... Actually, That Was My Car

Ron Penfold

1976 1600 2WD 2 Door DL Sedan

My first Subaru was a 1976, 1600 2WD 2 door DL sedan which I purchased in 1977 in Mt Isa. After moving to Alice Springs in 1978, 1 found a 2WD was not suitable in the country out there. At first I wanted to replace the Subaru with a big 4WD, but the change-over price was too high as I was only offered half the price I paid for the 1200 and it was less than 12 months old.

The next option was to convert to 4WD. The local Subaru Dealer was very helpful with advice and he even told me where a damaged 1400 4WD wagon was available. I purchased this vehicle and began the conversion. Basically it was a bolt out, bolt in job. The floor pan was the same, with only a couple of brackets different. The local Subaru dealer bought all the old 2WD bits and the not needed 4WD bits from me, so the conversion was relatively cheap.

One of the first things I noticed was the lack of ground clearance. A set of air shocks on the rear and a set of high profile tyres helped a lot.

Upon returning to Brisbane in late 1978, 1 happened to meet Trevor Bell in his modified Subaru. We had many discussions on Subarus and how to modify the to improve their performance. The main one being lift kits. Others included double air shocks on the rear, turning torsion bars, wide tyres and engine performance. Duel range and 1800 motors were not available then.

My Subaru modifications included a 2" lift kit and longer coil springs on the front double air shocks and turned torsion bars on the rear, cut front guards and a modified sump to improve approach angle, bull bar, sump guard, rear jerry can holders, roof rack, dual batteries, 2" exhaust and 6" wide rims and tyres.

I don't know what today's measurements are but I could put 2 beer cans on top of each other under the sump guard and 3 beer cans under the sills. Beer cans were used in those day to measure things because we always had one in our hands whenever we talked about Subarus.

My Subaru finally passed away in 1980, rust had taken hold and the body was starting to sag in the middle, my days of thrashing it had finally caught up to it. My first Toyota Hilux replaced my first Subaru.

However it was not my last Subaru, others that have crossed my path include a petrol Sherpa, an old 1975 4WD wagon and I currently have an Electric Sherpa.

Ron Penfold SCO02