With all-wheel drive standard, a rally-backed heritage and boxer engines, the Subaru brand has an enthusiastic following, but where does its name come from?
Subaru (スバル) is the Japanese name for the star cluster known in English as either Pleiades, Messier 45, M45 or the Seven Sisters. As the last name implies, there are seven stars in this cluster located in the Taurus constellation.
According to Japanese tradition, one of these stars is invisible, which is why there are only six stars in Subaru’s logo. Each of the six stars represents the companies that formed Fuji Heavy Industries in 1955.
Scientists believe the cluster is around 100 million years old, and will stay in roughly the same configuration for around 250 million more years. After that, gravitational forces will force the stars apart.
