UK’S RAREST CARS: 1983 SUBARU 1800 GLF ESTATE, ONE OF ONLY TWO LEFT
Forty-one years ago, a Subaru 1800 GLF Estate was ideal for the farmer or rural GP who needed off-road transport with more creature comforts than a Land Rover. Today, Kevin Over’s extremely gold 1983 model is one of only two believed to remain on the road in Britain.
The Japanese marque’s four-wheel drive models date from 1970, when a manager from the Tohoku Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in north-east Japan approached one of its dealers. He needed a lightweight estate car that could cope with deep snow while being more comfortable than their fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers. Subaru produced eight 4WD models, five for TEPCO and three for government service.
Subaru replaced the FF1 with the Leone in 1971 and offered 4WD on the “‘Estate Van” commercial vehicle. It proved so popular that a passenger version soon followed. One Autocar contributor described it as “a unique concept as an all-terrain family car” that was “limited in cross-country capability only by its lack of ground clearance”.
When International Motors of West Bromwich announced its plans to import Subarus in August 1977, about 300 dealers, some of them previously Lotus and TVR distributors, applied for the franchise. There was also an inevitable degree of consternation among the British motor industry about competition from abroad. The Telegraph reported that Datsun, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Mazda combined had already taken more than 10 per cent of the UK market; Japanese imports amounted to 115,000 cars that year.
However, Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, stated it would “cut into the Japanese share of the market and not compete with British-made vehicles”. The advertisements boasted: “Even if there were others on the market like it (and there aren’t), the Subaru 4-WD would still be a remarkable car.” It was no idle boast, as the the 1.6-litre GLF Estate had virtually no direct rivals. It may have lacked the Range Rover’s V8 engine and social standing, but at £3,697 was far cheaper and considerably more compact.
The 4WD Subaru had extra fans to cool the engine in extreme conditions, with additional underbody shielding to protect the sump and exhaust, along with heavy-duty bearings. In addition to conventional front-wheel drive, a power take-off at the back of the gearbox drove the rear wheels via a propshaft. The driver could select four-wheel-drive via a lever by the gear stick at up to 50mph, providing the front wheels were pointing in a straight line.
International Motors’s target customer was “the professional – businessman, farmer, doctor or vet – who must keep going but who still wants the comfort and performance of a car”. It further promised the driver could switch from front- to four-wheel drive “without declutching, without even slowing down”.
The Telegraph found the GLF Estate “a remarkable little car” and Car thought “ugliness, and wastefully designed body notwithstanding” the Subaru possessed ruggedness and ability far beyond its appearance. An Autocar tester found it one of the best cars he had ever driven in snow and it “achieved everything that was expected of it, and a little more”.
In 1977, International Motors predicted the first year’s sales at 1,500 units, with the 4WD Estate accounting for 40 per cent. In 1979 Subaru face-lifted the range with a 1.8-litre engine option and modified dual-range four-speed 4WD transmission combined with manual ride height adjustment. By 1983 the 1800 GLF Estate cost £6,698 which was a bargain compared with £7,455 for a (rear-drive only) Ford Sierra 1.6 GL Estate – or £15,374 for a five-door Range Rover.
A major revision followed in 1984, making Over’s 1800 GLF one of the last second-generation models sold in this country. He says: “I found it on Ebay in 2015. I do not use it off-road now, just in summer. People either wonder what it is or say, ‘My grandad, uncle, etc used to have one of those years ago.’ I just wish they still made that model.”
The GLF is one of his fleet of six early Subarus and remains a reminder of when the marque was synonymous with affordable off-road motoring.
Not to mention cars with the ability to carry “enormous loads across miles of rough ground by day, then take you out to dinner by night”.
2025-01-17T12:33:16Z