We’ve seen three Subaru convertibles here on Barn Finds over the years, even though the company never officially offered one, at least in the Leone family. It has the potential to be a heck of a popular car for Cars & Coffee duties with some cleaning and deferred maintenance. This 1983 Subaru GL convertible made by American Custom Coachworks can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Windham, Maine, and the seller is asking $4,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!
This is one dusty car inside and out. We don’t know the history or how it was stored, or even how long it was stored, unfortunately. I’m guessing it may have been stored with the top down, as the interior looks as dirty as the exterior does. In case you were wondering, here are the three convertibles we’ve seen on Barn Finds. The first one, at the bottom from 2016, is really the only serious car of the bunch, and it’s exactly like this model, a 1983 American Custom Coachworks convertible conversion (say that 10 times in a row) of a 1983 Subaru Leone. In this case, for the U.S. market, this car is a GL model.
I don’t see a single flaw on the exterior of this car, do you? No dings, dents, and I don’t see any rust at all, not even surface rust. We don’t get underside photos, and being located in Maine, they certainly get winter and snow, ice, and most likely, road salt. This car doesn’t appear to have been used in the winter, but we don’t know for sure. It’s said to have had three owners, and the current owner and seller got it in trade for some work that they did. The Leone was known by trim levels in North America, and the DL was a nice one. How about that rear bumper! Wowie.
Here’s where your YouTube channel will get its start, buying this car for under $4,000, trailering it home, although it does run and drive well, and detailing the heck out of this thing. Instant stardom. Wait, why am I not doing that?! They say the top motor isn’t working, so there’s that. There is also no engine photo, sadly, but it should have Subaru’s EA81, a 1.8-liter OHV boxer-four with 73 horsepower and 94 lb-ft of torque. It’s sent through a five-speed manual to the front wheels, and this car is said to run and drive well, believe it or not. A few years ago, this one would already be on a covered trailer headed my way; there is just no question about that. Are any of you into custom oddball vehicles like this Subaru convertible?
Ok. So at first I thought…… Scottys really made a number of terrific artist renditions of a Subie Drop Top…. Totally lifelike!!! Then I realized, oh hey its real!! They did a nice job from what i can see with the conversion. I wonder if it would clean up. Needs inside storage for sure. I had a chance as a teen to drive some older Subies like this and I really like them. Hoping this gets back on the road, and that top motor working again too. Nice one Scotty!!!
With some tlc and a good clean add some pinstripes and take it to the nearest cars and coffee or radwood car show. I like unique convertibles. It really is great to see something different and not another belly button camaro or mustang that many others have.
Just think. After all that photoshop you bagged a real one. 😀
Looks fun but has it been sitting outside with the top down ? That’s a lot of dirt on the inside, but if I had it I would be playing in the snow with the top down
Going by the interior photo, looks like the ragtop canopy may be falling apart (note the uneven fold of fabric behind the back seats), so even if it was stored with the top up, that might not have been much better than top-down if, say, the rear window area had blown out or collapsed.
Getting a new replacement canopy would seem difficult and expensive, as none of the usual suppliers are likely to have one on offer — e.g., Robbins doesn’t list one, but if they ever did, maybe they still have the pattern on file to fab up as a custom order.
From what I can tell, American Custom Coachworks became American Limousine Sales, which is still in business, so if you’re lucky they might still have a pattern on file to send an upholsterer; otherwise, an upholsterer would need to use the old canopy as a template to try and recreate a new one.
Whos, hold on Hoss! Isn’t Subaru AWD? The converters did an excellent job . I hate when these aftermarket converters have the folded top and boot on top of the deck like it’s 1934. It’s a cool idea but the trouble is the thing just looks vaguely like a K car.
The back right quarter shot looks like a 450SL. Definitely a different car. Kinda cool.
This one’s 2wd. Started off as a hardtop coupe with the same side window treatment as a Mirada/ gen2 Cordoba. Either 1983 or 84 was the first year for 4wd on the hardtop and sedan, before that it was strictly for the wagon, hatchback and BRAT.
Not all Subies were AWD in this era; this model was available with AWD, but many or even most were FWD.
Nice looking car. I’ve seen Subaru cars of this vintage, but never a convertible. Assuming the body is straight, and the frame is solid, this this looks like it would make a great clean up project. If it can be driven as it is, great.