Clint & Charleen Lovell - A Fleet of Subas

Long term members, Clint and Charleen, have had a number of Subas over the years. Here is a snapshot of their fleet.

Our present car - 1987 L Series Touring Wagon

Engine: EA82 1800 Turbo
Gearbox: 5 Speed Manual dual range 4WD.
Standard: Electric windows; power steer; air con; carpets; velour; 4 speaker stereo/tape deck.
Extras: 2 inch lift kit; polished alloy bullbar; long range fuel capacity (105 Litres); CB Radio; Dual battery system with isolator.
Wheels: 205x60 tyres on standard rims (extra wide low profile)

This car was bought second hand in 1991 after the previous owner traded it in on two Saabs. The extras were added straight away and the car used in a major trip across the country from Brisbane to the Bungle Bungle National Park. After that we bought the Brumby and several trips were done in that before we embarked on our tour business and started up C2C Tours.  Thereafter the wagon was only used when we were at home. It is kept in top condition by Mike Collins of Scorpion Automotive.  It is a good looking car and still turns heads though it is 12 years old.
The Turbo was added in 2001 by Peter Kallenbach of Car Chasers.  Gives it a lot more go.  At the same time, the suspension was upgraded with a Pedders kit and rear disc brakes were added.  Lots of new rubbers in the suspension componentry also helps to make it like a new car again

Looking back at Subarus we've owned

Brutus - The Car Park Warrior - 1985 Brumby

1974 1400 - My first Subaru

I had my first drive in a Suba in 1974 when it was first on show in Australia. But I had to wait until 1977 before I finally got my very own. It had a 1400cc motor with wet sleeves and so blew head gaskets regularly. Other than that, this baby served me well until they brought out the dual range MY80.

... and then came "Murphy II" - 1979/80 MY Series Sedan

Engine: EA81 1800 Carburetted
Gearbox: 4 Speed Manual dual range 4WD.
Extras: 3 inch lift kit, rear torsion bar suspension rotated for extra 2" at rear; alloy bull bar; CB Radio; Vinyl roof; dual battery system; extra fuel tank in trunk giving total 100 litre capacity
Wheels: 195x78 tyres on 14 inch Peugeot rims.

A real project car, this was one of only two MY series 4WD sedans in Australia in 1984. The other one was imported, this was made up from two wrecks. A 1979 2WD sedan was fitted with 1980 4WD running gear. The job is tricky but not difficult. The 3" lift and torsion bar turning was done at the same time. This car was very tall and caused a lot of stares in traffic. We would often come out of the shops to find someone crawling underneath to see how it was done.

We did a lot of trips in this car, including the Simpson Desert, Cape York, Fraser and Moreton Islands.

By 1989 it had started to fade away with rust, so the trusty running gear was transferred into another station wagon body.

1980 MY Series Wagon

Engine: EA81 1800
Gearbox: 4 Speed Manual dual range 4WD.
Standard: Very
Extras: 3 inch lift kit; chopped front guards; alloy bullbar; long range fuel capacity (100 Litres); CB Radio; Dual battery system with isolator.
Wheels: Peugeot 504 rims usually with 185x70x14.

After the sedan Murphy II died in 1987, it was time to return to a wagon body, so I bought this one from a mate. It was in beautiful condition to look at but had at one stage been fully submerged in sea-water. All under the bonnet, inside and underneath was salt encrusted and didn't work.
We stripped it completely and bathed it in Fisholine (stinks but works).

Then did a complete rebuild with all the gear out of the sedan including running gear, engine, dash and all interior except rear seats and roof lining. Had the front guards cut while this was being done (stops the dents forming over the front wheel arches).  The above pic shows off the guard cuts and underneath you can see the extra rubber flaps to protect the rear CV boots.  After this rebuild was done, we strapped on a roof rack, put two kids (9,11) and lots of gear on board and went out and led the Subaru Club across the Simpson Desert, 630km of sand dunes.

We did a lot of Outback trips in this car as well as it being my daily ride until 1993 when we upgraded to "Red Rova".

1991 MY Series Brumby "Red Rova"

Engine: EA81 1800 Carburetted
Gearbox: 4 Speed Manual dual range 4WD.
Standard: air con; carpets
Extras: 3 inch lift kit; limited slip diff; alloy bullbar; CB Radio; Rag top canopy; false floor; truck battery with low voltage cut-out switch for Engel fridge
Wheels: 205x70 tyres on 14 inch pressed steel rims (extra wide high profile)

This was my all time favourite car. Just a couple of years old when purchased in 1993. It was in excellent condition and handled beautifully. A little of the handling ability was lost when the 3" lift was added but this coupled with the LSD made it a great off road machine. It was intended to be our getaway car and we planned to travel all over Australia with it. The false floor meant we carried two levels of gear and this included 5 jerry cans across the back (level with the filler for easy syphoning) for a total of 155 litres. After a couple of trips we decided to start our tour Business C2C Tours and still used Red Rova for all the recon trips.

One little quirk Red Rova had was it liked to run on the higher octane (and more expensive) premium unleaded PULP fuel. We put this down to it being the old style EA81 pushrod engine which was originally designed for super, but being a later than 1986 model was required by law to use unleaded.

Sadly, when we bought the big OKA, we had to sell off this great little car.

Big Brother OKA

Combining the best of both worlds, for several years we had our own adventure tour business conducting cross-country tours in our air conditioned Australian made OKA 4WD vehicle, while maintaining contact with the Subaru club and going on the occasional "recreational" trip with the gang.

In the OKA, we traveled right across Australia from Brisbane to Perth, through the Gulf Country to the Bungle Bungles, and to the Corner Country - where the States of Queensland, NSW and South Australia meet. But sadly, all good things come to an end and C2C is no more, however, the spirit of adventure lives on with our club activities. 

Clint & Charleen SC009