Comments on: Remembering Subaru Domingo Van from 1980s https://carspiritpk.com/remembering-subaru-domingo-van-from-1980s/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remembering-subaru-domingo-van-from-1980s Pakistan's Trusted Automobile Blog Thu, 12 Dec 2024 21:08:43 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: Domingo vibes https://carspiritpk.com/remembering-subaru-domingo-van-from-1980s/#comment-8098 Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:20:03 +0000 https://carspiritpk.com/?p=48010#comment-8098 Subaru was always an upscale brand compared to Suzuki an that is apparent from their vehicles.
Bolan/Ravi were from 1979 and had the older design language. Domingo was from 1983 and had the modern design language. For that compare 1972 and 1974 Corolla to 1980 Corolla and that to 1984 Corolla onwards to 1988 Corolla. Design changed very quickly those days and 1970s designs look really ancient as soon as 1980s kicked in. Compare the 1970s B210 Datsun 120Y with the next model the B310.

Domingo was far superior in every aspect Bolan had 2 headlights but Domingo had the full quota of 4 headlights as it happened for upscale models (it still happens, City has single reflector but Civic has had dual reflectors since a few years now). It had openable rear window, which Bolan lacks even after 42 years of “localization” and needs to be retrofitted as an aftermarket. Domingo came with various options of sunroof and moonroof, a unique thing in those days that only came in sporty cars. The engine was comparatively larger and more powerful. It also came with the latest fashion at that time > Lots of decals like an SUV or sports cars! If you drove it right, it had some oversteer which gave full-on sports vibes!
Mind you at that time the Bolan and Ravi were also more well-equipped in 1 lakh rupees compared to the empty shells they sell today for more than 10 lakh.

Another main benefit was the fully-opening rear hatch. On Bolan, there is a notch on the back of the roof and the tailgate doesn’t fit at the very top of the roof but at the bottom of this recess. This was probably to make the same tailgate fit in lo-roof and hi-roof models but it makes for some very painful headbumps during sitting/getting up in the back row of Bolan and during riding on bumpy roads which is common here. Makes you wonder how many people got concussions this way. Where is the track record of passenger safety on this?

What killed Domingo was heatup issues, same thing that happened with Nissan Sunny B14 and N16. The engine was way in the back with the radiator upfront.

Most of the Domingo ever seen came in Navy blue, white and black. Blue was most common followed by white and black I’ve only seen one sample. At one one time FAW Roma was released (during Musharraf’s era) and people thought it can attract the customers who bought Domingo in the 90s (an article on the short-lived FAW Roma please).

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By: Previous mentions of Domingo https://carspiritpk.com/remembering-subaru-domingo-van-from-1980s/#comment-8094 Mon, 10 Jan 2022 07:57:18 +0000 https://carspiritpk.com/?p=48010#comment-8094 https://carspiritpk.com/subaru-guinness-world-record-largest-parade/#comment-5361

and more recently https://carspiritpk.com/remembering-subaru-j10-justy/#comment-7624

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