Alcyone, the brightest star in the Pleiades, or more importantly in our case - the sportiest Subaru you could buy from 1985-1997. how I’ve come to own nice clean examples of both the early and late model is something that’s happened though I can’t explain exactly how.
you’d think having two cars and a Toyota truck would go against every minimalist bone in my body. I the person that can’t wrap my head around more than one or two cameras at a time.
perhaps the fact that my three cars sum total still falls well short of a new RAV, or pragmatically 20-30 year old cars are by their nature due for unforeseen maintenance issues, stacking my deck against old man reliability - who knows, or really cares. I’m having a great time cycling through my mini fleet depending on which steed is convenient and / or gassed up...
out of the three my favorite is the wedgy little XT above. the super funky Atari looking dash, airplane inspired controls, and ‘just peppy enough’ engine all tip the scale counterbalancing almost non-existent parts and a couple dubious design choices.
driving home from shooting pictures on a glorious October evening, I was buzzing along enjoying some Bad Co. - one of my two cassettes, when it struck me, this is the car the VW bug would’ve turned into had the concept evolved with parameters other than simplicity and cost. the flat four boxer sounds and feels like a much more powerful VW engine, while the car has the same light driving feel I remember enjoying with the beetle.
due for a timing belt change, I’m treating her with kid gloves. once I finish that onerous task I’m confident there’s a lot more than the current 77K miles to be had... God and replacement parts willing.