It seems almost certain that whenever an automaker unveils a new wagon, enthusiasts cheer for it, but there’s a good chance it isn’t destined for North America. There seems to be a narrative that wagons just don’t sell on this continent, which isn’t exactly correct. One station wagon has been with us for more than three decades, it continues to sell in huge volumes, and any automaker copying its formula has enjoyed at least some modicum of success. I’m talking about the Subaru Outback.
If you told someone in the 1980s that the last mainstream wagon sold in America would be Japanese, they’d probably look at you like you had two heads. However, the Outback has outlasted the big three’s entries in the segment, along with virtually all other competitors thanks to a cult following turned mainstream and a willingness to embrace plastic cladding.
On the eve of the debut of a brand new Subaru Outback, it feels like a good time to recall how we ended up here, from humble beginnings for the 1995 model year to the cultural touchpoint the Outback is today. So, here’s a brief history of all six generations of Outback.
Act One, Scene One
Photo credit: Subaru
Back in the early 1990s, Subaru of America was in a bit of a pickle. SUV sales were booming, yet Subaru didn’t have anything matching that description in its portfolio and needed something rugged-looking cheaply and quickly. The solution: Take one high-roof Legacy wagon, copy an AMC idea by adding contrasting cladding, and presto! The Outback was born. Then called the Legacy Outback, it made its debut in 1994 for the 1995 model year, but something was missing.
Those very first Outbacks weren’t any more capable than the Legacy wagons on which they were based. They still rode low to the ground, and aside from the cladding, looked a whole lot like their more road-focused counterparts. For 1996, Subaru raised the ride height, fitted bigger tires, added a new front bumper with huge fog lights, and the Outback as we actually know it today was born. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit. Not only was the Outback an image-maker, Subaru quickly had the best-selling wagon in America and posted an overall year-over-year U.S. sales increase of 20.3 percent. Oh, and for 1998, something called the Subaru Legacy SUS joined the party. Short for Sport Utility Sedan, it was essentially an Outback with a trunk. How wonderfully bizarre.
Party Of Six
Photo credit: Subaru
By 1999, the mass-market station wagon as we knew it was fading. General Motors had killed the A-body and B-body wagons, Chrysler had put its eggs firmly in the minivan basket, Toyota had phased out the Camry wagon, and the Honda Accord wagon had been effectively superseded by the Odyssey. Lacking a minivan and only having a compact crossover as an SUV, what was Subaru to do but double-down on the Outback?
For the second-generation model, Subaru offered the Outback loyal a whole lot more, including a double-pane moonroof and a three-liter flat-six making 212 horsepower. A MacIntosh audio system joined the options list, the Legacy SUS got rebranded as the Outback Sedan, and for 2001, a new all-wheel-drive system was available. Paired with stability control, this variable torque distribution system featured a default 45:55 front-to-rear split and added a different dimension to a fan favorite.
It was also around this time that competitors started to take notice. Volvo launched the plastic-clad V70 Cross Country a year before Subaru re-upped the Outback, and Audi pushed out the infamous Allroad for the new millennium. How’d that go? Well, both the Cross Country and Allroad nameplates are still around today, and Audi hasn’t offered a regular A6 Avant in America in more than a decade, so it seems like Subaru was onto a winning formula.
Joining The Turbo Team
Photo credit: Subaru
Let’s jump forward to the mid-2000s, with the third-generation Outback. Not only did it get sharp new styling, it finally offered 2.5-liter EJ255 turbocharged flat-four, paired with either a five-speed automatic or a five-speed manual transmission. Select the row-your-own option, and the result was the most performance oriented Outback America has ever seen. The three-liter flat-six gained a boost in horsepower to 245, the base naturally aspirated flat-four gained ten horsepower to 175, and the interior was a dramatic improvement over the second-generation model.
Was this peak Outback? It could be argued so. Not only did it look and feel nicer than an equivalent Camry or Accord, it offered two different all-wheel-drive systems, three different transmissions, an available limited-slip rear differential, and was really classy in retrospect. Plus, the Japanese model introduced the Eyesight advanced driver assistance system, and Europeans could even spec a diesel engine. A tremendously unreliable diesel engine, but still.
A Step Back
Photo credit: Subaru
In contrast, the fourth-generation Outback, launched for the 2010 model year, was a bit underwhelming. Sure, the flat-six grew in displacement to 3.6 liters and a turbocharged powertrain was still offered, but the overall product felt more homogenized. It lost the double-pane moonroof, lost the frameless doors, and shed a significant amount of cladding. Add in the Lineartronic CVT available on most trims, and the 2010 Outback just seemed less fun and less interesting than its predecessor. That didn’t really matter though, because it just kept setting sales records.
It turns out that normalcy is exactly what the people want, and 2010 Outback sales nearly doubled 2009’s totals, with sales growing for every model year of the fourth-generation model. For 2013, the final full sales year of the fourth-generation Outback, the model hit a new record of 118,049 units in America. It turns out we hadn’t seen the half of it.
Total Dominance
Photo credit: Subaru
For the 2015 model year, the cladding came back as the Outback entered its fifth generation, model codename BS. Alright, so the internal naming scheme was a bit unfortunate, but it came with some big news. From here out, the Outback was the only Legacy wagon, establishing total longroof dominance in the U.S. Subaru range.
Alright, so the option of a turbocharged engine skipped this generation and the option of a manual gearbox disappeared, but this Outback offered sharper styling and more normal details than before, minimizing the learning curve for new buyers. Outside of the novel form factor, the most noteworthy thing about this generation was incredibly plush door armrests. It turns out that the people craved coddled elbows because 2017 was the Outback’s best-ever U.S. sales year, shifting 188,886 units.
So Here We Are
Photo credit: Thomas Hundal
Flash forward to the 2020 model year, and the world got its first glimpse at the current Outback. With an available 2.4-liter turbocharged engine, huge space and comfort, a stiffer architecture, and more tech, the result is one superb family hauler. A great balance of rationality and difference, it’s still the two-row midsize family vehicle to have.
Oh, and if you’re particularly outdoorsy, the toughened-up Wilderness trim level is also on deck, with extra cladding, all-terrain tires, a full 9.5 inches of ground clearance, and a shorter final drive. If an unanticipated global pandemic didn’t affect all new car sales, this thing had the potential to be the most successful Outback yet.
A New Frontier
Photo credit: Subaru
So, where do we go from here? Well, teasers of the 2026 Outback, and they have me worried. While Subaru’s lifted wagon has grown its greenhouse over the past few generations, glimpses of this new model paint a more SUV-like picture, all tall and squared-off. Add in the impeding demise of the Legacy midsize sedan, and we’re really bowling with the bumpers down. There’s no more hard reference that dictates the form of the Outback, and I’m worried the soft, sensible, trademark non-threatening visage of past Outbacks is going to disappear. Hopefully camouflage hides a lot, because from where I’m sitting, the next Outback might not look like a wagon at all.
It would be a weird turning point for America’s most successful wagon. I know lots of Outback owners who bought their cars because they didn’t look or feel like SUVs, and I’m hoping Subaru doesn’t abandon this core audience that grew the Outback legend to what it is today. I guess we’ll find out just before lunchtime tomorrow, when the world sees the seventh-generation Outback in the metal for the first time.
Top graphic credit: Subaru
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