1998 Subaru Vivio

The name "Vivio" is a reference to the numbers 660.0 written in Latin numerals, and also inspired by the word vivid. It replaced the Rex. It was available in 3 and 5-door versions commonly, with 2-door targa top version named T-top in acceptance to the order. The Vivio Bistro was a facelift variation with a retro theme, with Mini-esque front and rear fascias, matching upholstery and modifications to the dashboard. The Bistro series was popular and Japan would see a string of modern retro-styled cars.

The Vivio was available with a variety of supercharged 4-cylinder engines.

The supercharged grade RX-R and RX-RA was widely used for rallying in Japan. RX-RA was a motorsports trim grade with more close ratio gears and harder suspensions than RX-R. You can still see some entrants using Vivio at WRC Rally Japan.

In 1992, at the Paris-Beijing marathon raid, a private entrant ran the Vivio RX-R. Most people who saw the car imagined its early retirement but was faster than works team Mitsubishi Pajero at the prologue stage, and ran for more than a week until it broke its suspension. The car finished to the goal unofficially after repairing, with no other serious troubles.