Subaru Leone

The Subaru Leone is a 2-door coupé / 2-door hardtop / 2/4-door Sedan (car) / sedan / 5-door station wagon / 2-door pickup truck (Subaru BRAT / BRAT/Brumby) from Subaru, built from 1971 to 1994, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Under the bonnet: 1.1 L Subaru EA engine#EA-61.

The background

The Subaru Leone is a compact car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Subaru from 1971 to 1994. The word leone is Italian for lion. It was released as a replacement for the Subaru 1000 and was the predecessor of the Subaru Impreza. All Leones were powered by the Subaru EA boxer engine. Most cars were equipped with optional four-wheel drive.

At the time of its introduction, the Leone was Subaru's top model until 1989, when the larger Legacy was introduced. Although released in Japan and some export markets as the Leone, for many years, this was the only vehicle sold internationally by Subaru where Subaru's smaller kei cars were not commonly sold. As a result, in major markets such as Australia, Europe and North America, it was instead identified with a trim level designation, some of which included: DL, GL, GLF, GLF5, GL-10, and RX. The car is thus often referred to simply as the Subaru GL or the Subaru L series. In Israel, due to the Arab league boycott, Subaru was the only Japanese car sold between 1973 and 1991, when import of other Japanese brands resumed. As a result, the Subaru Leone held about 30% of the entire local passenger car market in those years, totalling approximately 220,000-250,000 units sold.

The engineering

Power comes from 1.1 L Subaru EA engine#EA-61; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 775 kg. It shifts through a 4/5-speed manual / 3-speed automatic. The wheelbase is 2455 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Where it sits

Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Subaru 1000; its successor was the Subaru Impreza; assembly was at Yajima Plant, Ōta, Gunma, Japan. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Renault 5, the Suzuki Jimny, the American Motors Corporation AMC Gremlin — show what else the money bought that year. Its Subaru stablemates include the Subaru Chiffon and the Subaru Lucra.

What it costs now

There is no federal ownership record for the Subaru Leone — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.