(first posted 12/5/2015) Subaru owners were pleased with their cars, so R&T’s survey said. So how will the new DL do?
No surprises, Subaru keep moving forward. This is again from 1980 May issue:
My grandfather had a 1983 four-door sedan DL, and I was the only one besides him who drove that car (he was a grumpy old man, and to this day I don’t know what came over him, letting me drive his precious car, especially if you consider I was fresh from getting my driver’s license).
This was circa 1990, and I can remember a very boring car, yet- how shall I put this? Effective/competent. If you didn’t have any motoring aspirations, i.e. prepared to use it strictly from A to B- you were fine.
Still, I always joke about my Grandfather and this car, that until I came along, he never used fifth gear, and not a single Kph over 80…
I remember this generation Subaru. If nothing else, I liked its styling and its available (part-time) AWD. I’ve never owned one, nor has anyone in my immediate family. We always drove Toyotas and Datsuns (this was around the time Datsun became Nissan). Nevertheless, I’ve always liked Subarus of this generation.
…the very first Subbie two doors were little 1400cc boxers …sweet engines !! (early to mid-70’s?) ..in v.bright primary colours …lime green …canary yellow ..fire engine red etc etc ….fun days for cars from say ’68 to ’75 …maybe ‘post-psychedelic’ – lol 🙂
Actually the very first Subaru 2-door was the Subaru 360 sedan, equipped with a 2-stroke, 2-cylinder 360cc engine. They were sold here in the U.S. from 1968-1970.
This generation of Subaru always looked better as a wagon, hatch or BRAT than as a sedan or hardtop to me. Already (at least in Vermont) the 4WD wagon was the most-commonly seen version.
My Dad had the previous generation DL (2 door sedan) he bought it new in Winooski Vt. in 1976. Not sure when Subaru became all wheel drive, but I don’t think they offered it (yet) at least not on cars (the BRAT wasn’t available yet…maybe they had it on a wagon)…so his was just a FWD car (though I think it was the first in our family, who had only RWD up to that time). FWD was still kind of a big deal, as there still were relatively few cars that were FWD (even the 4WD vehicles were primarily RWD, with added differential in the front.
I don’t remember it having a prominent transmission “hump” in the middle of the car, so perhaps the exhaust pipe ran down the middle of the car instead of a driveshaft….I don’t think the car could have accomodated AWD in it
That gets me thinking, does anyone feel depived (of space) if they order the 2wd version of a vehicle that also is offered as a all wheel (or 4WD)? I guess it is kind of like having a “blank” on the dash if a feature isn’t ordered (like a radio, a clock, etc) except the hump is there for no real reason ….or do they have different floorpans for 2wd vs 4wd or awd (so you may actually have some extra room, albeit on the floor, if you order the 2wd vs 4 or awd modle)?
This is late, but here’s a pretty bad picture (that shows my middle sister but in back of her the car) of my Dad’s 1976 Subaru DL in the garage of our home in Shelburne, Vt…probably 1977 or so. The snow shows why he bought a Subaru (it wasn’t AWD back then, just FWD, but that beat the RWD of the lightweight Datsun 710 that preceeded it).
Back then there weren’t many Subarus around, and I guess my Dad took a bit of a chance on a lesser known brand, though he also did it 10 years before when he bought a new 1968 Renault R10 to replace his ’59 VW Beetle…Renaults weren’t unknown, but were hardly popular in the US (except for maybe the Daphine or the R5). He also looked at the Datsun F10, but was concerned about a vent on the hood near the carburator…looked to him like a last minute engineering patch…so we were spared the odd looks of the F10 (not that the Subaru DL is a good looking car. In script letters on both front fenders was the phrase “front wheel drive” which wasn’t too common in the US in 1976, so they wanted you to know it had it. 1976 was also a few years into the gas crunch, so people were willing to try a car that now is commonplace, but wasn’t back then.
The car seemed more flimsy than the Datsun it replaced…the hood blew open while my Dad was driving (frozen hood latch?) and it wouldn’t close right after that, instead of getting a new hood my dad put a flex cord between the 2 front wheel wells…it looked terrible, especially on a 2 year old car…but the car got him to work and back (about all it was used for…it was his 2nd car).
The Subaru was passed down to my older sister (not the one in the photo) in 1980. The car was automatic, somewhat unusual for the time for a small car, but none of my sisters drove standard, and my Mother has always been uncomfortable driving standard (despite learning to drive on a semiautomatic car). She also married in 1980, and my brother-in-law never cared for the car much until he learned that it was the official car of the US ski team, they allowed Subarus to park free at events and he was a big skier at the time (native Vermonter). They kept the car until maybe 1984 when it was probably a pile of rust (though it did get Rusty Jones treatment when new).
