1989 Subaru Legacy | Retro Review 

I love how John says "Toyota Cam-ray"

My aunt bought one brand new and multiple family members said they’d buy it if she ever sold it. Such a timeless design. It had well over 400,000 km when the Canadian winters finally took their toll. Engine never gave her an issue

Shout out to the lady matching the nails to her boots…she better be stylish while demonstrating the car 💅🏿

I love how John says "Toyota Cam-ray"))

Imo, this is actually one of the best performing sedans or vehicles in their retro reviews. Well balanced: acceleration, handling, braking, and even efficiency. I think I see 👀 a little corolla in the front and some legend in the back. Not bad Subaru.

My stepmother had a 1990 Legacy L wagon 5-speed. It was such a great car. I remember it having a great Subaru boxer sound and really high build quality. Solid metal chrome door handles and whatnot. I loved opening the doors with their frameless door glass on nice days with the window down. It just felt special. Edit: 1989 Legacy over a 1989 Camry in a heartbeat. Not only a more interesting car, but a better car. I had an '88 Camry and it was such a POS. The paint lost all of its clearcoat after 10yrs. Interior door panels delaminated their vinyl skin and fabric. Interior panels rattled like crazy. The 2.0L 4cyl was anemic and started burning oil by 138k miles. My stepmother's Legacy was a vastly better car in almost every conceivable way.

My dad had a 1990 Legacy L 5 speed AWD. It lasted 306k miles before we donated it to charity still running. It had one timing belt break at 257k and a couple clutch replacements and I think axles.

Those ej22 engines were so so good. Too bad they forgot how to make such a good car when they switched to the ej25.

Had a 92 legacy wagon for 6 years. Loved that damn car. Everything was simple and easy to repair

1:40, those boots, that denim, those sunglasses, that hair. perfect

We started building these in Lafayette, Indiana late in 1989..

This car is so much better than the Legacy made today

This is a trully timeless design. The Legacy's exterior still look sharp and elegant after 30 years.

More style than the boxy DL & GL, yet you could still tell that the new Legacy was DEFINITELY a Subaru.

In the late 2000s I used to take my Outback to a Subaru mechanic who loaned out two Legacys to people who couldn't wait in the waiting room all day... a 97 with 250k miles, and a 91 with just over 300k. Granted they were owned by a business specializing in maintaining them, but that was impressive. They didn't fix the broken rear defroster on the 97 but they were mechanically sound.

If you ever get to play with a first generation Legacy in person, do it. It's amazing how much quality and thought went into building these cars. So many parts are solid metal or thick plastic that would be plastic or particle board in other cars. They also drive great, are insanely reliable, and hold up very well with age. Plus I still love the styling.

Looks good, even by today's standards. But that's just my opinion.

The heckblende on the back looked great, and it had a distinct kink on the side windows. Subaru gave these a TON of features, but the US didn't get all of them. 😢 Real nice cars!

A wonderful car. I had a 1992 GX AWD sedan fitted with the sunroof here in Australia. I kept it for 14 years until it literally fell apart after hundreds of thousands of Kim’s. I replaced it with a Subaru Liberty/Legacy 07 Heritage Sedan which although also great only lasted nearly 9 years until it had major mechanical issues. I then traded it on a 2016 LibertyLegacy 3.6R sedan. Great engine but rubbish CVT and too many nanny controls that were really annoying plus a choppy ride on rougher roads. I ended up replacing that with a 2016 Lexus RC 350 F sport RWD. I can’t fault this car. I have had it for over 6 years now and other than the brakes and discs are expensive to replace and don’t last more than 2 years on average and the battery needs replacing every 3 years it is amazingly reliable. Tyres were pretty bad too until I replaced the factory Bridgestone with Pilot Sport 4S. So far on my third year with these and they are still going great. If you really want to transform your car’s handling use Pilot Sport 4S they are amazing. I love these retro car reviews. This is my favourite channel on RU-vid. I am it a fan of huge modern screens in cars distracting you from driving which is one of the main reasons I didn’t bother upgrading from the RC 350 plus I don’t drive as much anymore as I work from home.

