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jranmann

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    Southern California
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    BMW/Subaru
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    Cars, Hunting dogs (mine) and rebuilding houses in that order?
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  1. El Gabito: Very cool rendition and a handy reference for all concerned. I also felt the 'bunch of text' was relatively useless reference. Parsing the 'numbers' for the sedan owners as you did is a real plus too! Bravo! PS: http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/Final2005LGTproduction.jpg
  2. You know, one never hears of anyone compaining as to the 5MT even those in the city ... I too am going to stick to that 'option' as to the purchase of my LGT wagon... Thanks!
  3. These are wagons my lad...you know, those extra long LGT Sedans?
  4. Leenco12: I fully agree, all that cladding too, like a Baja, but without the unique factor? ...and for factory paint codes try: http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/makepaint2.cgi Cheers!
  5. There's something we see here not often enough.....a modest and admirable effort at keeping the 'legacy' alive and in good trim...bravo for your efforts! IF one thinks about it... the root meaning of many English words, be they of Latin or German origin are often forgotten by future generations...but in this case our inherited 'Legacy' lives on only our own efforts (as you say above) to preserve and enjoy them...and as Subaru clearly isn't all that interested in coming in from 'out' in the 'back' yard these days to give us another just who you gonna call to preserve and protect the family jewels handed down to us takes on a new perspective as these cars age and become less solid... Perhaps it's just us H4 turbo miscreants in the Subaru world that know inherently that the real heart of any man-made engine isn't it's distinctive hood scoop or it's fuel mileage figures or it's but in my book it's in it's abilty to breath and subsequently push fuel around...fast enought to keep up with the multiport valve timing without going 3 mile island nuclear and and our GT's do that better than most don't they See: http://www.english-for-students.com/leg.html
  6. Funny you should mention this, as my BMW e46 was found to have just this defficiency you mention, making getting up in the middle of the night while camping a real 'urgent' experience...not to mention that one had to reach the driver's compartment to turn off the music and overhead lights...Saab and Volvo and even Citroen figured out this bit of Station wagon engineering many years ago... Sadly I sold it over a year ago to fund my home remodel. In all other respects it turned out to be a very nice fully optioned (sans NAV) Euro sport Package machine, even at it's nearly $40,000 dollar price tag...at least my dog thought so! http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/WagonTouringBMW.jpg I see we do have very similar taste in driving machines and at the risk of perhaps being called an elitist (i've driven one BMW or another since High School) would you consider owning another very collectible and again, special ordered BMW Coupe that we have and selling your 5MT limited to me, (with some extra cash) as I am currently negotiating on a similar OBP wagon 5MT limited wagon in Ohio, albeit with more miles on the clock, etc. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/blackLGTlim05.jpg Do consider it as you may enjoy driving the BMW more often...and btw it doesn't need a tailgate or a sleeping compartment ...nope it's so fast that one gets to the campsite (after finding a suitable hotel room) long before the other Legacy owners even begin to show up! Cheers! Ran
  7. Yep...you are one of the fortunate few that can shift manually, air out the car as needed via the sunroof while leaving the windows up...AND feel leather under oneself iwhile adjusting the 8 way motorized driver's seat... all without getting out of the wagon. Let's just hope your battery is up to date? btw...If you find a SWP or ABP MT (taupe) example that's bone stock and less than 60k miles please let me know so I can join in the fun? Cheers!
  8. I think you might already know that I am not an elistist by any stretch..? My 29 year old one-owner BMW below (that handles pretty well) is much too old for that sort of non-sense and was built long before the 'Gods' you speak of appeared... If I were, why would I be posting here? Also, (I didn't mean to arouse your suspicions?) I've owned 3 Legacy wagons (2 GT's and an LS with air-ride suspension) along my own automotive history and am about to purchase my fourth and would really like a 5MT GT wagon. Sure I will miss the sunroof (esp. in CA) and yet the 'forced' leather (on the limited GT model, such as yours) has me thinking twice... and perhaps just buying a special edition 5MT (non GT) wagon and giving up on the turbo model or even buying a Baja! http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/DSC000162.jpg So for my own edification and sans the limited model LGT wagon, just what was the mission of the non-limited wagons and sedans... That's what I'd like to know...simply lower cost or were they (as I suspect) introductory (experimental) models for 2005?
