Saw a video where someone pulled a 1985 Subaru XT Turbo Coupe outta a backyard in the UK. It had been sitting there untouched for 30 YEARS. Crazy part? After swapping the battery and spark plugs, it started right up. Pop-up lights worked, windows worked, even the suspension lifted like new. Anyone else seen this?
Yeah, I watched that vid. Johnny from The Late Brake Show worked on it, right? Wild how it fired up after being parked for 3 decades.
Sayer said:
Yeah, I watched that vid. Johnny from The Late Brake Show worked on it, right? Wild how it fired up after being parked for 3 decades.
Wait, so no full engine rebuild? Just plugs and a battery?
@RoadWarriorX
Yep, pretty much. Bit of fresh fuel, checked a few things, and it ran. Subaru magic I guess lol.
@RoadWarriorX
Subaru magic or just solid ‘80s engineering 
What’s the deal with the suspension tho? Didn’t those XTs have some weird self-leveling system?
Graydon said:
What’s the deal with the suspension tho? Didn’t those XTs have some weird self-leveling system?
Yeah, self-leveling suspension. Most of them fail after a while, but on this one it still worked. They showed it lifting and lowering fine.
@Nyle
No way, after 30 years? That’s wild.
Anyone know why these XTs aren’t around anymore? I barely see any.
laura said:
Anyone know why these XTs aren’t around anymore? I barely see any.
From what I heard, they rusted out bad. Roofs, inner wings, sills—basically they’d rot away. Plus that complicated suspension didn’t help long term.
@Casey
Ah makes sense. Cool design though, very ‘80s sci-fi looking.
Didn’t that car have some weird cockpit setup too?
AlexToyotaEnthusiast said:
Didn’t that car have some weird cockpit setup too?
Yeah, had an aircraft-style dashboard and asymmetrical steering wheel. Checkerboard seats too. Total ‘80s vibe lol.
@Tristan
Bro, that’s so quirky. Love it.
Subaru really tried to go after the Celica and Prelude with this, huh?
ROZZY said:
Subaru really tried to go after the Celica and Prelude with this, huh?
Yeah, they built it to compete with them. Had AWD, turbo flat-4, manual trans. But sales never really took off like they hoped.