In July 2008 I packed my belongings into my ’93 Legacy, took one last look at the glory of Lake Superior, left Duluth, MN, and headed West to my new home in Bozeman, MT. Along the way I stopped at an obligatory highway exit to gaze upon the wonders of the Badlands of North Dakota just west of Medora. This is a landscape that had such a power over Teddy Roosevelt that he owned a ranch nearby and the place is now named in his honor, Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
While at the overlook, the sun was setting and I snapped a photo of my car. As with most of my photos I posted it to my Flickr page to back it up in the event of a laptop catastrophe as well as to share with my friends and family online. I share most of my photos publicly and this is the case for the photo above.
Last fall I received an email from an art producer working for Carmichael Lynch out of Minneapolis requesting the use of my photo for an in-store Subaru display piece. I was tickled by the thought that I, an amateur photographer who takes pictures with a semi-vintage digital point-and-shoot camera would be offered payment for use of a photo. A series of messages was exchanged and a month or two later I received a check in the sum of $300.00.
In the winter of 2007/08 I had answered a Craigslist ad to go look at a 1993 Subaru Legacy being offered for sale. I had given my Honda Accord away before setting out on a summer-long hiking trek six months previous and was getting a little annoyed with myself having to borrow my girlfriend’s truck anytime I needed to run an errand too far for me to bicycle. The price on this car was right at only $350.00 and after a test drive in -20 deg F temps the owner and I exchanged cash for title and I had a found myself in a new ride.
I don’t drive much in Bozeman because everything – and I mean everything here can be done by bicycle (and even if it can’t my friends and I still try). It’s still nice to have an automobile however as trailheads are ten or 20 miles into the mountains and the occasional trip to WY or ID to go splitboarding is simply not feasible in a weekend when going by bicycle. All in all a cheap, used car is perfect for my needs. And paying $350 for my rig only to get paid $300 for a photo I took of it a few years later was like icing on a cake of awesomeness.
Thank you Carmichael Lynch, thank you Subaru, and thank you Craigslist.
3 responses to “1993 Subaru Legacy”
Yes, I believe Carmichael Lynch was charged with the task of spearheading a Subaru campaign based on the concept of loyalty. I saw a few television ads from that campaign about how much Subaru owners love their Subarus.
And that photo nearly paid for your car. Sweet.
I considered tasking some of my friends with going to various Subaru dealers to see if any of the materials happened to be on hand but I had no idea what time frame the campaign was to run nor what parts of the country it would run in. Thanks for the insight, D.
I recently bought a 1986 Toyota 4Runner and then the next week sold the Subaru for $600.00 to a fellow Subaru fan. I in turn devoted the majority of those dollars to a new set of tires for the 4Runner… and so the cycle continues…
Interestingly enough I have been contacted by the same advertising agency that was previously interested in photos of my car for more photos. No word has yet been heard back but if so I have informed them I would be happy to share and participate.