  9. The wagons after '07 are not Legacy as IRRC, starting in '08 all Legacy cars were/are Sedans (only) and all the wagons are now called Outbacks.. It's confusing for most, uh huh? Someone should do this same parsing someday (as above) for those among you that drive and enjoy the Sedan model that lasted until 2008? http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/Ready32.jpg Hi Ron...i have been seeking a vaccine for that very same malady myself and as of yet haven't found anything that can cure it aside from the errant notion that marriage to a dishy Norwegian magazine model (that I finally divorced) would do it! (She mistakenly made me choose between my dog and herself?) Get a clue, girl and a ticket back to Malmo, Sweden! As a panacea, know that at the very least you are not alone and that some (myself included) think it's not an incurable viral sort of thing say like Polio was but perhaps simply a sign of a rationally sentient individual (Darwinism revisited?) being able to recognize (and support) great engineering when he/she sees it (with foresight and hope for the future?) instead of only talking about how cool it was, later on (and in hindsight) which seems to always be 20/20? What I was attempting to get across with the Ferrari (which btw has NO sunroof) was perhaps a special case but is, in the same way a bit similar to the way the LGT (non-limited) model developed ...into something more appealing to the general public...yet somehow less? Subaru for instance during its initial launch (of the generation 4 models LGT included, in 2005) was merely showing/testing its new revised car for the future planned 3-4 year marketing 'push' where the profits really were to be made...and the original R&D costs could be recoverd. IMO we, the general public had no say in how many were made or sold...it was the Marketing department that had already found and mandated that 1) they cut a large hole in the roof of the structural design and 2) put some (inexpensive) leather onto those new (miserable) electric front seats (that nothing fits under) and then said "If they increased production by tenfold" and 3) "just fib a bit as others do, and call it a "Limited" production model" (as Toyota does with its brand) "these cars would sell like hotcakes!" In truth, Subaru wasn't lying because all along they knew that the generation 5 cars were already in the wings and ready to replace the Gen. 4 models... that only lived a couple of more years...as the 2009 models started this process all over again! http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/redSix-1.jpg For example, I've owned and driven a wonderful roadcar my BMW (633CSi) for yes, almost 30 years and this car's development at BMW very similar to the GT and GT wagon's path... in that it fits a similar development model, in this case one that the e24 took some years ago...all the way to the recognized 'penultimate' model ...either the M635 sold in Europe or 635CSi in the USA some said the best and yes indeed final models rolling out in 1988/9...Like the Subaru...it too was replaced by the BMW 840/850 series Coupe (remember those, 'too sexy to fail' models?) that did fail miserably (customers were generally Attorneys?) and this cost BMW many millions in buybacks and service replacements, which was later directly attributed to the Parent company BMW AG mistakenly listening to BMW NA and buying into the 'Hurry up and get it to market' strategy adopted that the Japanese are so good at and apparently the Germans were not at the time? Since one specific car model or type can take 10 (or more) years to bring to market the thinking is most often long term and hence the last cars produced are often driven by the marketing department (literally, seriously at car shows!) Instead of being perhaps the best examples of the lengthy engineering effort...those folks in engineering having long since been transferred onto another (later) model's development team. It seems now that the 'slot in history' my BMW (and your LGT MT) has admirably filled... sits just before the end run examples (those 'penultimate' models) that will not become the more collectible cars as ours will? Finally... (and here's the Salk vaccine shot) ...after all these years a few folks are beginning to understand what I and others actually meant when we've spoken about this...out of our direct experience with the cars themselves...that indeed these hallmark cars of ours are just better for the simple reason that they mark a place in time (over the entire production run) that will be recognized (and remembered later) by collectors of rare things (in hindsight again!) as if not the last, certainly being the best of the breed...this is clearly evidenced by the simple fact they lasted, when the others did not and fundamentally...are still around today in sufficient numbers to collect! Cheers! Ran
