If I am to believe Jeremy Clarkson, Subaru Legacies are famous in the UK for being undercover transportation for geriatric Lords and Ladies inhabiting the countryside. Or at least, I remember picking up some such from one of the Top Gear episodes in which they tested one.
Well, in Finland they’ve now discovered a better reason for these cars to be legendary and it’s not unlike that other Japanese car they tested at Top Gear once, by submitting it to the high tide after having strapped it to the beach. Indeed, the Finnish discovered the Sub truly is a ‘sub’.
It was wintertime when a man drove his 1996 Subaru Legacy onto the ice of a not-too-deep lake somewhere in Finland’s beautiful nature. The guy went fishing and what better place to do that than on the middle of a lake? However, global warming must have tricked him there, because where the ice would normally have been thick enough, the Legacy went in head first when he reached the centre of the ice patch. The man had just enough time to shut off the engine – no idea why he’d bother to even do that unless he is a really smart man – and get his dogs out the trunk.
Three months later, it turned out that the man’s brainwave that instructed him to turn the engine off was a stroke of brilliance. After the ice had melted a bunch of guys pulled the car back out of the lake and delivered it back to the man. Not sure what kind of curiosity got the better of them, but for some oddball reason they decided to try to get it running again. And guess what! It didn’t take more than to drain the fuel tank, replace the plugs and refill the tank to make the car start at first try!
According the source of all this (an off-road forum in Finnish called Offipalsta.com), the man drove over twelve miles with the car last weekend and it was running fine (though a bit underpowered due to a small amount of water still present in the fuel). And even all of the electrics are still working as they’re supposed to. It will be a smelly bugger though, and I doubt it’ll ever be nice again, but it’s one amazing story!
Unfortunately dragging up the Legacy did make a family homeless (and dead). A fish had laid its spawn on the alternator and was itself found under the hood.
Guess the man’s fishing trip was a success after all!
