The Mysterious Case of the 1993 Subaru Liberty RS Turbo Station Wagon

As I sat in the hotel room, flipping through the pages of my newly acquired 1993 Subaru Liberty RS Turbo Station Wagon, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. The car had been with me for nine months, and while it had been a wild ride, I was eager to finally take it out on the road and see what it was truly capable of.

The story of how I acquired this vehicle is one that I'm sure many of you are familiar with. A group of friends and I set out to import a car from Japan, determined to find the perfect ride for our adventures. We scoured the countryside, searching high and low for the perfect vehicle, until finally, we stumbled upon a 1993 Subaru Liberty RS Turbo Station Wagon in a small town nestled in the mountains. It was love at first sight, or rather, love at first glance of the car's interior, which seemed to be stuck in a time warp.

As I began to inspect the car more closely, I realized that it had been lovingly maintained by its previous owner, who had clearly taken great care to preserve the vehicle's originality. The interior was pristine, with nary a scratch or stain to be found, and the exterior showed signs of having been well-loved, but not abused. It was clear that this car had been driven hard, but also driven with a passion for life.

Despite its rough exterior, there was something about this car that drew me in. Perhaps it was the way the sunlight danced across its surfaces, or the sound of its engine purring like a contented beast. Whatever the reason, I knew that I had to have this car. And so, after a lengthy negotiation with the seller, which involved several late-night phone calls and a heated game of "importer's roulette," I finally emerged victorious.

The next step was to transport the car back to Australia, where it would undergo its maiden voyage on our scenic coastal roads. As we set off, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. What would this car be like on the road? Would it live up to my expectations?

As we cruised down the Great Ocean Road, the car performed admirably, its turbocharged engine growling with delight as we accelerated out of corners and climbed steep hills. The ride was smooth and comfortable, thanks to its well-sprung suspension and powerful brakes. And despite its age, the car seemed to have lost none of its charm.

But it wasn't until we arrived at the RS Liberty National Meet in Melbourne that I truly understood just how special this car was. As we parked alongside a sea of similarly afflicted vehicles, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and belonging. This was a community of like-minded individuals who shared my passion for these magnificent machines.

And as I looked around at the cars on display, each one more beautiful than the last, I realized that this vehicle was truly a gem. Its 17-inch wheels shone like diamonds in the sunlight, its silver paint glinting with a subtle sheen. It was clear that this car had been lovingly maintained over the years, and its owner took great pride in its appearance.

But it wasn't just about looks – this car was also incredibly capable. As we took her out for a spin on the track, I discovered that she had a secret weapon: a recirculating GFB valve that allowed me to divert boost pressure both back to the intake and into the atmosphere. It was a clever solution to a common problem, and one that had clearly been used by the car's previous owner.

As we explored the track, I began to appreciate just how well this car had been set up. The suspension was tweaked to perfection, with subtle adjustments that allowed the car to handle even the most aggressive corners with ease. And despite its age, the brakes still performed admirably, slowing the car down with a gentle yet firm touch.

But perhaps the greatest surprise of all was the engine itself. With only a three-inch exhaust and a chip for mods, I had expected the car to be a bit lacking in power. But as we took her out on the dyno, I was amazed by what she could do. A stunning 144 kilowatts at all four wheels, this car had far more grunt than I had ever anticipated.

