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Is it an RX???


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Okay, went and picked up the 85 Turbo SEdan from Prineville today.. I get there and I see:

 

*checkerboard interior

* just says "SUBARU" on the trunk lid

* Turbo

* DUAL RANGE 5 SPEED

* Remnants of the fin that was on the trunk lid

 

Basically the car screams RX. I can't tell because the rear panel that says "4WD Turbo" where the RX sticker would be is missing.

 

Here is what throws me, it has a digidash, height control, air conditioning, and power windows, which I didn't think RXes had. The VIN is JF2AC75B1FE217147 so is this an RX?? Could someone have ordered an RX with the above options? I was under the impression that the only other one that just said SUBARU on the back was a Turbo Traction, and those only came in autos if I am correct...

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'85 RX should still have the placards on the rear doors. It could have had these parts transplanted into it. RX's definitely did not have digi's or Sunroofs. I have an '85 full line brochure that I will check out and let you know what else I can find out.

 

 

I tried to check Corky's site for the VIN info but it appears to be off-line at the moment.

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Some very rare 85 turbo GL10's came with the checkerboard interior and Dual Range. Back in the very early run of EA82's, what parts went into what weren't very consistent- some cars appear to just have been thrown together from a parts bin. That car may be even rarer than an RX... nice find!

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I'm sure I'm not helping much, but the only RX I've ever ridden in (Tex's RX) has a D/R 5-spd, AC, and power windows.

 

I don't know if that would differ between sedans or hatches or whatever.

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The VIN is JF2AC75B1FE217147 so is this an RX??

 

 

JF2=4wd

A=Loalye and XT line

C=4 door 85-89

7=1800CC 4WD W/Air suspension

5=Turbo 86; GL-10 turbo 87-89; GL F4WD 2D 87 (??? If this numner was a 6, and the one before was 5, it would be an RX...as long as this next letter stayed a 'B')

B=3001-4000 lbs GVWR w/passive restraints

1=check digit

F=1985 vehicle model year

E=5 spd 4x2 trans./4wd (85-89)

217147=4 door sedan

 

So, NO, its nt an RX...but it might as well be for the year it was, the RXs were just about the same thing. Anyhow, its a GL-10. Does it have cruise control?

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They had RX's even back in the EA81 days ya know.... so it's simply not an RX. It's not like RX's didn't exist in that year.....

 

You could special order anything you want tho - a fully decked out GL actually could be more expensive, and have more options than a GL-10 for example.

 

GD

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Sounds more like a GL-10 to me, the air suspension is the give away there. WJM is right, by the VIN, this is not a RX. GD, the RXs from 85 to 89 are known as gen II RXs in Japan, the gen I RX never made it to US shores.

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Caleb: Thats unusual?? I see em all the time round here, heck, the GL-10 I just sent to the crusher had a 5spd and air susupension on it.

 

I do have to say thats it's pretty close to being an RX, but not quite enough. You could make yourself up a PsuedoRX, like I'm doing with my 84 Turbo, since we didn't get the EA81 RX's here in the states, I gotta make one.

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We figure that for (what we paid) we got a good deal on an EA82T engine, dual range 5 speed tranny, and the near cherry rally wheels.

 

Anything else that comes off that car, is basically going on the boards. We hope to strip the car down as much as we can and possibly make back what we paid for the whole car!

 

(when I say we, I mean, I'm helping because I figure it's fun and I miss wrenching. I didn't pay for any of it.)

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One could just check the swaybar diameters to see if it's an RX or not.

 

Like I said tho...that is 100 percent identical config to my buddy's car.

 

Digidash, dual range 5, ea82t, air susp, power everything, checker seats...his is also an 85.

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I figured it wasn;t an RX because of the air suspension (Granted, it's been removed, but it has the "HEIGHT" switch) but it still kinda threw me. Jessica ran the VIN through Carfax and if came back as a GL, and wouldn't a GL-10 have had a sunroof, or did they not have those in 85? What still has me puzzled is that it just says "SUBARU" on the back, doesn't say GL, GL-10, etc..)

This is definately a weird car...

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Well, poking on it today, it has a rear sway bar, and so does the 86 sedan that's my GFs, cant tell iif one is bigger or not... BUT.. it doesn't have LSD :-(

Got the motor transplanted, couldn't get one of the axle pins outta the 86 so it's still pushbutton for now, but it will hopefully be on the road tomorrow :)

 

PS yes I am sending this car to the big junkyard in the sky when we're done with it, but it is too trashed to warrant rescuing :-(

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I would, but the black interior in this car is pretty much trashed. All the seats are ripped, the back door panels WERE good until some moron decided to rip the power window switches off and take half the door panel with it. The drivers rear panel is salvagable, as the window switch would hide the damage, but the passenger side rear panel is screwed, there's a big like 3" hole around where the switch used to be.... The guy I got it from got it from his neighbor, who had loaned it out, adn it came back thrashed :-(

Prolly a buncha drunk rednecks that didnt know what they had :-(

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Just to clarify...it is a Turbo Traction model...all turbo 4wd models in '85 were (including the RX). There was no GL-10 4wd in '85, all were 2wd, either turbo or MPFI. I agree that that TT with the turbo, dual range is probably as rare or more so than the RX, too bad it has the digi. My friend had the same car, '85 TT sedan, dual range, air suspension, dig, checkered interior, and no LSD.

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