Anyone taken an old soob to 30 years as a daily driver?

look around at

or ask at - a coupla guys there have 360s that are running I think.

Carl

I checked that frequently. The high mileage site seems to have died. USMB sent a bad impression about how "local yocal" the thread posters really are, I left there in frustration. I made a hobby out of old soobs. Lately I have been eyeing the slow threads at the old school section of nasioc.

I did get a photo of some old schools with high mileage, one having over .5 million from usmb

In the scenario of old soob I am in, 30 years is quite likely after stepping back from some welding and thinking about it. 20 years original engine, never rebuilt at 109 k. I hope there is a world record documented someday. That volvo claiming over a million, or even the saab turbo I found with over 1 million is so unlikely it puts a pit on my stomach. then there is the old school soobs not many pays attention to... be it from an aviation trip or car or other project, the old 3 main bearings have proven to be something special. My original question is based on real world every day and a car that is truly satisfactory in it. A 1977 is a bit freaky, like a 360, but the 80s versions are something I would not be surprised to see in coming years. I have spotted a early 80s hatchback thumping around local, it is of course 25 or more years old~ Am I the only one who thinks "wow, that is incredible!" Not just to drive as a gimmick or historical value.I mean everyday chores and not a problem...

I think 'xtra credit' needs to be given to a lot of soobs since they often are in 'snow country' (salted roads country) AND are often used on bad roads and in poor weather. They seem to be fairly tough and, although I'm only a recent 'convert', I have a lot of respect for them form what I've seen and read. They are not common down here and, arguably, the AWD feature is wasted in much of Texas - but some of the reports from more northerly soob owners about how their old soob is used/abused and keeps ticking along are impressive.

Carl

Hi,

Haven't seen one that old around here for a while. Earliest one I know of being driven "daily" is an '84. Haven't talked to the fellow for some time, but he was right at about 250k miles a couple of years ago.

My '90 Loyale blew its engine at 360k miles--it was NOT cared for nicely by its first owner for the first 209k miles of its life, but I put another 150k+ on it, despite it being "sick." It's sitting in the garage while I decide whether to stuff a JDM engine in it and continue heading for a half mil miles or not. A relatively "healthy" engine oughta get me there w/o much drama, no? Too many projects demand my time and money right now...

Personally, I think the early 2wd and 4wd models are THE candidates for high mileage cuz they're so simple and underpowered, making them easy to work on, and unable to break themselves too easily (funny, isn't that the same recipe used in VW Bugs for years?) Highest mileage I've seen documented was on a rural postal model (early '80s, right hand drive, IIRC), used in TV commercials many years back, that was ticking along at

600k+ miles.

Rick

If anyone is still driving one of those cars, it can only be explained as a labor of love. Any of that vintage subi that lived where salt is used has long ago passed away to rust cancer. I had a 1976 that I owned from 1980 -1985.

When I got rid of it the milage was around 100K, the speedo was flakey so 100k is just a guess. The engine and transmission were still going strong, but all of the electical was totally unreliable and there were more rust holes than swiss cheese. My favorite part was being able to see the road while driving, by looking through the floor pan.