Posted Saturday, July 20, 2013 at 6:15pm
Fuji Heavy Industries, the corporate parent of Subaru, celebrated its 60th birthday a few days ago. The storied multinational company makes everything from wind turbines to airplane parts, and conducts business in more than a hundred countries.
Even though the origins of the company date back to 1917, the Fuji Heavy Industries we know today was formed in 1953. But it wasn’t until the following year that the world got a look at the first car made by Subaru, the newly formed automotive division, in the form of the Subaru 1500. Subaru went on to achieve a significant number of firsts in the Japanese automotive market, including Japan’s first mass-produced all-wheel drive passenger car in the form of the Subaru Leone, which evolved into the Legacy and Outback station wagons and sedans that have become popular in North America.