station tester either was stupid or wanted to get his pound of flesh, no matter what. And that car had been meticulously cared for and had little rust. Shame…
Other than that, which was not the car’s fault, those two Subarus were mechanically faultless which can not be said of their later ones.
Eugene was a hotbed for Subarus going back to the 70s, but that really exploded with this first generation Outback. But they’re hard to find anymore. All used up already? And these didn’t even have the head gasket issue.
I’d say the Subaru was superior to the Explorer, which was at first a modified pickup that handled poorly
The Subaru handled great, although it was really a compact on the inside
I loved my 1992 Legacy Wagon, and went looking for a replacement when someone wrecked it. Bought a 2001 Outback, with the 3 litre H6 engine. Great car but did not move me as much as the older Legacy. So I sold the Outback and bought a 2004 Jaguar X-type 3 litre wagon. Like this one much better and still have it 4.5 years later..
I bought my ’03 Legacy L wagon (yes, the 2.5, yes, the head gaskets blew at 85000) when I got engaged to replace a sporty turbo coupe, and it was able to do two carseats and a cramped mommy in the backseat – not three. In fact, there was no way to properly anchor a carseat in the middle seat responsibly. The retractible middle shoulder belt could not serve as a decent restraint, and the lower anchors simply wouldn’t reach the left and right inboard LATCH receptacles. We ended up putting yard apes behind the driver seat. After fourteen years, I sold it to a molecular biologist post-doc at Rockefeller University who relocated from Queens to San Diego during COVID, and even the copious use of road salt in Noo Yawk City hadn’t mortally wounded it. It’s still tooling around Encinitas at age eighteen and 170k or so.
It was replaced with an Outback, which has another recall manifold repair pending.
Well, you learn something new every day – I had no idea the original Outback was standard height and not clad in plastic!
My parents bought a ’97 Outback in 2001, A fresh used import from Japan, it was actually badged a Legacy ‘Grand Wagon’. With the exception of leather+suede upholstery and a couple of lego trees worth of plastiwood, it was identical to the NZ-new Outbacks. It had 142,000km on it when bought, and they put another 200,000km on it over the following 11 years. It was the 2.5, but didn’t have any head gasket issues; although the big end bearings went at 199,000km (just within the aftermarket warranty period so it was reconditioned), and then it blew its bottom radiator hose at 320,000km, whereupon the engine imploded and it ultimately went to the car graveyard in the sky.
The body and trim were getting a bit loose and rattly by 2012, but it was till capable and comfortable, and overall a great car, probably my parents’ favourite of the many Subarus they’ve owned. Now, I’m off to find out if NZ ever got the original ’95 Outback…!
Fond memories of my ’97 Outback, in that same “Mica Ruby Pearl” dark red. The 2.5-L engine didn’t develop the dreaded head gasket problem, but ultimately failed due to a main bearing at around 150,000 miles / 10 years. It did go through a number of valve cover gaskets, though, as there always seemed to be a bit of oil seep from that area. The attached pic was just after the bearing had failed (after making ominous rattles for a few thousand miles), and AAA had towed the car back to my driveway. I took some farewell photos before the second tow truck showed up to cart it away (donated to some charity whose name I’ve forgotten).
The joke in Oregon is if you can’t find your Outback in a parking lot, it’s next to a Prius.
My mother had a Subaru legacy, 1995, we loved it when we were kids. Until I accidentally slammed my sister’s hand in the door behind me, didn’t think she was coming out on my side of the car. But vehicle got my mother and her family where we needed to go.