The John Davis Camrayyyyyyyyyy days lolol

My first new car was a '96 Legacy. It's all I've been driving, have a '21 now. Today, everyone in my family drives a Subaru with exception of my wife, she loves her Maxima.

In Japan, the Isuzu Aska was a rebadged 1st generation Subaru Legacy hardtop sedan in the early 1990s.

1:40 the denim jacket with the red boots, she meant business 😭!

The song on the radio was BLACK MAGIC WOMAN and I loved that old Coca-Cola can.😊

I still daily my 92 Legacy Sedan, Truly a special car.

The little soo-bar-oooo. Wow

It's a good car. My father owned one when I was a kid, and he always said it was one of the best overall cars he ever had. That trunk-mounted antenna meant business; it probably picked up stations from two states over.

“Buttons are a well marked and requires little thought to use the way it should be”. You need a BS in Computer Engineering in 2023 to get that same simple tasks done. New wave leftover with her red boots.

This is during that magical 10 years of Subaru when they were decent looking and somewhat reliable. This Legacy and the next were the only decent looking generations of Legacy. Too bad they haven't been either of those things in decades.

I always pop into these videos wondering how long it will be before I see the “gorgeous” comments for 80s and 90s dreck like this. I was not disappointed here.

This is the car that started to turn things around for a struggling Subaru in the late ‘80s. The later Outback, launched with the following generation, completed the turnaround.

The first 4 generations of Legacy are all absolutely gorgeous

Great review from the "Kam-Ray" era

:59 - “Cam-ray”

Such a handsome car

I enjoy these trips back in time. We mever had a Subaru growing up, but the design language reminds me of our 87 Mazda 626 and general cars that were on the road when I was first getting into cars. So it takes me back. Would love a clean, manual, FWD example of this. (But I'll settle for my '20 STI as its spiritual successor, lol)

We had a 1990 Legacy. Panasonic factory stereo had a 1/8” Aux Jack which was unique at the time.

A subaru in the snow is just so much fun

I had a 91 L front drive 5 speed. I swapped in a phase two 2.5 block using the phase 1 2.2 heads that came in the car. It shot the compression way up. Don't know how much but I had to run 93. The car was fast if you could keep the right front tire from smoking off. It would run to 60 in the 7s. Not that bad for an old naturally aspirated 4 cylinder. I worked for Subaru for 11 years and was there when the WRX hit our shores in 02. Man I miss those days.

Cam-ray

Myself and two friends drove an estate one of these from Boston to Aspen Colorado in the summer of ‘96. Good comfortable car. Delivered to a family that was relocating in one piece!! Good youthful times:)

A great competitor to the Toyota Camray

The first-generation Subaru Legacy had made a cameo appearance on an episode of "Martin"

1:26 John: A LIBERAL SPRINKLING OF WARNING LIGHTS AROUND THEM DETRACT SOMEWHAT FROM THE SENSE OF ORDER! LOL

I had an 88 Camry LE. The instruments, HVAC controls and stereo look identical.

This design was obviously inspired by the Toyota Camry at the time.

"Un-Subaru-ized" LOL - the best Johnism I've heard yet!

I always loved these styling

In a way the Legacy was Subaru's first real attempt at making a mainstream, mass market car. Gone is the engine bay spare tire, the car came with a rather large EJ20 or EJ22 compared to the smaller EA80 series which never exceeded 1.8L displacement. My old man's first new car he brought in Canada was a Legacy 2.5GT. It was a great car for our harsh winters, and I still fondly remember it.

C'mon John, the Cam-ray had been around for a few years by this point

Wow Subaru has come a long way since then. Despite them being a minor player in the market globally, they became an automotive juggernaut in the US market.

I have a 1990, same color. Most tankiest and reliable car I have ever owned.

1:40 These boots are made for...driving.

I used to have one exactly like the one tested in this video. Although I liked it reasonably well, the suspension was a bit floaty for my tastes. By the way, I used to drive 23 miles to work every day (one way), almost entirely on the interstate, and I consistently got over 30 mpg. On the negative side, the 4wd system used to protest occasionally with a warning light showing up on the dashboard and a noticeable “tightness” in the rotation of the wheels. The problem would usually disappear within a short timeframe and I honestly didn’t keep the car long enough to have it diagnosed, but I kind of have a feeling that one of the controlling relays was bad. Otherwise, the car was quite dependable.

