The title of this one could have been any number of things, from “Nicest One Left?”, to “Solid Survivor”, or maybe “Update!”, as I think we may have seen this car back in 2018, or one exactly like it. The seller has this 1978 Subaru DL sedan listed here on craigslist somewhere in “South New Jersey State”, according to the seller, and they’re asking $6,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Anthony M. for sending in this tip!
We may or may not have seen this car, as in this exact car, back in September of 2018 right here on Barn Finds. What do you think, is it the same one? Without a VIN, we don’t know, of course, but it could be. Subaru offered the Leone model in North America beginning in 1972 and sadly, we don’t get a lot of photos of this car, just six and none showing the front/grille at all. The seller says that the paint is fading in some areas but we don’t get any detailed photos and the ones in the listing are fairly small.
This is the only other exterior photo, I kid you not. I know, I don’t understand it either but that’s what we have to work with. Subaru made a two-door DL Coupe, a two-door DL sedan, and a four-door DL sedan in this era and this is a front-wheel-drive car, not 4WD or AWD as you might expect from Subaru. Wagons could be had with 4WD in 1977 and that’s when the BRAT was introduced, too. This car would have had standard power brakes with discs in front and drums in the rear.
The seller shows just two interior photos and none of the back seat. Here’s the other photo showing the front and things look fantastic so we have to assume that the back seat area is just as nice, as well as the unseen trunk. This car has the optional automatic but a four-speed and five-speed manual would have been available and would have helped quite a bit with MPG and driving fun.
Speaking of driving fun, here is Subaru’s EA-71, a 1.6-liter boxer-four, which had 67 horsepower and a spare tire sitting in the engine compartment. The seller says that this car was sold new in California, they’ve owned it since 2021, and there are “cracks on top of the dashboard, a tear in the driver’s seat bolster, and a tear on top of the rear seatback.” This looks like a really nice example, do you think they’ll get their $6,000 asking price?
I remember my neighbor had a FWD wagon when I was in high school. At one point the clutch needed replaced and I remember to service the clutch the engine was removed rather than the transaxle much like VW air-cooled cars. Rick and his neighbor lifted the engine out while I made sure nothing snagged along the way. Simple and reliable. They were slow as a snail but so was everything else in the malaise era.
All true, two guys could pluck engine out and replace clutch on the work bench
Wheee-doggies, unheard of and even more amazing to actually see one today. Since most, if not a great majority were AWD and sold in the north,,,NONE remain. The only way, is a FWD from a dry climate. By 1978, Subaru had cemented their name as a viable alternative to Americas offerings, and never looked back. Today, just about every car maker went with trucks, and Subaru is about the only passenger type car left. About as exciting as a church service, they did one thing, got great gas mileage, and a sore axx and poor heaters( and jeers from people like my old man, who just knew they would never be a threat) were the trade off . Quite a find.
I will never forget my grandmother telling me that she and my grandfather were considering replacing their 1973 Plymouth Scamp with a Subaroodle, I had to choke back the laughter as I explained that it was “Subaru DL.”
I worked with a guy who had managed a quick lube shop. He had a customer ask about getting stuff done on his “Goolie.”
What the???
It turned out the guy had a Pontiac 6000LE.
I’m going to say yes it is the same car from September just scrolling through the photos and looking at the faded paint either way I’m sticking with my 2022 legacy unit the warranty expires then I will get something else
I remember cars like this from my childhood . I had a neighbour who had a 4wd Subaru wagon.
Neighbors in upstate NY in the early eighties had one as their woods car. Had a 4×4 between the strut towers as a badly needed brace for “landings”. Slow fun! Was probably a $50 car.
If only there were more pics on craigslist of the car than were posted.
Let me tell you , these were new when i was growing up in a small KY coal mining town. Saw very very few. As in maybe 2. Most locals considered em exotic , dangerous and something wrong with you if you bought one. So of course I loved em. My family was amount the few that had European and Japanese cars. Needless to say I moved outta town when I could
In 1973 my Dad bought us a new yellow Subaru DL 4-door with tan interior, which ended up being a fantastic commuter car and was the first of three ’70s Subarus they bought for our family of 5 drivers. Great, dependable cars, the FWD got us all through the blizzards of ’77 and ’78, and they got much better MPG than our family cars (first a ’71 Olds Delta 88, then a ’77 Bonneville Brougham). Problem was their paper-thin sheet metal rusted quickly, but otherwise our Subarus were trouble-free cars.
Looks like it’s in Juliustown,NJ.