In another installment of Scotty G’s Garage I thought I’d show you my rare 1988 Subaru RX Turbo sedan. I know, it screams the 1980s, especially with those white wheel covers and decals-a-plenty! This is by far the rarest car that I own, I have ever owned, or that I will ever own. But as we all know just because a car is rare doesn’t mean that it’s worth a fortune. Any new Kia will be worth more than this car is worth, at least monetarily. Let’s check it out, Subie fans.

The RX was a model of the third-generation Subaru Leone and they came in two-door and four-door versions. I have only seen a couple of other RX turbo sedans and that’s it, ever. One can be seen in a video posted below and one was a dusty project car. I don’t think it’s a shock to read that I’m a huge fan of vintage Japanese cars but I really love Subarus. I like my collector vehicles on the unusual side since I daily drive a couple of fairly boring, i.e. dependable, cars depending on what season it is.

AutoWeek called this car, as in this exact car sitting here in these photos, “the world’s nicest Subaru RX.” I have never owned the world’s nicest anything before. The following video shows me on my way to work last week.. Ha, just kidding, this is a YouTube video of another RX sedan. Yeah, that’s fun stuff. I do that now with my 1997 Outback, mainly because it’s fun but also because I don’t drive any of my collector cars in the salty mush that we call winter here in the Midwest. This RX is safe and dry tucked away for the winter with a trickle charger on the battery to keep it ready to go, just in case.

This car has a great interior and it’s one of the easiest-driving cars that I’ve ever owned. The shifter is amazing as is the clutch and clutch pedal. It’s almost like Subaru was trying to make a fun car to drive or something.. The seats are nice but a bit dirty, I haven’t detailed this interior at all and there is other work to do on it. There is a small rust spot on the LF fender and the windshield has a crack in it. Luckily a local auto glass company has a replacement for something like $300 installed! The rust will be more than that to fix but hopefully the white paint can be matched.

The Subaru RX is somewhat of a predecessor to Subaru’s WRX STi with a center differential lock on the center console along with having a hi-low range. And, of course it’s a 5-speed, they didn’t come in an automatic. They’re legendary rally cars, paving the way for Subaru’s success in that field today. Here’s an RX going through the motions on a YouTube video.

The back seats fold down so a person can put a load of lumber in there like you’d normally haul around in your 4×4. Well, maybe it’s more for luggage or skis or something. This car has power locks, windows, mirrors, power steering, (the early models didn’t have power steering), and power four-wheel disc brakes. Also, the AC was converted to R134 and there’s even a rare Subaru cooler in the trunk!

Dig that rubber air cleaner! Wait, that’s the spare tire, never mind. Because of the low boxer-four engine the engineers had room to put the spare tire on the engine, it also gave a little more weight to the front drive wheels for traction. This one is full-time 4WD but it still helps. It’s just one more thing that gives these old Subarus the quirkiness that I and millions of other fanatics love. This EA82T 1.8L turbo boxer-four is almost scary for how good it runs. It starts almost before I even turn the key, well not quite but if it’s one second of cranking I’d be surprised. It’s literally instant, another reason that I love fuel-injected cars. And that turbo! It adds a whopping 25% to the horsepower – unfortunately that only brings it up to around 115 hp. (crickets) But again, it’s the quirky appeal for me, not the speed. So, that’s about it for this one, have any of you heard of the Subaru RX?