Junkyard Gem: 1990 Subaru XT

Back in the 1980s, Subaru decided that the futuristic-looking, gadget-packed
Alcyone would go over well in North America, and so the XT became available for the 1985 through model years. They were reasonably popular in California, and I saw this discarded example awaiting its fate in a Los Angeles wrecking yard.

Because the boxer engine in the XT was so low, the car could have an extreme wedge-shaped body and a very low coefficient of drag.

Inside, an asymmetrical steering wheel, gearshift that looked like it had been torn from the cockpit of a
Mitsubishi F2, and Mars Base-style controls made Toyotas and Hondas of the era look staid and sensible.

When you adjusted the tilt steering wheel, the instrument cluster moved with it. If you were
really serious, you could get an XT with a video-game-style digital instrument cluster.

You could get an XT Turbo (with 115 horsepower), or an XT6 (with six cylinders and 145 horsepower). Four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive systems were available on some models for some years. This car here is an ordinary front-wheel-drive XT with naturally-aspirated 90-horse four-cylinder.

Not a speck of rust, pretty straight, but nobody was willing to save it. Next stop: the crusher!

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