Spring 2005 Forward to a Friend


Your Turn Letters from our Readers


Subaru Aircraft Heritage

Did you know that the first Japanese-manufactured, single-engine, general aviation airplane marketed in the United States was a Subaru? The Fuji Heavy Industries Fuji FA-200 Aero Subaru was first flown on 12 August 1965 and was produced in three versions with 160-180-hp Lycoming engines. One version was aerobatic-rated, limited to two seats. Between 1968 and 1977, a total of 274 were built in all horsepower versions.

Doug Roberson
Oxnard, CA



Emergency XT

I work as a fire department paramedic, and when a call comes in, I respond from home with [a Subaru Outback] XT. Handles beautifully on our back winding, snow-covered roads of Michigan.

It is specially equipped with low-profile, high-intensity LED emergency lights on the top and behind the grille and side windows (hidden siren as well). Gives it quite the look when responding on an emergency.

Jonathan Schechter
Ortonville, MI


Rep Ryan Chaffin and the
“Long Trail Guy’s Car.”

Beery Good

I represent Vermont’s Long Trail Brewing Company. I travel all around the beautiful State of Vermont and the Adirondacks of upstate New York selling and marketing our awesome brew.

I own a 2004 Subaru Outback and have loved every minute of it. I couldn’t be happier with the performance. My Outback is often looked at as the “Long Trail Guy’s Car.”

Ryan Chaffin
Long Trail Brewing Company
Bridgewater Corners, VT


We constantly receive mail from readers describing their road trips. So we thought we'd print letters about your favorite places to drive in the summer Your Turn section. Describe your choice for the best driving venue and send it to the e-mail or postal address on the next page. Although photos aren't required, they could be helpful for telling your story.




A Point of Geography

Near the end of Laura Randall’s article “Bridges to Paradise,” she writes about Key West being the “Southernmost Point in the U.S.A.” The green sand beach on the southern tip of the big island of Hawaii is the southernmost point; it’s about 19 degrees above the equator.

Harvey A. Dennenberg
Lutherville, MD

The marker referenced in the article is shown above. It further describes the location as the southernmost point of the continental U.S.A.


Randy Lee’s 1986 Subaru helped him haul logs ...

... to build his cabin.

Subaru Logger

I have a 1986 Subaru, 4WD turbo 3-door. I bought it for an extra car and for winter weather and for SCCA rallycrossing, but after having the car and taking out the passenger seat and the back seat to rallycross it, my wife and I decided to build a cabin. We had some land, and it had enough pine trees to do this. But when it came time to pull the trees out of the woods, we realized that we had the perfect vehicle for the job – my Subi!

I would cut the trees down and then drag them to the one-man saw mill that I was using. When the first log was on the mill and finished, I noticed that if I backed the Subi up to the mill, I could slide it off into the passenger section of the car. Then I would drive it to the cabin site, which is still not on a road yet – just a muddy path – and back up to the cabin and pull the logs out onto the cabin floor. We could not have built this cabin without this car. A truck bed would have been too short, and anything without 4WD couldn’t have done the job.

Randy Lee
Springfield, TN

Any plans to add a garage for your trusty Subi?

Our best feedback comes from Subaru drivers

FOR COMMENTS CONCERNING DRIVE MAGAZINE, send e-mail to: drivemag@subaru.com, or write to: Editor, Drive magazine, PO Box 514025, Milwaukee, WI 53203-3425.

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