Subaru Leone 1400 DL Sedan
The first Leone sedan put Subaru's low, flat boxer engine into a roomy little front-drive family car.
1972 Subaru A22 Leone four-door 1400 Custom · 先従隗始 · CC0 1.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Subaru introduced the Leone as a coupe in 1971, then widened the family in April 1972 with two- and four-door sedans. That makes 1972—not 1971—the first accurate year for this Japanese 1400 DL sedan. The DL used a 1.36-litre boxer-four and front-wheel drive. Later in 1972, Subaru added the famous switchable-4WD Estate Van, but this featured sedan is the simpler front-drive model that came first.
Look a little closer.
The Leone name means lion in Italian, but this early DL's mechanical party trick was a very low boxer engine rather than four-wheel drive.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Why the profile says 1972, not 1971
Subaru's own historical timeline separates the 1971 Leone coupe from the sedan family that followed in 1972. Contemporary-catalogue data lists the four-door 1400 DL from April 1972. Correcting the year avoids quietly turning a coupe launch into a sedan that did not yet exist.
Source: Subaru annual-report timeline · 1971 coupe and 1972 Leone 4WD ↗Front drive before the 4WD landmark
This DL sedan is front-wheel drive. Subaru's landmark 4WD Leone Estate Van arrived separately in September 1972. Keeping those two identities apart shows the engineering sequence: first the Leone road-car family, then the four-wheel-drive wagon that helped define the brand.
Source: Subaru · Leone 4WD Estate Van anniversary history ↗Where these facts come from
- Subaru annual-report timeline · Leone milestones
- Subaru · Leone 4WD Estate Van anniversary history
- Automobile-Catalog · 1972 Japanese Leone four-door range
- Toyota Automobile Museum · 1972 Leone Estate Van display context
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 30, 2026.