Just like the new modern Subaru BRZ is an innovation for Subaru, back in the 80s Subaru’s 4WD technique was innovative and ground breaking. Subaru’s 4WD is just like a baseball bat: you aim for it and hit the apex at the right spot.
So of course they applied the 4WD package to all model lineups including the new Leone 2. Funny to see them now going back to 2WD…
Tag: subaru leone
It has been a while since I posted tokusatsu… So what about this 70s series called Emergency Command 10-4 10-10 complete with a Subaru Leone GSR coupe?
The question is if this Leone GSR was a match against Ultramans Mazda Cosmo. Seeing the number of episodes available on Youtube (next to zero) I fear that Ultraman had a much bigger audience…
In this short clip (one of the few I found) you can see the Leone in action follwing a bunch of vampires in whispering mode: Continue reading
Obviously Subaru named the Leone after the Leo constellation in the Zodiac and it was their best selling car for 23 years (when it got replaced by the Impreza). The name Leone came from the Italian word for Lion but strangely enough the commercial on TV showed this Italian named car in a German environment:
Maybe the Lion likes German roads better?
After shopping at the local DIY shop I spotted this Leone parked right next to the parking lot:
Subaru Leone DL sedan
The car is a 1.6 DL. DL should stand for DeLuxe, but in Dutch terminology it means bottom of the lineup. :P
Perhaps the owner is following the latest automotive trends, but I rather suspect the roofrack was intentional to haul some stuff back home:
Subaru Leone DL sedan
BTW: the people from the Netherlands probably already noticed it by the sign, but I shot this picture already a few months ago… ;)
I’m fully aware that my Subaru postcount is way below the Toyota and Nissan postcount! So let’s do something about that:
This 1982 second generation Leone advertisement shows exactly why you should buy a 4WD Leone: as a professional baseball player (Tatsunori Hara) you really need it to get to second base with Hiromi Iwasaki!
As a child I still remember going to a Subaru dealer with my dad in the mid 80s. My dad wanted to buy a car and me and my brother tried to persuade him to buy a XT6. When that failed we tried the sporty looking 3 door GL coupe, like this one but then in red:
Down on the Street: Subaru GL (Leone)
Next time I saw the GL coupe again was when I lived in Amsterdam. Someone in the neighborhood owned a white 1.6 GL coupe and parked it regularly across the street.
Down on the Street: Subaru GL (Leone)
So when I spotted this chocolate brown GL coupe I just had to take pictures of it! I did not see the owner nearby, but looking at the seat position he or she must be quite small!
Down on the Street: Subaru GL (Leone)
Looking at the car now makes me think that it is Subaru’s model placed against the Toyota Carina A60 coupe and the Datsun Bluebird 910 SSS coupe.
And what about my dad? Well, somewhere at the back of the dealership there was this gold painted Carina DX TA60 wagon parked. It had been converted to run on LPG, had a tow hook and foldable rear seat. Guess in what car we drove home that afternoon… ;)