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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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My first new car was an ’06 Legacy wagon. Fantastic car, and imo it looked better than the sedan. I think that was the last year of the wagon.
I also test drove an Outback. It was fine, but I much preferred the handling of the Legacy. And the dealer seemed more willing to haggle on the Legacy despite it being a higher trim with leather and an awesome ginormous sunroof.
Unfortunately the subsequent generation of Legacies didn’t quite grab me so I never really felt compelled to look at them when I eventually traded it in.
And, just like that, Subaru begat the Mercedes E wagon with the (cringe) cladding.
As I said earlier, Subaru, don’t be screwing around with this. The moment your customer base finally realizes you’ve sold out, you won’t be able to bring them back. Once the veil comes off and Outback owners see that their model of choice is just a midsized CUV, suddenly a world of other choices become available. And if its really as fat as other two row crossovers, get ready to kiss a serious number of customers goodbye.
I know the current Outback really straddles the line between wagon and CUV, and some people will think this is silly (maybe it is) but people buy the Outback because its not shaped (exactly) like an SUV. As plain and aping of outdoor footwear their styling has become, to these people that’s a feature, not a bug.
Granted, knowing how Subaru seemingly continues down a dark path of late, I wouldn’t be surprised if they saw something like the Passport, went “wait, how much does fucking Honda sell those for?” and immediately started licking their chops at the prospect of hiking the price 5k by simply porking the thing up.
Was having this discussion with a friend the other day. Subaru went mainstream and got incredibly boring to do so. The stuff from the early 2000’s was so much more interesting.
Gen 3 was indeed peak Outback.
This point is sort of self defeating though, since Subaru has consistently made them less wagon with each passing generation. This generation BARELY skits the line, but this teaser hints at something that crosses that line completely.
The Outback proves that Americans demand all things merge slowly towards CUV.
Basically the Japanese back in the day were known for copying someone but making it better. They copied more than the cladding from AMC they copied the AMC Eagle. Introduced before its time on a shoestring budget it didn’t succeed. But Subaru found it, updated it, built it better than any UAW Worker ever could and we see what AMC could have been with some decent cash and capable workers.
I’ve always said that Europe comes up with the ideas, USA makes it bigger and louder, and Japan iterates and makes it reliable and “affordable”.
Obviously not 100% of the time, but in general.
CUV? SUV? I had a revealing conversation today with two experts,both were in accord, they are lumpy cars. Aged 4 and three quarters and 5 and six eighths they were very clear, Daddy should get a proper car,a car like Nic’s car and not a lumpy car like all the lumpy cars. After some heated debate it was determined that although it would be nice to go to school in one Traction Engines lack luggage space and it would be annoying to take that long to go on holiday (although you could squish lumpy cars with one). The De Tomaso Pantera that is being stored for someone was deemed ideal for Mummy as she is always in a hurry. Oh, Daddy’s lumpy car? It is a Nissan Quashqai.
4th gen Outbacks didn’t get the turbo – only the equivalent Legacy did.
Also the manual did continue on for the first couple years of the 5th gen…but only in Canada.
In his post Peanuts career, Pigpen became a test driver for Subaru.
Actually come to think of it, I’ve seen some pretty dirty Subarus.
I don’t think the Outback has been a station wagon since at least the 3d generation. The current models are already full S/CUVs.
3rd gen was the last wagon version of the Legacy.
Beat me by a second.
Globally speaking the article is correct on that point, there was still a global Legacy wagon for one more generation after it left the US. But given the article is focused on the model in America, you two are correct.
But you are technically correct, which is the best kind of correct!
Third gen related, it was also the last time when you could get an Outback Outback or a Legacy Outback or an Impreza Outback.
Have never and probably will never understand why wagon vs CUV matters so much for mainstream, not particularly fun to drive, vehicles.
Congrats on a 1″ lower COG in your 180 hp 4 cylinder, CVT, wagon/CUV on S-rated tires? I’m sure you’ll be tearing around the offramps in that performance machine.
In an alternate universe where wagons remained dominant, some counter (auto) culture types would be extolling crossovers as the true amazing cool solution, and why doesn’t everyone else get that (but not really as then they wouldn’t be able to point it out)?
