2000 Subaru Sambar EFI 4WD, 2Hi-4Hi, EL Gear, Airbag, 5MT#BUC69139

A 2000 Subaru Sambar EFI 4WD in our current inventory, finished in Polar White, brought in out of the Japanese domestic market.

2000 Subaru Sambar EFI 4WD: the background

Sambars turn up in more colours than most kei trucks because Subaru sold plenty to private buyers as well as to trades; this one is Polar White. Subaru gave the Sambar four-wheel independent suspension from the very first 1961 model, at a time when Japanese passenger cars mostly did without it — struts at the front, semi-trailing arms at the rear. The Sambar is the odd one out in the class and deliberately so: Subaru put the engine right at the back, behind the rear axle, and drove the rear wheels from there.

The mechanical side of this Sambar EFI 4WD

Under it is the EN07V, a fuel-injected 660cc 4-cylinder engine. Sending drive forward from a rear-mounted EN07 gave Subaru a four-wheel-drive layout unlike anything else in the class. The EN07V drives through a manual gearbox. On the specification it carries selectable 2WD / 4WD high and an extra-low crawler gear.

2000 Subaru Sambar EFI 4WD: recorded details

The odometer reads 34,363. That reading of 34,363 came to us without a unit attached, and we have left it exactly as found. On the specification sheet: an airbag.

What a Sambar EFI 4WD is good for

Farms, vineyards, ranches, grounds crews and building sites are where Sambar EFI 4WDs end up in the US, for the same reasons they ended up there in Japan — Japanese sources describe the kei truck as a necessity for moving tools, crops and catch. At 26 years old, this 2000 Sambar EFI 4WD is outside the window where federal safety-standard conformity applies to an import. Price on this one is $15,900.