This is even over two years later…but at least the license plate is legible. Sort of. Your sister looks reasonable; hope she doesn’t get TOO embarassed!
Yes, it was an old photo…not sure what she’d be embarrassed about?
Didn’t have too many pictures of the Subaru since it was “just a car”.
(don’t think I have any pictures of the R10 unfortunately).
I still have a set of those cross country skis hanging on the wall…on my current garage wall. I live in central Texas, and have actually used them (well, more than 35 years ago) here, I’m a bit of a pack rat and admit they’re something I probably should let go since they are very rarely used.
At least I don’t still have the 1963 Sears Silvertone 19″ TV that required quite awhile to warm up that we sold in that very garage before they moved…I still say “warm up” when I turn on the computer to watch television…”boot up” is accurate, but old habits die hard (especially since we usually want a computer to “cool down” instead).
Say what you will but this car well and truly put Israel on wheels in the 70s. It had a combination of price/reliability none of the competitors could beat. At the time I hated it and all that it represented, but from the distance of more than 30 years I can appreciate it and what it did.
I remember these as cramped penalty box cars that rusted horibly
Was this the Legacy or Impreza predessor?
No, you’re thinking of the larger DL/GL cars that debuted for the 1985 model year in the U.S. (and continued, renamed the Loyale, after the Legacy was introduced 5 years later). The Loyale can probably be considered the predecessor of the Impreza.
Subaru used to sell FWD cars. I wish they still did, because I have no use for an AWD car in the Desert Southwest. I’d be waiting at the door of the dealership the day they came out with a FWD Impreza.
But… since Subaru sells every car they can build, and often at MSRP, why should they care about me?
What, if not the AWD, makes you desire an Impreza over say a Civic or a Focus?
Despite the poor write up in this rag these were quite good cars I mostly saw wagons with AWD and on the blacksoil of western NSW these cars aquitted themselves well, in the dry they will buzz along at 125kmh all day no problem and when it gets wet they will claw their way along ok the need to stop every so often to clean the wheel arches out and scrape the tyres gets old quickly but you will get home. Sporty? they were never sporty cars even after Possum Bourne put Subaru on the rallying map the showroom cars were not sporty even turboed they are slow untill you get to thev twin turbo variety and then the roadholding is below par for the speeds they can attain, but these early models had no sporting ability or pretense.
Rough & noisy engine, they said. One thing that hasn’t changed since then, at least with the Impreza WRX, is the rough-sounding engine, like it has an exhaust leak. I know they’re quick, but it’s kind of hard to impress fellow punters with this, I should think.
My grandparents had 2 hatchbacks, havent seen a Subaru of this gen in over a decade.
Did this model have the center-mounted light that was behind the Subaru logo in the grille?
And an answer, six years later: No. The only one that the “cyclops” lamp appeared on were the 1980-82 GL models with single square headlamps.
Subaru used myriad grilles on these cars, depending on year and model, and sometimes even bodystyle. A friend had a front wheel drive 1980 GL wagon, but it did not have the center lamp… so it may have been optional, only available or possibly standard on 4wd models. My Grandma’s 1982 GL sedan had quad square headlamps, which I think appeared on non-4wd models that year. There were a number of variations in tail lamps and instrument clusters in these years depending on same criteria, too.
I recall these being illegal in some states. This was a problem for the ’48 Tucker as well as the Super-Lite that was optional on ’69 and ’70 Dodges and Plymouths.
A guy at work had the wagon . We all were shocked when he told us that the timing belt had to be changed every 30,000 miles. his car did have the light behind the emblem in the grill .it was cable controled and was stuck half open. his car didn’t rust as much as it desolved
If that wagon was of the same vintage that we’re talking about here (late 1970s/early 1980s) I’m pretty sure it would have had a pushrod engine – so no timing belt. As I recall the camshaft was a direct gear drive on those.
And no timing belt needs changed at 30K miles. Somebody was blowing smoke up his arse…and if he had the center light, it was a pushrod engine anyway
I find this car mostly attractive fromm the side and rear, but the subies of this generation always had seemed to be too fussy in the front.
