The Subaru Outback is a station wagon manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries since 1995. Its original concept originated with Subaru of America, which was suffering from slumping sales in the mid-1990s partly due to a lack of an entry in the then-burgeoning sport utility vehicle market. Lacking the finances to design an all-new sport utility vehicle, Subaru decided to add body cladding and a suspension lift to their Legacy wagon. Christened the Legacy Outback, after the rugged areas of Australia, Australian actor Paul Hogan was the spokesman in the North American market, playing off the Australian name of the vehicle and portraying the vehicle as a capable and more efficient alternative to larger, truck-based SUVs.
Subaru introduced the Outback to Japan as the Legacy Grand Wagon–then renamed Legacy Lancaster in model year 1997. In 2004, the Outback name was adopted worldwide and moved to its own model line (except in Japan). All vehicles in the Outback line are derived from Subaru's Legacy, except the Outback Sport (aka Impreza Outback), which is derived from the Impreza hatchback.
Some credit Subaru for inventing the crossover genre with the Outback, while others point to it as the first in a resurgence of a class of vehicles that started with American Motors' Eagle wagon, launched in 1979.
The Legacy Outback was formally introduced to the North American market at the 1994 New York Auto Show, and was known in Japan starting August 1995 as the Legacy Grand Wagon, and in Australia as the Outback, a trim package with normal ground clearance but an "SUV look" with two-tone paint and fog lights. For the 1994 model year, the Legacy wagon in the North American market was available as the Alpine Sport and Sun Sport, which were Value Option Packages included on the "L" trim level wagon, and graphics denoting the option package installed. In Japan the Legacy wagon was called the Legacy Touring Wagon so the Grand wagon nomenclature was meant to signify a more grand, luxurious approach to equipment offered. The exterior was designed by Olivier Boulay, who was hired by Subaru on a short-term basis.
In 1995, the first year the Outback was introduced, the Outback was a trim package on the base model Legacy wagon "L", that primarily consisted of the heavy cloth interior, berber carpet floor mats, a luggage rack and fog lights with a standard height suspension. This approach was also used on the smaller Impreza wagon, with the name Outback Sport. When the 1996 model year arrived, it gained more aggressive appearing front bumper covers, with larger rallye inspired driving lamps replacing the previously installed fog lights, taller tires with more aggressive tread, and a 7.3 in (185 mm) ground clearance, with a 7.87 in (200 mm) ground clearance in Japan. The more aggressive appearance was also used on the smaller Outback Sport while omitting the increase in ground clearance from suspension modification. This approach was inspired by the Legacy having been entered into international rallying and long distance racing events, and winning the 1990 Safari Rally in the Group N category.
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