1997 Subaru Sambar KS4 Classic – Collector#BUC34568

Here is a 1997 Subaru Sambar KS4 Classic, imported from Japan and offered by Bucks Mini Trucks. The chassis code on this one is KS4, and drive is four-wheel drive. 8 photographs of this specific vehicle are on this listing.

Engine and transmission — Sambar KS4 Classic

It runs a 660cc engine. The KS4 runs a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Condition and equipment — Sambar KS4 Classic

Recorded mileage on this 1997 Sambar KS4 Classic is 19884. The source recorded no unit alongside that figure, so 19884 is reproduced exactly as stored rather than converted.

The 1997 Sambar in context

Enthusiasts nicknamed the rear-engined Sambar the "agricultural Porsche", and the joke does real work: rear engine, rear drive, four cylinders, independent suspension all round. The KS4 designation follows Subaru's own convention: the letters give the body and the number gives the drive. Putting the engine behind the rear axle loads the driven wheels, and that is a large part of why Sambars have the traction reputation they do. The KS4 designation places this 1997 Sambar KS4 Classic in the fifth-generation Sambar, built between 1990 and 1999.

Buying this 1997 Sambar KS4 Classic

A 660cc engine will not tow across a state, but it will do yard, field and site work all day on very little fuel. Japanese makers also held to a voluntary 64PS ceiling for the class. Built in 1997, this Sambar KS4 Classic is 29 years old and clears the 25-year threshold at which imported vehicles are exempt from US federal motor vehicle safety standards conformity. The asking price is $11,500. Japan raised the kei displacement ceiling to 660cc in January 1990, and the 660cc unit in this 1997 Sambar KS4 Classic was engineered to sit just inside it.