I do love the interior better than todays

My favourite Subaru design

The Cam Ray shows up at @0:58

What a nice car. Too bad you cant buy one nowadays. A fun around town car with excellent four wheel drive.

My Mk2 xc90 got. Water leak from blocked sunroof drains . So is it correct if drains get blocked the water can get into the car from sunroof ??.

It’s tough to compete with the CAMRAY.

Friends in the 90s had a VZ Limited, GT turbo sedan, GT turbo wagon, RS RA turbo sedan and a GX wagon. They were popular but easily and often stolen in my country.

This video is where John made the switch from "Cam-ray" to "Camry".

IMO the legacy was always a beautiful car. current gen looks great too, very volvo-ish look to it. my favorite is the 2010 spec B model

Haven’t seen those in years. There are more Honda accords and Camrys than the legacies so the legacy already became a legacy.

My godmother bought a brand new 92 legacy and that was a very good Car to her

I had 3 of the 1st gen Legacy. All were bought used for next to nothing and very durable

I just love subarus

I know it was a lot less boxy than the earlier 80's Subarus, but it's still funny for John to say "We can't complain of boxiness anymore" on an objectively boxy sedan.

Wow this car had an aux input in the stereo

Man that engine was making some noise when started

Friends father owned a 87 DL.... Nice car, however, parts were HARD to find and some had to come from Japan

The Outback and Forester are now the safest vehicles on the planet.

The frameless windows still carried on with my 2008 Legacy. Looks so weird to have the back doors open with the windows down.

Damn some current Subaru still take almost 9 sec to hit 60 lol

Best car Subaru ever built

“Aero dynamic” lol! Still looks like a box.

Those boots

I owned a 1991 Legacy back in the day. Great car, had to get rid of it after my cat pissed in the back seat.

I wonder if there’s a way to find out when this specific test car had its first head gasket job….

Strange I thought they were gonna talk about the automatic seat belts which they seemingly don't like.

People wore bright red shoe back then?

this need a rifftrax....great car

1990 was the 1st year for the Legacy

Called the Liberty down under until 2020.

That front is a copy of the Peugeot 405, high praise for the Legacy

Subaru clearly buttered up MotorWeek by giving the tester a free pair of pants made out of carpet remnants from the test car. Slick move Subaru, slick move...

0:58 Camray?

i guess we'll never get a Legacy STi

I drove a Toyota Camry for one week, and it did nothing for me. I drove a Subaru Legacy for one night, and I didn’t want to give it back. I would own this…

Subaru Legacy now Legacy Subaru

Cam-ray!

back when subaru built indestructible tanks.

Simple car for simple people like me... 👌

When was the last time you saw someone drinking a can of coke while driving

They all copy each other. In the Legacy, I can see the Camry’s cup holders, shifter and chrome door handles. Side profile looks like Accord, front looks like Camry, Rear looks like Maxima.

And change the face of Subaru it most definitely did.

This is A Subaru?

Doesn't look 89. I would of have guessed at least 95.

Too bad Subaru is going to discontinue Legacy after 2025 model year

Both our Outback and Forester Touring are 2019 year models and we love them both. In 25 the Forester is going to be redesigned and offered with the Rav hybrid system. We will wait for 26-27 year model so the bugs can get worked out. We will sell my wife’s Outback and buy her a new Forester Touring Hybrid as her commuter car. I’m retired so I only drive 5-6K miles per year so I’ll be driving my Subie for years to come. This is 10/23 and I have only 13K miles on my Forester. EVERYONE HATES the CVT but Subaru REFUSES to listen to their “Valued Customers”. You can’t rebuild a CVT so you have to buy a new one and they cost about $8K. The CVT transmission robs the wimpy 182hp 2.5L 4cyl of hp, torque and mpg. If Subaru really did care about the environment like they want you to believe then they would have been making hybrid vehicles for as long as Toyota. Furthermore the Subaru Soltera is actually a rebranded Toyota EV with Subaru’s AWD system.