I had a 1980 GL 4WD Wagon that I bought in 1993 for $475. This writeup reminded me of some of the characteristics that I had forgotten. It was really a tool and not a car for passionate car people at all. I always liked the style of the fastback/wagon body style and it was a really versatile, useful car with 4 doors, a hatch, folding seats, 4WD, etc. It had a funky blue plaid interior and (by the time I got it) a decent amount of rust, mismatched body panels and primer spots. The driving ‘experience’ was pretty mundane, but if you didn’t try and push it, it would acquit itself just fine in all but interstate situations—the 4WD didn’t get a 5 speed until later on, so the engine was really buzzing at highway speeds.
The thing about it was that it was inkillable!! I replaced both front axles and then drove it from FL to CA and back. It ruptured a heater hose and overheated on I20 in AZ so bad that the oil was smoking out of the dipstick! I was SURE that it would be seized solid, but to my amazement it started right up when it cooled off and it ran fine right up until I (sadly) totaled it in a stupid accident.
Not too dissimilar a driving experience from my ’13 Outback – perfectly competent, carries like a pack mule, gets you practically anywhere without drama….but it’s not going to thrill you carving in the canyons.
I’m ok with that.
My Aunt had a red 1983 GL-10 Coupe – it was absolutely loaded – it had a power moonroof, a/c, cruise, alloy wheels and all power equipment. It even had the coolest digital dashboard! She loved that car, and because of it she became Subaru loyal (no pun intended) until this day. She now drives a late model Forester after having 3 additional Subarus in a row.
In 1990 she decided she wanted a new Subie. The fate of her mint condition, loaded ’83 with only 35,000 miles on it was that it went to her niece in college. Lasted two months before it got totaled. Need I say more?
I can’t ever remember seeing a coupe with the round-eye front end…
The oldest Subaru I’ve ever driven was a Loyale from the next generation and even that was still very much a “little truck” despite being well-equipped for the time.
I have this DL model sitting in my driveway now, it have the 5spd and a vinyl half roof. I am not trying to sell it, to start off. I want to restore it. It still has only 60k original miles. Mechanically I have restored everything. I am looking for cosmetic interior and exterior pieces or someone to point me in the right direction please. Let alone a proper paint shop in or around Vancouver wa / Portland OR that won’t rape me on prices. I have attached some pictures.
If Lew Woods is still running the Maaco in North Portland by Legacy Hospital, you can get a decent price and a decent paint job. I had my Miata painted there in 2019. It’s not a flawless paint job, but certainly adequate for a car I drive for autocross and for fun.
I had a neighbor who was driving one of these when he got his license in 1985. I’m not sure if anyone was envious because he was a little older and got his license and car sooner, but for whatever reason there were other kids giving him a hard time about his new car. I remember him defending it by saying that Subaru had the highest customer satisfaction, at which point I stepped in and suggested that anyone who would buy such a car must have tremendously low expectations. He was an easy target because he wasn’t all that charming himself and his rich parents’ other cars were a big BMW and a Jaguar XJ. They soon moved up and out to a house on the golf course of the best country club in central Virginia.
We reconnected via social media. He grew up to be a decent man with good values. He died a few months ago at the age of fifty-one. I try not to be as quick to pass judgement and sentence on people as I did in my youth. Subarus are worse now than they were then though.
Interesting read. I’m rather surprised at the response regarding the styling overhaul that kind of reads as merely adequate. Makes me want to know what they think was the styling leader in this segment then, because I thought all four body styles were a really good balance between soft edges and crisp shape; the Golf and Corolla in 1980 were “more modern”, I suppose, but pretty stark overall. The dashboard design, particularly the GL models with the console connecting to the dash, was way ahead of it’s time; true centrally-mounted radio and rotary HVAC controls stacked over one another, push button air recirculation, the pods for lamps and wipers (although that ended up being mostly an 80’s fad), the overall shape becoming the norm and lasting well up until recently. The round headlamps, so-so alloys, and gaudy accessory stripe on this example does the shape no favors, and the US-style rear lamps were also a downgrade, in my opinion:
I stand by my opinion of 2015, the 3-box models don’t carry the styling off as well as the wagon, hatchback and BRAT.
I’m not sure how different the taillights are for the US market, but there are early, mid-run and late variations.
In 1985 I had one of these. My choice would have been 5 speed manual, but it was the 3 speed automatic since I wasn’t the primary driver. No tachometer, but at the 55 mph speed limit at the time it had to be doing close to 3,000 rpm. At 65 mph I’d guess it would be close to 3500 rpm. Back then a manual transmission would typically be at less rpms on the highway than an automatic, unlike today,
I also thought the wagons were attractive.
Had a ’83 GL wagon, FWD and I liked it. Also one of the few cars I have ever sold…