Lukas

The rear-drum-brakes came off the Station and are already prepared for the installation on the Turismo: The carbed EA82 had drums on the rear, the Turbo-version disc-brakes. My Leone had the discs on the rear fitted as a modification, but I want to have it original and my mechanic recommended the drums on the rear, especially for my Leone which will have to stay in a garage most of it´s life from now and will never get driven hard anymore. Lukas

Only in the US I would say.

I´d pay quite a lot of money for one of this!

Now you are shocked, arent you?

Pictures please!

Made in Japan. They are new cars and are already in contact with road-salt...

I was prepared for comments like that to come from you US-guys! The Leone sold quite well, but is already a very rare car here because of winter-conditions like in your rustbelt-states. I haven´t seen a Leone for a very long time on the road and it´s already 26 years old. I don´t want to make a rallye-cross-car or anything out of it, I want it in original condition because it´s that rare. It was only produced one year like that (coupe with old interior), you can count the numbers of surviving pre-facelift-Turismos in Austria with the fingers on one hand, I bet. If I would like to have 5-lug-wheels, I would have bought a Legacy. Oh wait, I have one, but that´s another story. Why change the EA82T for a carbed EA82? Because the EA82 with carb is bulletproof, no electronics, no problems with overheating (at least on our roads here), it will run forever. The EA82T has expensive electronics (airflow-meter for example) and problems with cracked heads, so it will be a lot less easy to keep it running the next 10 years or longer. I want to keep my Leone forever to rescue it from extinction, so that´s more important than a little bit more power. Leone/Loyale => very rare classic Legacy/Impreza => modify it, rallye it, make a autocross-car out of it That´s how it is in Europe, especially in Austria. L

Just a small picture to keep you updated! As you can see, the EA82T-engine is out, now we are working on the electrics to put the carbed EA82 in there. Next step will be to change the 5-lug-hubs to the original 4-lug-ones. Now we are servicing the engine that will go in. New cam-belt, all gaskets new, new oil, new filters, new spark-plugs and so on. Small steps, but we are on the way!

I´ve made small changes to the Turismo-project! It will not become white and with partly coloured bumpers like the MY89, it will stay light blue (Marina Blue) and completely original from the outside! The plan was to paint it white and with the painted bumpers the 89 models had, but my pre-facelift-Turismo was only produced one year (Turismo started in 86, facelift came in 87) with the old corner-lights and the 85/86-interieur, so it has to stay original. The only changes will be the full-time-4WD-transmission with dual-range and front seats from the Turbo-version. They almost look like the "normal" seats but with a bit more contour and back-support. In the same colour than the other interieur of course! The EA82T-engine is out, preparing for painting is the next step. L

Hi! Please show us pictures of your Leones from the second or/and third generation (of course Loyale included), no matter if modified, original or what body-style. A little description would be nice too! There are mine: 1989 Leone 1.8 GL Station "Alpin"-special edition, sold it in 2005 but it´s still around 1981 Leone II 1800 4WD GLF Sedan, sold it in 2008 but unfortunatly I don´t know what did happen to it... :-\ 1986 Leone Turismo 1.8 GL Full-Time-4WD, my soon-to-be-restored project I don´t think this will be my last Leone. I have never driven one as a daily-driver because they are very rare here in central Europa because of winters like in your rust-belt-states, and I will be getting another one for sure. I will never ever sell this Turismo anymore because I regret it a lot that I sold my other two. Now show yours! Lukas

You are right, the condition of the donor-car isn´t really bad at all, but a parts-car is needed for my Turismo, so I had to get one that is not that bad. A car in very bad condition would have made a bad parts car because most parts would have been too bad to use. :-\ But I promise every part of the Station will be stored (except the body of course) and the soon-to-be-white Turismo will not be my last Leone. I will be going for a Sedan or maybe another Station after that, so there is a big possibility that I will save another Leone from extinction! Lukas

In Europe, we got the same rear-lights as the JDM-versions, so they are pretty standard and normal here. Yes, that´s a fog-light on the left, rear-view-light on the right.

Now it´s going to start because the parts-problem is solved now! This 1985 Leone 1.8 GL Dual-Range Station will be parted out and prepare some mechanical parts and some parts of the interior (also blue) for my Turismo. It drives nice, but it´s too rusty on the rear arches and on the undercarriage to restore it so it will have to die for my Turismo. All the parts we don´t need will be stored for the future. It´s really sad for me to see a Leone getting parted out, but it´s neccessary. Now the next things to do will be: * welding some small rust-holes on the Turismo * getting the needed parts from the 85 Station * prepare the Turismo for painting I will keep you all updated!

Yeah, the second generation Leone Hatchback was called Turismo too. So my third generation Leone 3-door is the successor of the old second generation Hatchback.

I don´t think so. My former 89 Leone Touring Wagon was put away for winter in a garage and my Turismo-project will never see winter again in its coming life. Winter is responsible for the older Subarus becoming extinct and I want to keep mine for longer than just one or two winters...

Did someone on here have such a Turismo? If so, please show me pictures. I am thinking of putting your US-DL-headlights on my car, should look very cool with the black bits painted in white. The bumerps will get halfly painted like the 89 models here had it. The project starts tomorrow, the car will move from outside into the workshop and will get stripped completely. Lukas

Hi guys! I am restoring a 1986 Subaru Leone 1.8 GL Turismo Full-Time-AWD D/R with a friend of mine. Should be ready for the road in May 2012. It was a 5 speed push-button-4WD once, but we converted it into a 5 speed dual range full-time-AWD with center-diff-lock. It has 130.000km on the clock, one owner but sadly it looks like this at the moment: We are painting it white, it will be completely stock (now it has 5-lug-wheels), the engine will be a reconditioned EA82 with carb. I will keep it completely stock except the different transmission and it will never see our salty austrian winters again. The Leone is very rare right now, the 3-door was called Turismo. I think the 1986 modelyear was the first of the Turismo. Any suggestions or facts about the 3-door-coupe are very welcome! Lukas

Is the 3-door really that rare? Here in Austria, they were called Leone Turismo and they sold in bigger numbers than the Sedan, the XT was by far the rarest of the EA82s. Does someone have the production figures of the Leone III? Did they built less Turismos (3-door coupes) than XTs? I am restoring a Turismo over winter, so that´s quite interesting for me. Thanks! L

Our EUDM-Legacys had the split-ones that are the same as the Outback had, so swapping is no problem!

Is the FB the new 2.0 boxer-engine? Or maybe the diesel?

My 99 Legacy with the EJ20 engine had piston-slap when I bought it with 135.000 miles a year ago and it never got worse. It now has 160.000 miles on the clock and everything is fine after a short warming up period. My mechanic said it´s normal for an older Subaru-engine to have a bit of piston-slap, if you don´t race your cold engine, it will last a long time with it.

My subaru-mechanic told me, that the EJ22 is not that reliable and dependable than the EJ20-engine. Don´t ask me why, maybe thais is because of different circumstances in Austria than in the US of A. What do you think about the EJ20-engine? Mine has 170.000 miles on the clock and runs fine. A bit of rod-knock when it´s very cold outside, but otherwise fine and reliable engine. Lukas

I live in eastern Austria, maybe you may want to google "Styria" and "Vienna". All I say is Schwarzeneggers hometown Graz is my hometown too!

Wow, beautiful cars! I love the black Legacy Sedan!

I´d keep the Loyale and the LC, sell the Legacy.