Am I the only one that thought Subaru was Australian?

Found out today that Subaru was Japanese and not Australian like I was led to believe all these years. Certainly, most of you already knew this and I'm the only one?

I thought it was Australian when I was about 12 and just getting into cars... Then I read that it was owned by Fuji, and realized it must be Japanese.

Umm... no...never thought Subarus were Australian, but I have met a couple of people who thought they were Swedish.

??? Because "Subaru" sounds Australian??? What, like "Kangaru???" You guys are weird.

Why would anyone think it was Australian?

I remember thinking it was an odd name and wondering where the cars were made. That was sometime back around the mid-1970's. Never occurred to me that it could be Aussie!

I remember crocodile Dundee use to bein their commercials, maybe thats why?

J

poopshovel wrote: ??? Because "Subaru" sounds Australian??? What, like "Kangaru???" You guys are weird.

Maybe it was because of all the "outback" commercials back in the '90s? That's the only thing I can think of.

Fuji Heavy Industries.......berkeley, gay slur

I was in my mid to late 20's before I saw/heard of Subaru ... never crossed my mind that it was anything other than Japanese

bravenrace wrote: Why would anyone think it was Australian?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQPHn7C6-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOfIUm_H5M

Sky_Render wrote:

poopshovel wrote: ??? Because "Subaru" sounds Australian??? What, like "Kangaru???" You guys are weird.

Maybe it was because of all the "outback" commercials back in the '90s? That's the only thing I can think of.

Aaaahhhh. Gotcha.

Yeah I think it was just you, although they made a few cars that seem to have been aimed hard at the Australian market...Outback with its bull bars, offroadiness and excessive body cladding (and the name), the Brat which is the kind of silly thing they'd be into...

I'd never heard of Subaru until my family bought one in 1985, but I spent my early teens building dozens of 1/700 scale WW2 warships and reading about the Pacific war - mostly Japanese - so I automatically identified the name as Japanese.

The Swedish confusion seems more logical to me with the 4WD cars and similar styling and drivetrain design to Saabs of the 60's and early 70's.

I guess it was a combination of those commercials, the AWD, the Baja, and the Outback. Definitely did though, glad I figured it out before I lost Jeopardy.

Plus their cars always looked like the Austalian Fords.

Enyar wrote: I guess it was a combination of those commercials, the AWD, the Baja, and the Outback. Definitely did though, glad I figured it out before I lost Jeopardy.

Did you think they were Mexican too?

Where I live people assume you must be talking about a Suburban.

mtn wrote:

Enyar wrote: I guess it was a combination of those commercials, the AWD, the Baja, and the Outback. Definitely did though, glad I figured it out before I lost Jeopardy.

Did you think they were Mexican too?

The Baja is a ute, it could only look more Australian if it had Crocodile Dundee's hat on it and a boomerang rack in the back.

Honestly, who cares? It's a Subaru? -Every Evo owner everywhere.

GameboyRMH wrote:

mtn wrote:

Enyar wrote: I guess it was a combination of those commercials, the AWD, the Baja, and the Outback. Definitely did though, glad I figured it out before I lost Jeopardy.

Did you think they were Mexican too?

The Baja is a ute, it could only look more Australian if it had Crocodile Dundee's hat on it and a boomerang rack in the back.

D'oh! I was thinking Australian Outback, Mexican Baja. Yeah, that makes sense.

Don't feel bad, years ago I thought BMW stood for "Bristol Motor Works".

Subaru also has a set of stars in their logo and Australia has stars on their flag. Different stars, sure, but if you're not paying close attention I could see it. But the Outback is probably the biggest reason.

I was going to lay down some serious abuse until I somebody pointed out the "Outback" connection . Now, I'm just gonna abuse you a bit. Fool.