The Subaru Leone is a compact car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Subaru from 1971 to 1994. It was released as a replacement to the Subaru FF-1. All Leones were powered by a flat engine developed by Subaru. Although released in Japan and some export markets as the Leone, in others (including at least the United Kingdom and United States), it was instead named with only the trim level designation, which included: DL, GL, GLF, GL-10, and RX; hence, for example, the Subaru GL.
[] 1st Generation
The first generation of the Leone was released in June 1971 as a front-wheel drive coupé. In September 1972, the four-wheel drive (4WD) station wagon was released. Until then, four-wheel drive had been limited to mainly off-road vehicles for special use. Subaru broke that pattern by introducing a mass-produced four-wheel drive passenger car. Throughout the years, the Leone would see the introduction of a four-door hardtop sedan, a four-door sedan, and a four-wheel drive station wagon.
The first-generation Leones were equipped with either a 1400cc or 1600cc, flat-4, carburetted, pushrod engine. They were available with a 4-speed manual transmission, 5-speed manual transmission or a 3-speed automatic transmission. Some early models had drum brakes in the front, however later they were all equipped with disc brakes in the front. All models had rear drum brakes.
The Leone was first brought to the United States of America in 1972. The 4WD station wagon did not make it to the U.S. until 1974, released as a 1975 model.
1977 saw the introduction of the Subaru BRAT which is based off of the Leone platform, just as a two-seater with a pickup truck bed.
[] 2nd Generation
In April 1977, the Leone saw a major revamp. This generation was released with offerings in a two-door coupe, four-door sedan, station wagon, as well as a three-door hatchback. This generation of the Leone was not released to the United States until 1980.
New to this generation included a four-speed 4WD transmission with both high- and low-range gearing. 4WD automatic transmissions were also now offered, allowing the driver to engage 4WD with a simple click of a button.
The 1400cc engine size was dropped from the lineup, and a new 1800cc engine was added. In 1983 and 1984, a turbocharger with multi-port fuel injection option was added.
[] 3rd Generation
In July 1981, the Leone saw another major revamp. This generation was released with offerings in a three-door coupe, four-door sedan, as well as a station wagon. This generation of the Leone made its way to the United States in 1985.
The 1600cc engine size was dropped for this generation. A new 1800cc SOHC engine was offered instead of the old pushrod 1800cc engine. The engine was available with a carburetor, single point fuel injection, multi-port fuel injection, or multi-port fuel injection with a turbocharger for fuel delivery.
Later models in the generation saw the option of a full-time 4WD manual transmission as well as a full-time 4WD four-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission.
In 1990, the Leone name was dropped, and instead the car was named Loyale. In 1994, the Loyale was discontinued.
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