Tamiya Subaru 4WD Turbo XT Coupe
Ah, the 1980's. A time when "performance" was more about style, technological one-upmanship, and features than actual performance. The world's automakers were still trying to figure out ways to squeeze power out of smog-choked, small displacement power plants. Even the mighty, mullet-clad Trans Am could not escape the trends of the time.
Enter Subaru, a company that had made a name for itself building cheap, economical cars that were fairly typical, but for two very important exceptions. First, Subaru had (and still has), a love affair with horizontally-opposed engines. Think of an old VW engine, but water cooled, and that's basically a Subaru engine. And second, while almost all Japanese automakers offered AWD versions of their cars in Japan, they did not offer them in the US. Subaru not only offered AWD on every model (or made it standard on some), but they actively promoted the feature.
The funky XT was introduced to the North American market in February 1985. Curiously, it did not make it's debut in Japan until June! While called the XT in the US and Europe, the car was called Vortex in the land down under, and in Japan, it bore the name Alcyone. Alcyone is the name of the brightest star in the Pleiades star cluster. What significance does that have? Well, the Japanese name for Pleiades is Subaru. The company's "star cluster" logo represents all of the companies that merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries, as the company was then known.
The car itself was a tour-de-force in Reagan-era sports coupe tech. The horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine allowed for a slippery wedge-shaped nose. Flush door handles, a single windshield wiper tucked beneath the rear edge of the hood, and small spoilers in front of the wheel openings all added up to a total drag coefficient of 0.29. Not only did this have a significant impact on fuel mileage, but it also led to reduced wind noise and, thus, a quieter ride.
The interior relied heavily upon aircraft design, with a gauge cluster that tilted along with the wheel. AWD could be activated by pressing a button top the Atari-joystick-like shift lever. You could opt for a digital gauge cluster as well, and this included an electronic trip computer. Speaking of computers, why of course the engine was computer controlled, and equipped with that fancy new electronic fuel injection.
The XT was in production until 1991, when it was replaced with the (arguably weirder) SVX. In that time, it even gained an available flat six engine(1988), but the car never quite had the impact on Subaru's image (or sales) that the company had hoped for. Certainly the car's out-there design was a contributing factor. Even in an age of tech and excess, the XT may have gone a bit too far, especially for the legendarily-obtuse American market. Then there was the price. A loaded XT with all wheel drive and a turbocharged engine was more than a Z28, which made more power (despite it's smog-choked 5.0 V8), and, again using the Z28 example, was cheaper to repair and easier to service, as Subaru was still growing in North America and dealer coverage was spotty compared today. That also meant fewer places to actually buy the XT, while every dot on the map has at least one Chevrolet dealer nearby.
So the car itself may have faded into history, and are even rarer today than they were when new. Honestly, you could say the same about the Tamiya kit. The kit dates back to 1985, and as far as I know, hasn't been run since the early 1990's. Maybe longer. I botched one of these kits years ago and have been looking for another one, and recently I was able to nab one for a decent price. Here we go...
The box art is standard Tamiya for the era. The box on mine is tad beat up. I'm not sure how it was previously stored but the cellophane seal was worn through in several spots and quite a few areas of the cardboard had the ink rubbed off. Fortunately the contents were fine aside from a few loose parts.
The body, headlights, headlight retainer, mirrors and hood scoop are done in white. You can see the scored area on the hood, which is to be cut open for use with the scoop. The scoop fits in from underneath. The pop-up headlights are meant to be functional. Past experience with this kit tells me they're only functional in theory.
The majority of the kit is done in black plastic. Underside detail isn't the greatest but it gets the job done. Yes, you have the option of left or right hand drive. The interior looks a little sparse at first but honestly, the real car's interior does, too, quirky styling aside.
The greenhouse glass is all one piece, and the clear parts also include the taillight strip and headlight lenses.
This is all you get for (satin) chrome plated parts- the four alloy wheels. I'm leaning toward using some aftermarket wheels and tires on this when I build it, or maybe updating it with some STI wheels.
The tires have decent tread detail and faint "A Spec" lettering on the sidewalls. They come bagged with the poly caps for attaching the wheels.
The decals include exterior graphics, two choices for the seat fabric colors, a choice of Japanese or California plates, and you can opt for the analog or digital gauge cluster. After 34 years I'm hoping they'll still release from the backing paper, and lay down half way decently.
Three things in life are constant. Death, taxes, and the look of a Tamiya instruction sheet.
You also get a flyer showing all of Tamiya's other goodies. Wait... I guess four things never change. Those Tamiya paint jars have never changed, either!
My past experience with this kit was favorable. I could not get the operational headlights to... well... operate. Other than that the assembly sequence was pleasant. My problem came about with a paint mishap, which ruined the body. I'm not going to try any paint experimentation on this one, so hopefully I'll actually have a finished project to show off when this kit gets it's turn. I could probably use the interior from that first one, as it is finished, but I have this weird superstition about using parts from a failed project on a new one. But who knows, maybe I'll overcome that on this one.
