Our next feature is a rather unusual car. Do you desire more style and practicality than a sedan? More style and less practicality than a station wagon? The Subaru equivalent of a Saab 900 turbo? Well, here’s your choice (the only one, really). In the eighties, Subaru’s Leone range included a 4-door sedan, 5-door station wagon, and 3-door coupe. You can find this 1987 Subaru GL Turbo Coupe for sale for $1500 in Martinez, CA.
After talking about the purity of the earlier Saabs, and how they strayed from that to find greater appeal, it’s interesting to see how Subaru has followed a similar path, but with much greater success. Early Subarus grew out of the 360 microcars, into cars that were originally in the mid-size class with cars like the Accord, but are now probably smaller than a current generation Civic. Current Subarus have kept pace with their competition in terms of size, but Subaru has managed to cling to some of their brand DNA with their flat four engines and all wheel drive. Funny enough, while Subaru spends a lot of time publicizing the all wheel drive, they seem to have realized your average consumer does not care much if their cylinders are inline, flat, or in a vee, and as such they don’t say too much about it. You can find this 1984 Subaru GL wagon for sale in Enumclaw, WA for $3000.
Considering their popularity as cult cars, and their reputation for durability, the pre-1990s Subarus seem to have largely disappeared from the roads. Perhaps, as with Alfas, you’ll see more of these if you’re in the Subaru (or Japanese Classic Car) scene, but for your average Johnny-on-the-street, they might as well have gone the way of the Peugeot or the Yugo. While they’re not terribly fast, and in fact are slow, they get bonus points for being leaders with the all-wheel-drive wagon package, and having a flat four engine. It’s not an original question, but what has been done to retrofit the older cars with turbocharged powertrains? While you’re contemplating that question, take a look at this 1986 Subaru GL 4WD wagon, listed for a mere $1400 in Santa Clara, CA.
Rusty But Trusty 