1978 Subaru GL Wagon

The first Subaru GL wagons came out in 1972, and like most Japanese cars of the era, they were light, tough, and usually rusted to pieces before they'd seen the end of two decades. So it's pretty hard to find first, and even second generation GLs still on the road.

Old Subarus of every stripe are a little more common in places where Subaru sold a lot of them — most notably the Pacific Northwest and in Colorado. Nevertheless, rust has killed most of the older ones. Imagine my surprise when I found one hidden on the back lot at Super Rupair, Boulder, Colorado's thriving independent, you guessed it, Subaru repair shop. I didn't spot it myself, but stumbled across it on an online forum and figured that since it was in my own backyard, I'd better go have a look.

It turns out that the car, which only has about 40,000 miles on it, has spent most of its days parked in front of a house in South Boulder. Its original owner, who talked to me on the condition that I not divulge her name, is a 90-something-years-young retired scientist who bought the car new at the Subaru dealership in Richland, Wash. in 1978. She only recently sold the car because she doesn't drive anymore.

"At the time, the Subaru was the only four wheel drive car you could get with a floor shift where you didn't have to get out and switch the hubs by hand," she told me, adding that she'd had some experience driving four wheel drive as a Women's Army Corps captain during World War II. "I had driven army Jeeps during World War II, so I was familiar with that sort of thing."

In 1978, the only options you could get were the four wheel drive and a sunroof, and since she knew she wouldn't be living in a tropical climate, she checked the 4x4 box, but opted out of the sunroof. It was a wise choice, as she ended up moving to Boulder two years after she bought the car.

Over the next 32 years, she only used the car for grocery shopping and errands where you'd need a car.

So today, her '78 GL wagon is in more or less pristine condition, aside from a bent bumper and some faded paint on top of the right rear door. From the long, tight throws of its manual transmission to the deep, mellow timbre of its single-speaker AM radio, the car felt brand new, and left me wondering how Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas got, like much of the American public, so fat over the past 20 years. It made me realize somewhat acutely our need to rediscover how to do more with less.

Courtesy of Jalopink