I don’t think the eagle-eye Barn Finds readers will find that this 1994 Subaru Justy has 100,384 miles on it, and not just because it has a six-digit odometer showing 000384. This is a definite time capsule. It’s not the type of car that most people lie in bed at night dreaming about, but I think it’s super interesting to see a vehicle three decades old in almost like-new condition.
Those tiny front wheels are the only ones powering this Justy, unfortunately. Yes, this one doesn’t have the push-button 4WD on the top of the five-speed manual shift knob. That will be the only thing holding back this auction as there’s a rabid group of Subaru Justy fans around the globe who would be clamoring to own this one if it was 4WD. Even so, I would love to own it and would probably keep it in my living room. I’d have lots of room as my wife would leave and take half the furniture.
We’ve seen a few Subaru Justy posts here over the years, most of them by yours truly because I’m such a fanatic. Our own Adam Clarke showed us an unusual Justy model that I had never heard of before a few days ago here on Barn Finds. I considered myself a Subaru Justy expert, or if not an expert, a superfan. Believe it or not, a 4WD, fuel-injected, five-speed Justy was at the top of my list, but also on my wish list was one that was 100% rust-free so it never happened. This car has it all, other than being front-wheel drive. It’s not that I’d drive it in the winter anyway, the thought of packing salty snow up underneath this thin metal gives me the shivers more than upper-Midwest winters do.
From 1984 to 1994, Subaru made the Justy and there were two body styles, a two-door hatchback, and a four-door hatchback, both available with either front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. We got the Justy here in the U.S. after 1987 and until 1994 and the Justy is still being offered in other countries, but it’s a badge-engineered Daihatsu or Toyota, not a Subaru by design. You can see the incredible condition of this car, even if the seller’s photos aren’t the best. There aren’t many photos showing the entire exterior of this time capsule in the frame, the others are cut off, but the seller provided a short video.
What is shown, though, makes me weep like a child. We rarely see cars in this condition here on Barn Finds. The interior looks almost like new, normally the top of the seat fabric is burnt and ripped, but not here. The underside looks rock-solid, as it should for a car with fewer than 400 miles on it. There is no mention as to why it was stored for so many years, and there is one small scratch on the rear hatch that I’d bet could be polished out for the most part.
The engine appears as clean as a whistle, as no Justy owner has probably ever said. It’s a Subaru EF12, a 1.2-liter SOHC fuel-injected inline-three with 73 horsepower and 71 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a five-speed manual to the front wheels only on this example and the seller has this time capsule listed here on eBay in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, there is no reserve, and one bid at $4,500. We know it isn’t a Hemi Cuda, but are there any others out there who like unusual, small cars, or am I the only one?
I am SO used to seeing a boxer on dese.
The Justy never had a boxer, only a 3 cylinder at least in the US. Some did have a CVT, the first of its kind.
CVTs were introduced, at least in postwar cars, by DAF in 1958 with the “Variomatic” transmission. They were sold in the U.S. though there were very few takers.
An artifact of the Variomatic design was that the cars could go just as fast in reverse as forward. DAF reverse racing enjoyed a period of popularity mainly in DAF’s home country of the Netherlands.
These offered one of the first “modern” CVTs with the cone-and-belt mechanism entirely in the transmission case and interchangeable with a manual gearbox (which this car has), and the first sold on the US market in any numbers.
DAF Variomatics were, and had to be, designed around their transmission. The drive belts were external which at least made them relatively easy and cheap to replace.
The seller knows the original owner, yet provides no backstory as to why the car has only a week’s worth of mileage. Cars in this class weren’t exactly built to last, so I don’t question the mileage, but I’m sure the “why” of the situation is a question most potential buyers will ask.
“… and would probably keep it in my living room. I’d have lots of room as my wife would leave and take half the furniture.”
Many of us know your pain, Scotty. To bring home a treasure needing maybe just a little fixing up (motor, interior, paint,etc) only to met at the door by a cold sneer that would make Harry Callahan flinch…
But how do you keep all the girls away?
I think you put something on the door handles.
I had one of these – same exact spec – and I really liked it. Granted, I had to dog-leg the shift lever to clear my right leg when I put it into first gear, but it was a great around-town car and did A-OK on the Los Angeles freeway system. In the right lane, anyway.
SIGN. ME. UP.
What a beautiful car. Sorry to anger the low-mile fanatics, but at that price point, I would warm-weather daily this car (no roads above 45 mph on my work commute).
Context: as a teen I delivered pizzas in a 1989 Geo Metro… a 3 cyl five-speed that could barely get out of its own way, but it got 45 mpg and was fun to drive.
Edit: Nevermind. I saw that feller’s comment about having to dog-leg the shift lever going into first. I am tall and this is a pain point for me : (
Ah well, the subcompact dream can still bounce around my subcompact brain
Once I bent the shifter it wasn’t bad at all…
Now here’s a “car” that won’t get out of its own way!!!!
This is super cool, I had a 1979 Subaru DL 2 door hardtop, was a fun car. I hit a car on an icy road and ended up in a ditch, pounded out the dented quarter and kept driving it, until I got rear ended.
The only new car I ever bought was a 1988 Chevy Sprint with a 3 cyl 5 speed, not super fast but still better than an automatic.
I know a dealer in Blacksburg VA that loves low mile Jap cars, has quite a collection. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gary Duncan ends up with this one, you should check out his private collection. https://www.duncanimports.com/
Auction update: WOW -This one sold for $8,201!