Yeah I’ve been reading Road and Track since 1990 (and now have collections back to the 1950s).

Subaru has never been a part of Suzuki and also hasn’t really been a luxury brand in any sense until possibly the last decade (though mid tier niche at best is more like it). More like a quirky niche brand that sells in the north well because of their AWD system and low cost.

Mitsubishi was also in a fierce competition with Subaru during the Tommi Mäkinen/Colin McRae era of rally racing. Building the Lancer EVOs to compete with the WRX STi of Subaru. Those in fact were the 2 most expensive cars in the lineups and neither were luxury cars by any means.

Until recently when Toyota bought a stake in Subaru, it was an independent manufacturer under Fuji Heavy Industries as stated above. Similarly Mitsubishi is a brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which was the biggest industrial group in Japan at one point. And makes many those heat pumps you see everywhere in Asia.

There must have been small local dealerships that combined these brands, or else they’re just completely mis remembering.

OP must be from one of the timelines where they spelled it "Bearenstein."