Having once been common, this generation of Subaru (Leone/GL 1971-1981) has been conspicuously absent on the streets hereabouts for some years. But just when I think a certain car is gone forever, representative of the species appears, giving me comfort. What’s a world without narrow body Subarus?
And this one sports a bit of a massive surprise on its tiny little butt:
A very solid home-brew steel bumper with integrated tow hitch. It looks sturdy enough to pull a horse trailer. It was a different world in the seventies, for more reasons than the stereotypical ones.
I don’t know what this 1600cc “Quadrozontal” (as Subaru called its boxer four in ads back then) actually hauled, but I used a similar vintage Corolla 1600 to flat tow my busted VW from Indiana back to Iowa. It never broke a sweat, but then it was a fairly flat stretch of interstate the whole way.
The 1.6 L “wasserboxer” four belted out 67 hp, about average for the time. These engines were tough, and helped establish the rep Subaru developed at the time as being the perfect replacement for a VW. I wonder if anyone swapped in one of these into a Beetle back in the day?
This is a Front Wheel Drive Subaru, in case anyone was wondering. The Four Wheel Drive version, especially the wagon, was of course coming into its own at the time, and for good reason; there was nothing remotely comparable then. The arrival of a small, light, efficient, affordable, durable 4WD wagon was like manna from Japan. For folks living in serious snow country like Vermont, Maine, Colorado, the Sierra Nevadas and the Cascades, this was a revelation. But the majority of Subarus back then were the FWD variety, as 4WD was still seen as something only for those that really needed it, not as a necessity for driving to the mall in Texas.
Yes, slide the seat all the way back and recline the seatback some, and you’re practically sitting in the back seat. Such was life back then with these small cars.
One of the styling flourishes of the )Japanese) times.
Subaru had a relationship with Nissan at the time, which influenced its styling. I rather like this, actually. It’s very much of its time, but without the odd proportions and excesses that some of the Datsuns were burdened with.
Related reading:
Trailhead Classic: 1978 Subaru BRAT – Subie Doo
At first sight, I thought it was some boy racer a 17 yr old had as his first car from money scrapped up while working in fast food restaurants.
The lack of bumpers, hopped up wheels, and blacked out windows are a dead giveaway. Reminds me of some of my early cars.
I like it, it’s like a Kammback Toyota Celica of the same vintage, with a forward-canted nose. Has that little Camaro-style kick-up at the C-pillar, but doesn’t go overboard with it.
First Subaru got the folks who would’ve bought a Beetle, then they got the people that would’ve bought an AMC Eagle or Jeep Wagoneer, then they got the people who would’ve bought a Volvo, then later with more sporty offerings they got the people who would’ve bought a Saab. What niche is next?
Very mild but tasteful enhancements to my eyes and nice that it’s an everyday economy car being so well maintained. The extra beefy DIY rear bumper and hitch is something I have only ever seen on very rusty trucks. Anything that runs into that bumper will be left with a permanent reminder.
The Subaru dealer (in 1982) told me cruise control would only be another “$179.98, IN – stalled!”
To which I’d have liked to respond, “You bet it’ll be ‘IN – stalled’ ! You sure aren’t gonna sell me a handful of wires & a push-button!
Next day, I bought a Renault LeCar that i drove for 10 yrs.😎
Speaking of a Nissan link, up until recently the rear diffs on Subarus were pretty much the same as the B210 and 510 Datsuns. There are a few other parts that also held over for 40+ years from Nissan.
These Subies did have one odd proportion, and that was the front overhang vs. the rear overhang. When these were new, we used to joke that the brakes were so good, the wheels stopped before the body did.
Just so! To me, that problem quite ruined the look of the things. It just looks gawky.
If you’re a Saab fan you’ve seen the NEVS Emily GT concept pop up a lot lately. Some say it doesn’t look like a Saab. I agree; it looks like this old Subaru.
Here in Michigan, if the head gaskets didn’t get this gen Sube, the rust did. My 1978 issue of CR has some big, black, dots for that engine.
Learned to drive stick on my future wife’s ’77 sedan. Engine sounded like a Tommy Gun and the car desperately needed a 5th gear for highway driving, but otherwise was pretty good. Trunk was very roomy. We would have bought a new hatchback 15 years ago but the seats, especially the front passenger with few adjustments, were not comfortable. And the stick was rubbery. Today’s AWD Subarus are better with an automatic.
If I were to do a COAL series, this would be my start. My mother owned this car in blue and to her dying day she spoke fondly of it. When it died in 1980 my father replaced it with, of all things, a 1977 Grand Marquis that felt like it was at least a block long, which my mother despised for its size and gas consumption.
In 1981 they bought their first new car together: a Citation. And that’s a story for a different day. But I digress. As for the Subaru, my father still has the included tool kit from the car. He was somewhat less fond of the car, as you might have guessed by his replacement, but every so often he slips in a compliment about it.
I worked for a florist back in 1979-82 and we had one, very tired Dodge 100 van! Slant six, torque flight and air conditioning. It was really rough!!
The owners were convinced that getting a small, fuel sipping hatchback would make a great addition. After all, if we worked holidays, they paid us hourly to use their vehicles, or mileage plus hourly to drive or own.
My dad had an SR5 so I was set, and another worker used his dad’s Volkswagen Rabbit diesel!!!
Back to the Subbie: it seems to me like an 80-81 model. The badges said GL10 and it was front drive. Zero options except an automatic and air, it was a little workhouse until… I got a call. Grab one of my friends, take the van and go tow the Subbie to the dealership. Ok?
It won’t run was all I was told.
I later found out that it had been filled with diesel fuel!!!!
I know the repair was very expensive and from then forward, it just never ran near as well!!!!
My Dad bought a ’76 DL (not the GL) new in Winooski Vt. Yes, it was FWD and had the script I’d forgotten…but that’s a big reason he bought it (living in Vt). 4WD was only on one of the Subaru models that year, and he thought coming off RWD on a light car FWD would be sufficient, it was better than RWD on a light car.
His was kind of a pale yellow, very common at the time, I didn’t care for the color…with those same brown leather look seats that were vinyl. At least the seats on my ’78 Scirocco impersonated leather better than these.
It was an OK car…the hood latch didn’t latch one time when it was maybe 2 years old and the secondary latch must have also failed and the hood blew open and buckled such that it no longer latched. Dad got a couple shock cords between the front wheelwells never bothering to get it fixed. The spare was under the hood, guess someone could have stolen it (or the engine) but nobody messed with it.
My sister got it as a hand-me down and drove it into the ground, not hard up in Vermont as it rusted pretty quickly. My brother-in-law wasn’t much interested until he found that Subaru was the car of the US ski team back then, and he could park it for free during events, so it came up in his eyes. Subarus weren’t yet very common when we lived up in Vermont, but it’s been 42 years since we left (my niece still lives in South Burlington my sister lived up there till 2002 or so after my brother-in law’s father passed away). It was an OK car but didn’t really impress me with Subaru, I’ve stuck with VW and FWD (also moving to Texas you really don’t need even FWD sticking to paved roads, let alone awd) so I keep it simple drivetrain wise.
We had a 72 Wagon in FWD only. Used to put a small Sunfish like sailboat on the roof and take it to the beach. Eventually an older brother got it and drove it till rust killed it.
Yes, the spare tire was under the hood. My dad used to open the hood, put his sandwich in and drive for a while, pretty soon, warm sandwich.