Things are opening up again here, in phases. And that includes the parking lot on top, which was closed due to being a city park. And so when we hiked up the other day, instead of having the place to ourselves, there were others too, in cars. Including these three young guys checking out their rides.
Let’s check them out too.
This is what it’s looked like these past couple of months. It was kind of nice actually. As have been other aspects of the shut down, like the dearth of traffic. But folks need to get moving again, and driving up to the parking lot on top of Skinner Butte is an old tradition.
Here’s what greeted us as we first walked up: a couple of Subarus, a VW and an Acura Legend Coupe. Nice!
And with all those open hoods, I just had to go take a look too.
The Forester’s engine looked a bit different than the one in ours, mainly the color. The owner said it had been swapped in from an Impreza. The engine room looked a bit splattered with white mud, which the owner explained had come about from a recent deep aquatic experience.
The old Subaru wagon showed of its 1.8 L non-headgasket-eating engine. These have developed a rep for being very durable. And these still had room for the spare under the hood.
And then there’s the Acura’s V6, looking a bit more sophisticated and refined than the gnarly boxers. The owner told me he bought it not long ago for $1000. It looked pretty sweet to me.
These gen1 Legend coupes were such a hot item in their day; a cheaper and more reliable BMW coupe. They still look mighty fine. And it’s in loving hands.
That Jetta has a VW of Salem plate frame which is also somewhat common here in Tualatin as well, but not always on a VW though.
There is a Legend sedan of this vintage in my neighborhood which looks sharp though the owner keeps parking it in front of the fire hydrant and crosswalks due to lack of space I guess.
How does one remove the spare tire from the Loyale without hurting your back!?
Neat looking engine swap in the Forester, wonder what aquatic experiences they encountered.
Washington County is opening up more slowly than Lane County with parks still being closed and most activities discouraged. My wife and I carry masks with us in case we encounter a bunch of people we cannot avoid during our walks.
I would assume they are counting on the tire’s light weight to prevent back injury.
That Legend coupe looks like a nice buy for a $1K!
Its easy to forget how light a little 13″ wheel and tire assembly is.
Good point, the 165/65R14 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage wheel and tire is pretty light.
That’s awesome. Reminds me of my highschool days of tinkering with and showing off similarly old/hand-me-down cars with my buddies (Japanese 4cyl econoboxes, not even a stick shift among the bunch!), and boy I’d have loved to have something as nice as the Legend or as interesting as a rust free Loyale wagon.
I always liked the british version of this. (I think it was called Rover 800 coupe).
I’m proud to have partaken in the “Skinner Butte Walk” last summer (thanks Paul!) and it’s good to see it’s back in action if perhaps a little un-socially isolated…but the young are immortal. That Legend Coupe certainly is a looker and has aged very well visually, those were the hot ticket back in late ’80’s LA. Later Loyales like this one are getting rarer even out here in Subaru-land but Foresters of all stripes still are everywhere, interspersed in the thicket of Outback.
That kid got a creaming deal on a running Legend for $1000. Especially a coupe. And it doesn’t even have the ubiquitous Honda skin cancer at the rear quarter/bumper crease. Glad to see it looks like he knows what he’s got and treats it accordingly.
I know the Subaru is the Official Auto Manufacturer of Eugene Oregon (if not ALL of Oregon), but the Acura Legend is my favorite here. I’ve always liked these.
A buddy of mine had a used one back in the late nineties, and it was still quite a nice car. His was a dark red, which looked very nice on this car.
As to the engine room on the red Subbie, I guess it has room to spare…
Ok, stop throwing things. I’ll show myself out now. ;o)
Ahh, the Legend coupe! It’s an 87-89, they received red/white taillight lenses for 1990. I’ve mentioned it before but the second generation, especially the coupe are my favorite cars of all time… this was my ‘94 LS with the rare 6MT. Both generations of these had the ability to roll down the rear windows – loved cruising on the freeway near Preludes and Accords and lowering all four windows before shifting down and taking off…
Looks like what I did yesterday.Had a patient in who told me he drove up in his new toy and naturally “new”, “toy”, and “drove” caught my attention. Suffice it to say him, my wife, and I spent a half hour in the empty parking lot looking over the car which my wife thought was cute. Get outta here!
I checked and there has never been anything done on this car which was a real cream puff. Whipped out my wife’s cell phone, I don’t own a smart phone so thank god she was there, and shot pictures of the car. I’ll have to do a quick story on the car as it really made my day and it had been a long time coming. Only hint:European.
That Forester is very confusing. It clearly shows a set of 1″? lift spacers on the front, and the good aluminum ones too, not the UHMW used on the cheapies. However if anything it looks a bit lowered and certainly not lifted. So does it have Legacy struts with their lower spring mounting location? Or does it have lowering springs and this is supposed to be some trick to get better handling from the lowering springs w/o the loss of ground clearance? It definitely has a more street oriented wheel and tire combo.
I do like the Man on Tractor sticker, unsurprisingly!
The other Subie surprisingly still has at least two of those factory wheel covers. Those tended to get destroyed due to their domed shape and general delicateness or the retaining clips break and they are lost somewhere on the road. Around here it seemed by they time they were 4 or 5 years old most cars with those covers seemed to have at least one missing or seriously damaged.
Is that VW brand new? I don’t know if it’s a testament to the other vehicles or a swipe at VW that it actually seems to jibe well with these other cars, two of which are 30 years old.
The Honda/Acura would be my pick – always liked them for some reason and that looks a decent example.
This IMMACULATE, 5 speed Legend sold on BAT for $9k a few days ago…*SIGH* I wanted it so badly!!
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-acura-legend-7/