Subaru squeezed a bigger three-cylinder engine into what was really a two-cylinder van body — it fit so badly it protrudes into the rear bumper, which has to come off just to service it.
Median 68 hp across 51 similar cars
Lead trim: 1.2 EF12 carburetted (Europe, 52 PS)
Subaru Sumo / Domingo / Libero first generation KJKJ · 1983–1993
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Subaru Sumo / Domingo / Libero first generation KJ yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactSubaru squeezed a bigger three-cylinder engine into what was really a two-cylinder van body — it fit so badly it protrudes into the rear bumper, which has to come off just to service it.
A cabover microvan known as the Domingo in Japan and the Libero in most of Europe (a name Subaru's German importer chose after a 1984 public naming competition), sharing many characteristics with the Sambar but with extended bumpers and a larger engine borrowed from the Subaru Justy, so it did not conform to kei car regulations. It was rear-engined with optional four-wheel drive, and the 1,200 cc could be ordered with selectable 4WD operated by a button on the gear stick, with no centre differential.
Collectors Spotted in the Subaru Sumo Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Subaru Sumo yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 EF10 997 cc | 1983–1993 | 1.0 L Inline-3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1.2 EF12 carburetted (Europe, 52 PS) | 1983–1993 | 1.2 L Inline-3 | 51 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
In the Community
Open CommunityNo notes tagged with the Subaru Sumo / Domingo / Libero first generation KJ yet.
Photographs
In 1994 the second-generation Sumo/Libero gained a proper full-time all-wheel-drive system with a viscous coupling — but Subaru only offered it paired with the automatic ECVT, not the manual.
Subaru squeezed a bigger three-cylinder engine into what was really a two-cylinder van body — it fit so badly it protrudes into the rear bumper, which has to come off just to service it.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Chevy pitched the Astro as the anti-minivan, telling buyers life was too big for one, while it rode on a rear-wheel-drive truck frame.
The IIHS rated the Astro Poor in a 1996 crash test, yet 2001–2004 Astros later had the lowest driver death rate of any US passenger vehicle.
The boxy, unglamorous Astro quietly posted one of the best real-world safety records in America: IIHS found 2001-2004 models had the fewest driver deaths per million vehicles of any passenger vehicle on US roads.
The third-generation Tourneo Connect, released in Europe in October 2021, is a rebadged fourth-generation Volkswagen Caddy, assembled by Volkswagen in Poland.
Ford beat the 25% "chicken tax" by importing the Transit Connect as a passenger van — rear windows and seats included, then stripped out and recycled once it landed in the US.
Ford spent years in federal court over the second-gen Transit Connect: in June 2019 the US won its appeal, and judges ruled the van was cargo-only — ending Ford's workaround for the 'chicken tax.'
GM sold a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the Chevy City Express for four years, then killed it in 2018, citing weak sales and the fact that its parts weren't even compatible with GM's own parts catalog.
Its name is a pun: "S-Cargo" means "Small Cargo" but sounds just like escargot — French for snail, the shape the whole van was built to resemble.