DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty

[WhoIsTheLeader]

A wild Subaru Loyale! This one was in pretty rough condition but it clearly still pulls daily duty. It's unapologetically boxy and I love it for that.

And of course, it has an appropriate quantity of rust and stickers.

I like the wheels on it, even if they are just hubcaps. Very sleek.

We just don't seem to get these things in Georgia. I've been amazed by the number of old Subarus running around up here.

I even managed to take this picture of a minty Loyale before it drove away. The front fender was crushed but otherwise it seemed very clean.

I actually managed to get a few minutes of seat time behind my first Subaru: a friend's older Outback. It's a big boat.

[fintail]

@whoistheleader These existed until MY 1994, I believe, I remember even then it was something, as the angular styling was a bit passe by the 90s. I think the Loyale model name started in MY 1990 for the USDM, as the Legacy hit the streets then. Still quite a few first gen Legacy and Loyale/GL-DL on the roads in the PNW.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@fintail Subaru's older trim based naming system is very confusing. Ditching the GL or whatever name for Loyale was a good choice. The styling definitely looks much older than the early 90s.

[ranwhenparked]

@whoistheleader neat, I learned to drive on one of those. My parents traded in a Caprice Classic Brougham for it, remember my mom really wanted a Legacy, but they didn't want to spend that much and went for the Loyale. Pretty basic, I think the only things they paid extra for were air conditioning and an automatic

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@ranwhenparked said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

Pretty basic

They were basic for their time and are very basic now. It surprising to see someone still regularly putting up with the lack of amenities.

[ranwhenparked]

@whoistheleader well, it did have a digital clock in the middle of the dash, and an outline drawing of the car on the instrument cluster that showed you which doors were open, those were pretty slick features

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@ranwhenparked The door open thing sounds cool. Digital clock is something I have no reference for being unusual and/or cool.

[fintail]

@whoistheleader Names for mass market non-German cars seem to work better in most markets, yeah. These debuted on the USDM for the 1985 model year, I think, probably out a year or so earlier for ROW. They were modern cars at launch, and relatively popular in this region, due to the AWD - this was an era before all of the awkward instagrammy outdoorsy dorks, these were generally bought by avid skiers and hikers, or those in snowy climes.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@fintail AWD isn't very useful in the chunk of the country I live in so they didn't sell as well. But importantly, the ones that did sell weren't much more valuable used over other cars because of that. My theory is they were simply not valued enough to preserve outside of snowy areas.

[fintail]

@whoistheleader Yep, that and they barely sold there at all, maybe some showing up as unwanted used cars where nobody cared.

When I was a student in the late 90s, the college parking lots had many of these, as I was an hour from popular ski slopes. Thinking of this era, my brother had an early 90s Legacy turbo sedan, a pretty rare car now. Sadly, it was stolen, and he was pretty upset about that, it was found wrecked.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@fintail said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

Yep, that and they barely sold there at all, maybe some showing up as unwanted used cars where nobody cared

Yeah, they just didn't really hit the mainstream until the 2000s it seems. I know plenty of non adventurous people now who drive one but they used to be a pretty niche choice. Why pay for AWD when you don't need it? I suspect that quite a few got traded up north by dealers too.

90s Legacies are cool. That would definitely be a desirable car today.

[Highlander]

@whoistheleader the coil over struts on the GL/loyal are a bolt on for the Subaru XT of the same vintage. When my air shocks failed in my XT, I went to a dismantler and bought all four corners for like $300. A couple of hours later I had a functional suspension again.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@ranwhenparked said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

@whoistheleader well, it did have a digital clock in the middle of the dash, and an outline drawing of the car on the instrument cluster that showed you which doors were open, those were pretty slick features

The car outline also showed you if it was in 2wd or 4wd.

[Highlander]

@whoistheleader I think these were pull a lever for 4wd. Pretty Nifty for the time. The older GL even had a low range.

[ranwhenparked]

@dipodomysdeserti It was a base Loyale, it was just FWD

[fintail]

@whoistheleader I think the round light Impreza and cachet from the WRX helped it go mainstream, along with the Forester and the enlarged Legacy starting around 2010. Today, an Impreza or Legacy is effectively a Civrolla or Camcord with AWD, practical for snowbelt people, but still maybe bought for image, too. I live in a 15 unit development, there are maybe 8 Subarus here. We average around 50" of snow a year, which makes these practical, but you also find plenty of stickers and never-used roof trays.

[facw]

@whoistheleader My family's '85 way back when:

As @ranwhenparked said, the door open indicator was a major innovation. And it looked like the future in there even before Subaru switched to a digital dash (not my picture):

I assume ours has long since gone to scrapper. It was in decent shape (minus needing a new clutch) when we donated it, but that was in 1995.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@highlander said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

@whoistheleader the coil over struts on the GL/loyal are a bolt on for the Subaru XT of the same vintage. When my air shocks failed in my XT, I went to a dismantler and bought all four corners for like $300. A couple of hours later I had a functional suspension again.

There was a lot of parts sharing between their models. The XT is such a cool car too. How late were they electable 4WD vs AWD?

@DipodomysDeserti

Woah, cool. How did it signify the 2WD vs 4WD?

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@fintail said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

I think the round light Impreza and cachet from the WRX helped it go mainstream, along with the Forester and the enlarged Legacy starting around 2010.

I agree there. But I actually don't see a ton of Legacies from more recent years. I see a ton of Foresters though, mostly newer ones. Even still, the granola types gravitate towards them for some reason.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@facw What's going on in that photo? There seems to be a lot of activity around. Perhaps a road trip?

[Urambo Tauro]

@whoistheleader Fun fact you may not know- they call it a Loyale with Cheese in Paris! And an Outback's an Outback, but they call it Le Outback...

[DipodomysDeserti]

@whoistheleader said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

@highlander said in DOTS: Brand Loyale-ty:

@whoistheleader the coil over struts on the GL/loyal are a bolt on for the Subaru XT of the same vintage. When my air shocks failed in my XT, I went to a dismantler and bought all four corners for like $300. A couple of hours later I had a functional suspension again.

There was a lot of parts sharing between their models. The XT is such a cool car too. How late were they electable 4WD vs AWD?

@DipodomysDeserti

Woah, cool. How did it signify the 2WD vs 4WD?

I had a ‘92 with selectable 4wd. When you hit the button all four wheels would light up.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@dipodomysdeserti Oh, now that's cool. I love how celebrated the 4WD is. Every chance they have to say those magic words they do.

[sony1492]

@whoistheleader Those are neat cars, the spare tires above the engine and its got a high/low range if I'm remembering right.

[facw]

@whoistheleader Getting our Christmas tree a cut your own place in rural Maryland. My dad is preparing to tie it to the roof (we only ever had one fall off!).