Any Justy -'s still alive out there?

Its funny you bring this up today. I was at a supermarket today and had to deal with an elderly driver, driving a Justy. It was pitiful, that care can fit in the bed of a Baja and after backing out of her space, instead of cutting the wheel to drive away she just let it creep towards the back bumper of the SUV parked next to her.

I don't know what year it was, but it wasn't kept up well at all. They're out there, just few/far between.

They're out there - and they're bad Check out this turbo justy!

Yes, it's kind of sad. They never went over that well, and I kinda doubt many of their current owners think they're as neato as I do. I don't know why-all, but it probably had something to do with them coming out near the tail-end of the first "SPEC" wave, with the Geo Metro and such

-- and Subaru has since responded to people's willingness to have more room and safety with bigger cars again. Also, I think it was a good bit more expensive than other SPECs on account of the 4WD -- and most of the market for that sort of thing was looking for dirt cheap.

Great idea, just not a big enough market to support it?

We loved it, though -- scrambled around on trails in the Black Hills, drove it through a very snowy Minneapolis winter, it was great. We got rid of it when we moved out into the woods and it seemed not strong enough for the relentless pounding of bad roads, kept eating up its oddly-sized expensive little tires, and wasn't up off the road high enough and kept packing snow under itself on unplowed roads: getting propped up on compacted snow with its little wheels spinning helplessly in the air. Lots of shoveling under the car, for a while there.

A gal at work took $50 for a trade-in on hers - pretty good condition too. I didn't want it (insurance, registration, parking, etc.) but thought about it for something to drive around in the hills.

I have one - it's in terrible shape, but that's the condition I got it in.

My other car is a Chevy Suburban. I needed to refuel on 9-11 ("the"

9-11, when gas stations were gouging), and I decided I needed something more fuel-efficient. I bought the Justy from a graduate student who had purchased a newer car, and I use it for commuting and for single-person road trips. It gets 30 mpg even though it's not in good shape, and the 4wd is invaluable for getting up my driveway in the winter. Plus it fits nicely in the "compact car only" parking spaces on campus.

Mine is the '88 4wd model, and I had LOADS of fun when it needed a new driveshaft - one of the universal joints gave way and the driveshaft fell off while I was going home one day. This driveshaft and u-joint was evidently only used on 1988 4DW Justys. I ended up having to get it from the dealer, who took pity on me and knocked quite a bit off the price. BTW, if you need one, get one son, becasue their computer says there are 5 driveshafts left in the Subaru system, and that was a year ago...

If you really want one to play with, they go by on Ebay every month or two. I'd love another one, preferably without all the body rust my current one has.

Jeff