A decade before Toyota entered a team in Formula 1, Japanese rival Subaru entered the sport’s top tier, then left in a matter of weeks in what must be the shortest program in Formula 1 ever.
The Japanese were dominating Formula 1 thanks to Honda and its alliance with McLaren, while Yamaha was also represented on the grid as an engine supplier.
Subaru was eager to join Honda and Yamaha on the Formula 1 grid to demonstrate its engineering knowledge on the world stage.
Partnering with the Carlo Chiti-owned Motor Moderni, Subaru aided in the development of a 3.5-litre flat-12 to comply with the banning of turbocharged engines after 1988.
Chiti had enjoyed much success at Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in Formula 1 as although he originally planned to produce a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V12, plans changed to attract Subaru as a partner to link the road-car and potentially top-tier program.
Honda did the early winning during this era as Subaru entered with the Motori Moderni-developed flat-12 codenamed 1235 in May of 1989.
Producing a well down 417kW, it failed to impress Minardi and Plan B was enacted by Subaru acquiring a 51 percent stake in the cellar dweller Coloni squad.
Not only was the Subaru 1235 engine not powerful, but its size was cumbersome and the weight was 100kg heavier than its rivals.
An amazing 39 entries attempted to qualify during the 1990 Formula 1 season leaving the Coloni team a non-starter for the first eight races before the Subaru relationship broke down.
Coloni and Subaru were embarrassed thanks to one instance of the package failing to make it out of pre-qualifying by 17s.
Subaru ended its Formula 1 association and instead put its efforts into rallying of which the WRX became a successful venture for the Japanese manufacturer.