Really crossovers performance is less in every metric but cool looking. You want to sell successfully in the USA make it cheap but cool looking.
As a guy who happily lived through the sport coupe era, this is it – a modicum of style and fun goes a long way for a lot of us.
My not entirely stock Volvo 740 turbo wagon was a total hoot to drive, off ramps in particular.
I mean, every wagon I’ve ever driven has been pretty fun to drive. I’ve never enjoyed a single crossover I’ve ever driven? This has less to do with actual performance and more to do with the feel of driving something on stilts.
My experience with the Outback is that while its still pretty boring, it feels a little better than your typical extra porkified crossover. Not that its tremendously far from being an SUV at this point.
Obviously your preferences and experiences are your own, but enjoying 100% of wagons and 0% of crossovers seems unlikely for an unbiased driver.
The 2011 Outback I owned with my wife years ago was not particularly engaging to drive, and it was a manual. Hardly any more dynamic than my minivan, and much less so than any performance tuned crossover.
Forester has really become a CUV it probably was one of the first. Subaru has done a good job as keeping the outback a wagon. I can’t see them changing that. Mercedes has really been testing those lines more then anyone else I think because they have an wagon and cuv things with low roofs but higher off the ground that are generally confusing.
There’s a house up the block from me that has two M-B AMG blob things, not sure the model. What they call to mind is somebody took a Hostess Twinkie and stuck a bicycle pump up its butt.
I was upset when car2go had to switch from smarts to those dumb gla things. I really can’t understand why people buy them I think they are one of the cheapest way into a Merc but why you would get the amg is beyond me. I always thought they looked like the partially crushed a car then jacked it up. Something you would find on the back roads of Alabama. Maybe that’s where they got their inspiration.
Forester was impreza wagon if you need smaller.
Isn’t the Crosstrek the Impreza wagon plus cladding and an inch lift?
I was buying a car when the Forester was fresh. Much easier to see when it’s a 99 2.5rs wagon rather than more upmarket
Also crosstrek is a 5dr hatch w a liftkit rather than a wagon.
First two generations of Forester were.
Just checked, 2025 us forester still on 105.1″ imprezza wheelbase. Outback is currently 108.x”
Same platform but not a wagon form factor is what I was getting at.
Don’t forget, the Jeep Wagoneer was both named as and sold as a station wagon. I don’t know why you shouldn’t forget that. Just don’t do it.
And in Europe 4 door cars are sold as Coupes.
My grandma used to say you can put kittens in the oven but that don’t make them biscuits.
I think Jason showed an old ad recently where the original VW bus was called a station wagon.
What is an SUV but a wagon bodied Truck?
While things are not built ladder on frame anymore for the most part, CUV’s are rather fluid in their definition, and technically, the Outback has been a CUV for, well, pretty much its entire existence.
Its sad to see its more wagon shaped profile getting taller and boxier and generally more Forrester like, but that is probably a result of needing to package the hybrid powertrain while maintaining the cargo room for the camping and mountain biking that its customers are often associated with.
So what is a wagon on a truck frame called a sedan delivery wagon.
I owned a B9 A4 Allroad for a good long time and would often park next to a newer generation outback just for comparison. My “lifted” audi wagon was only 1″ taller than a regular avant wagon (which we never got in the USA), but compared to the subaru it was totally dwarfed in height. You could really see how different it was starting in the 2010 model year, and it just kept getting more and more jacked up to the point that it’s taller than a lot of crossovers. I wish they’d offer something more wagon-like but I guess it’ll do. I hate the CVT anyway, so I’d never buy one until that transmission gets thrown in the dumpster fire that it is (I had a ’13 legacy with the gutless 2.5l boxer and cvt and boy was it trash).
At least as of the 5th generation, the outbacks are very lowerable. There’s multiple suspension kits out there that are not for slamming them, just for putting them down at what would look like stock height for a regular legacy wagon.
I totally agree with you. The Outback’s “wagon” form has always been what was appealing to me over the Forester. But what defines a wagon anymore? It used to be the length of the window behind the C-pillar and the angle of the D-pillar, but even the Outback blurs that line now, as do other unibody CUVs.
The Outback hasnt been a wagon for quite awhile. It is as tall as any other unibody crossover.