As we packed up our gear and headed back north, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. This car had truly exceeded my expectations, and I knew that it would be a faithful companion for many adventures to come. And as I looked over at the driver's seat, where Marty was grinning from ear to ear, I knew that this was just the beginning of our epic journey together.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome to another episode of mighty come on I look a while ago my and I flew into Japan and bought an S 15 that we imported back to Australia but after seeing all those hot car that he'd not want to go home without one so at the end of the day on the way back to our hotel we got worried about a mad she's ordered a car for sale it was gonna be perfect for Marty but as you'll see in this dramatization / reenactment things did not go as planned not mad it was a freezing night in Japan and darkest night cuz it was night and we're about to buy this car and inspect it with Marty's good luck torch with everything looking great it's time for a test drive what do you reckon - awesome doing fight my OTP let's get language is that pure can give a Japanese I think he wants you is in dude we got Aussie dollars oh thanks half of that the man in the boot was found guilty for carrying contraband material in his body he was fined and jailed for four years the legacy was impounded never to see Australian roads and Marti cried the whole way back home he didn't actually cry with my budget severely limited I define something else this is my brand new 1993 Subaru Liberty RS turbo station wagon it doesn't look like much now but 17 years ago this thing was a unique and expensive vehicle as you can see this example has had a tough life before I owned it the body is pretty messy there's dented panel scratches wrecked bumper bars and skirts the tint is ruined speakers are missing brake calipers are the wrong color and has lots of paint issues the car has its fair share of rust and a replace driver's window somehow destroyed the trims there's no stereo there's blown speakers and worst of all this this is me on my first drive in the rain that's right leaking windscreen awesome I'm gonna paradoxically say that I am speechless at the sight of such an ugly behemoth it has potential a totem pole of everything that the automotive industry doesn't stand for it's a fixer-upper oh that's what they call them you fix him and then they're great now you fix it and then you blow it up that's where they've made an opera we already did that yeah nobody calls my car a totem pole and gets away with it was up to me to prove move wrong so the windscreen had to come out and the remains of a botched windscreen replacements trooped back and repaired I managed to find myself a crash GX wagon which shares the same panels this supplied me with the heaps of spare parts very important when doing this kind of work next the ugly 16 inch wheels were swapped out for my favorite Subarus 17s the rear bumper was the first item to repair the whole thing has to be removed stripped of the skirts and then stand it back until it's smooth as glass trims are masked off and my newly-acquired paint gun put to the test not bad for a first guy the trims could be attacked with rattle-can and then reattached to the rear bumper the whole bar then bolts back into the car and it's starting to look a whole lot cleaner subaru sells these trim for big bucks we managed to pick this up for three bucks and meet up the sticky vacuum is pretty useless some black adhesive does much better job the protective plastic is peeled off and the result is great something big and very heavy must have fallen on the bonnet scoop these are hard to find secondhand and very expensive new the best option was to repair what I already had the plastic dividers were broken so they were ground off in the old paper moon the crack was then ground down and filled with two-part plastic repair compound the whole thing is sanded and a plastic adhesion promoter applied then primer then finally the white topcoat I added some mesh to break up the paint but it wasn't quite enough I decided to go for the factory black and white color scheme and I reckon it looks great next the nose of the car needed some reconstruction and it was in much worse condition than the rear there was a massive amount of sanding filler primer and more sanding until finally the primer and topcoat could be applied the driver's door also had primer on it from a previous repair while the paint was in the gun it was a great time to fix it up the front bar could be reattached and the light and indicators slotted back into place it's starting to look like a car again mechanically the cars in pretty good condition but the rear driveshaft boots were totally split on both sides some secondhand replacement shafts were extracted from a spare set of hubs and slotted into place the brakes had also seen better days so a full set of machine rotors and new pads were fitted up front and rear even more importantly they were totally the wrong color and that needed to be pitch straight away after a thorough cleaning and sanding it was kind of using a more subtle black than our usual red color thing sometimes you just get lucky this way but we got off the GX rec this two millimeters thicker and has a normal team bushes a thicker rear sway bar helps stop the car under steering by reducing body role in increasing grip on the front tires I soon discovered my steering wheel was trying to fight me in corners steering rack bushes are what attaches the power steering rack to the car the factory bushes were pretty worn so a new set of white line rack pushers were slaughtered in this is an excellent bang for buck upgrade with little to no side effects it was while spending so much time under the car and copping an eyeful of oil that I realized I had to do something about this I know every time we come here the same thing happens I'm sorry come on is no need to be cranky I had to get genuine where else am I gonna get him subaru engines have two rocker covers heat and age causes the rubber seals to harden and leak oil they sit close to the chassis rails this makes it quite a nun fun job to do it was now I also discovered a totally split engine mount which needed to be replaced there is nothing better than free power a leaking factory blow-off valve leaks boost and it's wasteful was time to get that power back with a recirculating GFB valve this valve is a hybrid and has the option of diverting air both back to the intake and to the atmosphere for noise and reliability after a few test runs my previously lost free power was back in black a final but very important mod was yet to come okay Marty I'm gonna be honest with you considering it's a piece of oh okay that actually looks okay I think it's impressive impressive it's a generous word dude I think the only people who were being pressed by car like this would be a whole bunch of Subaru fans that like cockroaches have infested a city all at the same time well next weekend is there ice Liberty Club national meet and I'm going and tell you I'm doing you know what I think about Subaru people the ones in a big day yeah my introduce is better than an Avon cost less than German toxins at shipping I see red I might be better I picked it up to 15 now yeah who's gonna steer em right but it's alright night that's right I'm not the only one with a 17 year old turbo Subaru sure are a few parts spell off some cars on the way down but it didn't matter I was heading to Melbourne for the RS Liberty National 950 case in Melbourne and the car didn't miss a beat so just getting a nutritious breakfast for our day commences put a lot of fun our first date was a cruise through the famous great ocean road located on the southern tip of Victoria the great ocean road is one of Australia's most beautiful and enjoyable drive 250 right came back into Palestine should be fun over jump maybe it's better when it's dry but that didn't stop us having a lot of fun Oh at least that dirt was dry but it wasn't the great ocean road that I was concerned about I had to see what this rags-to-riches wagon of mine was truly capable of on the dyno the car was set up and strapped on three power runs and if I was lucky no exploded engines with only a three inch exhaust and chip for mods the carpel with impressive 144 kilowatts at all four wheels this is a good 30% over the factory power level soon after it was time to head back to the Melbourne CBD to prepare for the next day's event my newly fixed Subaru will get its first go on the track track days are one of the best ways to learn about your car and how it handles it was my turn to find that out how excited to do muddy very 1111 excited I wasn't the only one that he might you know who now in a safe and controlled manner and environment the skid pan and track were getting a four-wheel-drive turbocharged wood I also had a chance to revisit my cars rally heritage in a safe and controlled manner in environment then bent bent bent after winning not a single prize or award it was time to pack up jump back in my proven reliable and fun car and head back north we went to Japan we tried to get an import and you all thought we got one we let you think that for nine months and we didn't want to let you down we're sorry but not sorry that we bought a car that could deliver so much bang for so little buck you\n"