back to the dark side

[joebmx]

so its been a few years since I've owned my 87 gl wagon. Picked it up for $200 bucks with a bad head, ran gasket seal, and drove it for a year and a half before it finally died for real.   I learned a lot in that time one of those things being how great subbies are and even though it's been a few years since owning one I've never stopped dreaming. 

 

I've been revisiting getting a wagon but am not sure what will do the trick for what I'm looking to do.

Currently I commute about 50miles r/t to work.  I loved that my wagon got 30mpg on the highway even with a bad carb. I'd like to maintain someting with better mileage though know I'll likely have to sacrifice some.  I ride mtn. bikes a lot and would like something to comfortably carry 3-4 people with bikes (on a hitch rack likely), it'll need to have some clearance as I will be taking it on access roads with passengers and bikes and I'd like it to have enough power so I'm not red lining it in 3rd over mtn passes.  I'd like to keep mods simple, I have enough experience but don't want to give all my time right now to working on cars.

 

It feels like a tall order though I know there is probably a good fit whether it be a modified gl or just a stock outback.  I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on directions I should think about going.  BTW, I'm in Seattle so I have plenty of access to subaru's for sale.

 

Thanks a bunch. 

 

Joe

[Subruise]

sounds like you need a first gen legacy wagon. these can be had for less than 1K most of the time and parts in the junkyard are becoming just as plentiful, if not more so than the old loyale/gls.

[mikaleda]

Yep, first gen Lego sounds like what your looking for, plenty of power and still gets 25-28 with awd! You could get better milage with a fwd probably. They can be gotten nice around 1k and put a set of outback struts in it and you got the clearance you want.

[Turbone]

Whats your price range?

I have a 02 Forester that I'm really getting to like.

It gets 28mpg hiway and holds a ton of stuff.

[joebmx]

I'm not quite sure how much I want to spend. I don't have much right now but when all is said and done I'd like to be less than 4, maybe a bit more depending on how much I get for my car. 

A first gen legacy could be cool plus I've seen somewhere that it has ~1" more clearance than the forester with the conversion. 

I'm partial to to early/mid 80's GL wagons but don't think they'll have the power to haul stuff around without some modding.  I'm okay to do suspension work not too intersted in playing with the engine.