Subaru didn't have the budget for an all-new SUV, so it dressed up a Legacy wagon instead. A Subaru of America executive later put it bluntly: "[the Outback] saved our company."
Median 130 hp across 33 similar cars
Lead trim: EJ22 2.2 L SOHC (135 hp, 1995) · up to 165 hp
Subaru Outback BD/BG/BK first generationBD/BG/BK · 1994–1999
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Subaru Outback BD/BG/BK first generation yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactSubaru didn't have the budget for an all-new SUV, so it dressed up a Legacy wagon instead. A Subaru of America executive later put it bluntly: "[the Outback] saved our company."
The original Legacy Outback, born at Subaru of America to answer slumping sales and the boom in sport utility vehicles: a Legacy wagon with body cladding and a suspension lift (the page credits Paul Hogan as spokesman, and quotes Tim Mahoney: "[the Outback] saved our company"), introduced at the 1994 New York Auto Show for model year 1995. It was initially a trim package on the Legacy L wagon with a 2.2 L flat-four, moving to a 2.5 L twin-cam for 1996 (ground clearance 7.8 in, larger rally-style driving lamps), and a hood scoop for 1997. In Japan it was the Legacy Grand Wagon from August 1995 and, from September 1997, the Lancaster (2.5 L DOHC only). The Legacy SUS sedan with a wing and hood scoop followed as a North America-only limited run in 1998, rolled out in 1999. Built at Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette alongside the Isuzu Rodeo and Honda Passport.
Collectors Spotted in the Subaru Outback Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Subaru Outback yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EJ22 2.2 L SOHC (135 hp, 1995) | 1995–1995 | 2.2 L Flat-4 | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| EJ25D 2.5 L DOHC (155 hp, 1996) | 1996–1996 | 2.5 L Flat-4 | 155 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| EJ25D 2.5 L DOHC (165 hp, 1997–99) | 1997–1999 | 2.5 L Flat-4 | 165 hp | 162 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the EJ22 2.2 L SOHC (135 hp, 1995) trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
In the Community
Open CommunityNo notes tagged with the Subaru Outback BD/BG/BK first generation yet.
Photographs
The new Outback's full-width tail light bar has a 2 ft ruler built in, for measuring whatever you are about to load.
One model props up an entire segment: the Outback alone accounts for more than 80% of all new station wagons sold in the US.
This Outback's high beams never fully switch off — Subaru's Adaptive Driving Beam instead shutters out just the part of the light hitting oncoming drivers.
A wagon beat the SUVs at their own game: this Outback generation won Motor Trend's Sport/Utility of the Year award for 2010.
This Outback shared Top Gear's Car of the Year crown — an unusual honor for a jacked-up wagon to split with the Ford Mondeo in 2007.
For a few years, this Outback's six-cylinder trim came with genuine McIntosh audio — the same esteemed hi-fi name found in home theaters, one of the only cars ever to get it from the factory.
Subaru didn't have the budget for an all-new SUV, so it dressed up a Legacy wagon instead. A Subaru of America executive later put it bluntly: "[the Outback] saved our company."
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
A wagon beat the SUVs at their own game: this Outback generation won Motor Trend's Sport/Utility of the Year award for 2010.
The original RS6 debuted Audi's clever hydraulic Dynamic Ride Control suspension — and enough owners got tired of its leaking dampers that they ripped the whole system out for plain coilovers.
Cooling the C6 RS6’s twin-turbo V10 took seven separate radiators and four electric fans under the bonnet.
For a few years, this Outback's six-cylinder trim came with genuine McIntosh audio — the same esteemed hi-fi name found in home theaters, one of the only cars ever to get it from the factory.
The new Outback's full-width tail light bar has a 2 ft ruler built in, for measuring whatever you are about to load.
This Outback shared Top Gear's Car of the Year crown — an unusual honor for a jacked-up wagon to split with the Ford Mondeo in 2007.
The C7-generation RS6 Avant never officially reached America at all — buyers there got the RS7 Sportback instead, running the exact same engine and platform in a different body.
This Outback's high beams never fully switch off — Subaru's Adaptive Driving Beam instead shutters out just the part of the light hitting oncoming drivers.