  10. Well, it's not a Ferrari wagon, which do seem to be quite rare, and even more so in Brilliant Silver? http://www.newsfilter.gr/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ferrari-456_venice_station_wagon_2.jpg As good as these LGT vehicles (that we know and 'love') are...especially the very useful wagon as in our case here, it seems to me that IMO to makes little sense to put some sort of 'rare' factor on any Subaru, even if it's a 5MT example. In contrast, this seems to be more along the lines of buying (hook, line and sinker) the Japanese way of thought that if WE the king tell the customer that it's a rare car (and then begin to call it 'Limited') that the customer will not only believe it's rare, they will then brag about it to their friends... and then WE can sell a vehicle to them too....Ah so! Vehicle longevity (which can be viewed as a measure of quality materials and good engineering prowess, divided by the amount of hand-crafted workmanship that goes into the car) occasionally causes a vehicle to last long enough to actually become collectible. Although this seemed to be nowhere on the minds of the folks in Kobe when they designed and built these LGT's, evidenced by the fact that the 'Limited' models were produced in record numbers, while the 'Unlimited' models (such as yours) were only produced in '05 (at the start of the producion run) and at that, only sparingly...Although me 'thinks' there may have been another reason for the switch? Liking cloth interior fabrics and foregoing power seat adjustment is fine and I prefer it that way myself...but doing without a sunroof and having the 5eat harnessed to that wonderful Boxer turbo power might further explain what Subaru's thinking actually was at the time...In fact, it reminds me of a MacDonald's restaurant way of thinking...one can still have a hamburger for seventy-nine cents but if your taste buds run closer to five bucks, then we can give that do that too and keep the change? There will always be those that cannot afford or simply don't wish to invest $30k into a vehicle (that will likely be in the scrap heap in less than 10 years) so how do WE get the purchase decision of the more conservative customer swayed to our way of thinking...hmmm....which is that "ALL car dollars should be spent at Subaru, whether they be from Indiana or from Istambul...? I might be wrong but I do like to believe that we in America have a bit 'higher' standard for determining what we are going to 'love' and what we are not going to ...especially about being told that we 'should' love them, just because they love our money...or Yen in this case? Apparently a smart move on your part to not buy into that line of BS and drive a very good car at a fraction of what others have paid for essentially the same transport... Bravo! Are there similar production numbers for the '06 and '07 LGT models anywhere on this site so we might see if Subaru has changed their way of thinking?
  11. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/Screenshot2010-08-06at94606AM-1.png I take it yours has the taupe leather interior? If you don't mind my asking just how well does that material and the lighter trim really stand up to the years, given it's lighter and because of this likely shows the dirt and the wear areas a bit more easily? One thing's for sure.. the taupe color really brightens up the greenhouse affect with that huge sunroof, huh and keeps the interior a bit cooler too for the dog, etc. On the subject of rare items... If one watches the History channel at all... the owner of the Pawn shop (Pawn Stars, the show) gives his expert opinion of rarity at almost every turn and in his mind it all boils down to the fact that in most cases, a rare item is scarce for a good reason, having likely been upgraded the following year or replaced entirely with a fresher attempt at technology and marketability. Glad the chart I did (Parsing the list) is at lease of some help in making it a bit easier to spot one's own vehicle with ease... amongst the others on the very long list that began this thread above.. A new perspective is most always a good thing, if not a rare occurance? Cheers!
  12. I finally got around to parsing this data above to include the LGT wagons (MT, 5eat and both limited and non-limited) Previously I had just covered the 2005 non-limited wagons, and only as to color. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/Screenshot2010-07-25at102913PM.png On this somewhat 'distilled' version here (and for those who had asked for the data in this way previously) this now covers all Legacy GT wagon models from 2005. Someday I (or someone else?) may do the same for the Sedans. In short, this version might make it a little easier for anyone interested to more readily find their own LGT wagon's place (in the scheme of all things Subaru?) which is now represented with easy to read icons and condensed text as to interior color, fabric and transmission type, etc. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh93/JRanmann/Final2005LGTproduction.jpg The original list (above) posted some time ago which is in ascending numerical order (lowest to highest) without regard to model type, color or transmission, in some cases made it a bit unwieldy to use easily, without numerical mixup. Note too that my entries were/are derived from this very source (as noted) It may just be a bit easier to use is all .... Apologies, that this took so long to get to those who had asked. Cheers! Ran
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