I was walking past the Falling Sky Deli when I saw the distinctive butt of a Subaru XT. And then its backup lights came on. The driver waved me on, so I proceeded by to get some shots of it as it pulled out. These have become rare, especially so the XT6 version.
Now that I look at his picture, it looks a bit off at the front wheel. Maybe it’s just because it’s slightly cocked. And it looks like its sitting higher than stock. That’s hardly uncommon for Subarus hereabouts, but I’ve never seen an XT jacked up. The boxer six made some fine sounds as he blipped the throttle.
I’m happy to see one still on the road. Perry Shoar did a typically comprehensive CC on one here.
That car has brand new license plates so either it is a recent transplant to Oregon, or the new owner had to get new plates. Either that or the car required new plates for some reason. I opted to ditch the twenty four year old Oregon plates when I bought my 24 yeqr old vehicle a few years back.
Nice catch with this XT6 and I hope the car has a long life ahead. I’m curious what the lift is for?
Those plates have been around since the late 80s. Before that yellow was the standard.
Those had the height adjustable suspension Subaru fitted to some of their other models its probably lifted to clear the over size wheel/tyre combo, there is one of those XT Subies roaming about locally and its entirely stock and rides on much smaller rims.
Wow, it’s outstanding to see one of these still roaming around. If I’m not mistaken, these XT6’s came originally with air suspensions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was replaced at some point with springs, which may account for the high ride height… intentionally or not. Just a guess.
And like Teddy said above, the Oregon plates are brand-new… the LX-sequence plates were issued in late 2019.
Aha; that explains the waiting-for-a-flood stance.
A buddy of mine, in 1993, got a Japanese turbo-4 version of this *free* from his neighbor in Japan. We were Navy stationed in Yokosuka, so we were exempt from a lot of the taxes and such that made owning older cars there uneconomical. I had a ’78 Skyline sedan that really should have been crushed years before but was passed down over and over to Sailors as cheap ($75 and got my money back a year later!!) wheels for tooling around base and occasional forays elsewhere.
It was easier and cheaper for the neighbor to give it away than pay a junkyard (that’s how Japan works) to take it.
I once knew a Subaru mechanic who was frankly excited about the H6.
Ah…remember when Subaru was the Saab of Japanese cars? Weird, but completely lovable and capable. Those after-market wheels are too normal for it, though. This is more like it:
Those replacement wheels are actually Subaru; pre-facelift second generation Impreza RS / WRX alloys circa 2002. Agreed they are lacking here…
And let’s not forget the steering wheel these came with. Very Citroenesque. If only Subaru took the same risks with their current designs.
I owned an ’88 Gl-10 wagon (turbo), it had a button on the dash that lifted the chassis approx 1-2 inches using an air pump. I think it was for ground clearance in snowy climates
My mom had an ‘89 XT6 about 15 years ago; we were in desperate need of a car and the photoless listing suggested it was a Legacy… imagine my mom’s surprise when we arrived to see this strange looking coupe! I was head over heels in love with it and she absolutely disliked it but the price (about $650) was right and we all commuted in it for a few months until we were gifted a ‘89 Civic sedan which was a massive increase in useable space.
One thing is that the air suspension was not standard fitment to all XT6s as ours (an automatic) didn’t have it but it would explain the ride height on the feature car. Those wheels are 16” Impreza alloys BTW.
There was one of those sitting and rusting in someones driveway near my grandmas. it dissappeared maybe about 5 years ago and I havent seen one since.
it looked so futuristic when it came out. so dated today. but i love dated.
All the 4WD 6 cylinder models have air suspension and sit rather high off the ground. Those 16″ impreza wheels are much taller than the stock 14″ wheels though. So the vehicle height is probably about stock but the tire height is not. The FWD sits lower. Only the Canadian models have height adjust switch. Converting to conventional suspension (common) often leads to front/rear height disparity which is probably what’s causing the odd look here.
They also have electronic power steering (no belt driven pump) which has become common in new cars the last few years, and one wiper blade, headlight washers, joystick shifter, asymmetric steering wheel, and the turbo 4 cylinder models have a totally 1980’s retro digital instrument cluster.