Yes, I have a thing for old Subaru wagons, jacked up like this. From the time it first arrived in 1975, the Subaru Four Wheel Drive wagon (CC here) was a bit of a middle finger salute to all of the ‘real’ 4×4 Jeeps, broncos, Scouts and Blazers. It could tackle just about anything they could, yet it was just a little Japanese shit box. And with a bit of jacking up, it can really go places, and without the disadvantages of harsh-riding, fuel-swilling big truck. Yes, my kind of 4×4.
If I could go back in time, I’d have bought a GL 4WD wagon in 1985 instead of the Jeep Cherokee we did buy that year. The Subaru, comparably equipped, would have cost about 30-40% less, and undoubtedly have given us less trouble than the Jeep, which was anything but a paragon of reliability. And the Subaru would have had more interior room, and gotten a lot better mileage. And Stephanie would have been ok with a mild lift lift. She’s probbaly liked the brush bar and lights too. Oh well…
I was a bit curious as to how much this lift affects the driveshaft angle. Well, it does, but I suppose it’s not to extreme.
With its independent strut suspension, the clearance is pretty impressive for a passenger-based car.
And if I had gotten one, who knows, I might still be driving it.
I also love these old-school Subaru 4wd/AWD wagons. I’d buy one myself if I could find a nice decent (minimal rust, everything on it works like it should, etc.) car. I’ve always preferred these over the Impresa that came around this time. My other favourite Subarus are first generation Legacy wagons.
Wow this is a 1992, looks more like a 1983-1984 model car.
Very dated and too boxy for 1992..horrible design.
This model used the 1984 Subaru Leone body, which explains it all. Still, a very boxy & generic design, I agree – just as most Japanese cars of the time, though. It seems that 1980s and early 1990s were bad for design (and good for quality) in Japan.
“It could tackle just about anything they could, yet it was just a little Japanese shit box. And with a bit of jacking up, it can really go places, and without the disadvantages of harsh-riding, fuel-swilling big truck.”
You somehow fail to mention that, if used for such purposes for more than one occasion, it would’ve disintegrated much, much quicker than a real, body-on-frame 4×4 vehicle, because, while it may indeed posses some serious off-road capability thanks to its transmission, the body is still not up to taking all the abuse involved in such activities. Nasty details such as low-hanging mufflers and completely exposed fuel tank do not help the situation, either. 4WD unibody wagons surely have their uses (I currently own one, for instance – a Volvo XC70), but that is definitely not “going places” where a regular FWD car can’t on a regular basis. This particular Subaru is also going to have issues with its wheel hub bearings real soon, thanks to these great looking negative-offset aftermarket wheels.
The many many off roaders using Cherokee XJs may disagree about unibody strength.
Agree entirely. While a little Subie wagon can go the same places as a harsh-driving, fuel-swilling truck, it can’t regularly do so. They might be fine for inclement weather and gravel roads but they won’t stand up to the regular abuse of dirt roads and real off-roading. I can tell you the one time I took my AMC Eagle off-road I could feel the unibody flexing and I knew it was wise not to push it further.
As for the Cherokee XJs, they had a “uni-frame” that was much sturdier than a regular unibody. Throw in much stronger suspension components and axles and the there really is little in common with a Subie wagon.
Out here in the mountain hinterlands there’s lots of Outbacks and AWD wagons but I very rarely see them out in the back-country. They’re far better suited to snowy highways then off-roading. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a Subaru of this vintage, they all rusted away, while it seems like half the population out here drives a ’88-’97 GM truck with over 300 000 kms on it. These GM trucks are only half rusted away 🙂
I still love good old 4×4 wagons though.
The owner’s handbook for my Audi 4000 quattro explicitly said that although it was AWD, it didn’t have the ground clearance for off-road work.
Aunt Donna’s second husband Mac had a Loyale of this vintage, fire engine red, manual trans, manual locking diffs, and white spoke wagon wheels with the most knarly tires he could find in that size.
His job at the time was the Maintenance Supervisor for a local factory. They only ran one 10 hour shift 4 days a week to get their 40 hours. He had to be to work heck or high water and he swore by that Subaru.
Those tall tires will affect the gearing a lot, the car must really struggle trying to pull them. Must be pretty hard on the clutch during serious off roading. A lot of exposed low hanging parts just waiting for a rock or deep pothole with their name on it.
Something like the old (body on frame straight axle) Suzuki Samurai were really the lightweight small 4 cylinder off roaders that could take the abuse and go places even the larger jeeps couldn’t. I had a lot of fun abusing an old girfriends ’85 Samurai, that thing was a little mountain goat and held up well off road long term. Hers (hardtop model) did have a small lift kit on it, probably around 2 or 3 inch but had stock street tires and rims.
Still, since the car is worth little at this point, why not jack it up and have fun with it until something terminal expires or gets bashed in?
These guys (with gas engine, a lift and better tires) had a more impressive performance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNdLbnrmsrM
It would look much better with 4 sets of PEUGEOT(504 OR 505)wheels.
I thought the previous generation possessed a much more memorable and stylish exterior. And it looked more natural when jacked up.
The rear end of these vehicles looked pretty jacked up to start with-as if they just put the suspension up on blocks and stuck a rear differential and axles under there. Made for some uneven tire wear, but it drove and handled very nicely, albeit SLOW with the standard engine. Not so sure our ’86 wagon would have held up so well off-road, exhaust clanged and banged even over speed bumps, but it made short work of Syracuse winters.
Lots of fun times with lifted Subies, would like to do a Fozza.
And there was the odd lifted sedan too
I leased a ’89 GL-10 wagon, had it for 5-years, automatic/AWD w/turbo on the 4-cylinder mill. The car had good power and a stable ride. It had a button on the dash to inflate the shocks, lifting the chassis about 2″ as I recall. I’m not sure if this is how the featured car is lifted, but in the NJ snow and other iffy road surfaces, it worked really well.
Very few issues with the car: front brakes wore quickly, and once the idler pulley bracket mounted to the engine cracked, losing all the important stuff driven by the belts..very weird.
I’ve had Subies across the years: ’79, ’84, ’89, ’96, ’99, and ’13. , and they’ve never disappointed me.