{"id":73045,"date":"2021-06-22T10:20:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T10:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/?p=73045"},"modified":"2021-07-01T06:35:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T06:35:53","slug":"50-years-of-subaru-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/en\/50-years-of-subaru-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Years of Subaru Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Which manufacturer was the first to build a car with all-wheel drive in large-scale production? This is a question that even some experts have a hard time answering. It is partly due to the very definition of a “large-scale production”. Before World War 2, any production figure in the three-digit range would probably have automatically fallen into this category. However, advancing automation and assembly line production soon pushed such numbers into the realm of small batches. There is clear evidence that the Dutch manufacturer Spyker built the first gasoline-powered passenger car with all-wheel drive in 1903, but it remained a one-off. Between 1966 and 1971, around 320 examples of the Jensen FF with all-wheel drive and mechanical ABS were built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1972 with all-wheel drive<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the same year that Jensen ended production of the FF, a few thousand miles away, Subaru unveiled its new lower-mid-range model called the Leone (offered in the USA as the DL and GL, and in Germany from second model generation as 1600 and 1800). Leone is the Italian word for lion. Initially there was a two-door Coup\u00e9, six months later also a four-door sedan, with which the Japanese brand for the first time also tackled the European market. The real surprise from the point of view of the experts at the time came in mid-1972. The newly presented Station Wagon version was available ex works as 4WD, i.e. with all-wheel drive. This system was mechanically selectable by means of a claw clutch. The 855-kilogram Station Wagon was powered by a 1.4-liter, longitudinally mounted four-cylinder boxer engine with 53 kW\/72 hp.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"\"
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>