[en] We have measured charged pion production in the reaction ¹³⁹La + ¹³⁹La → π^+- + X at three beam energies (246, 183 and 138 MeVnucleon) below the nucleon-nucleon threshold. Associated multiplicity for charged participants was obtained using a 110-element scintillator multiplicity array. Data were taken over the angular range of 21/degree/ to 67/degree/ in the laboratory (equivalent to 30/degree/ to 90/degree/ in the center of mass). Dependence of the spectra upon pion charge, energy and angle, beam energy, system mass and associated multiplicity was investigated. Based on the isotropic angular distibutions and the associated multiplicities for pion production, it appears that subthreshold pions in the range of our experiment are produced predominantly from a source at rest in the center of mass and involving a large number of nucleons. The general character of the subthreshold pion spectra is comparable to previous results above threshold. However, the scaling of the subthreshold pion yield with system mass deviates from the dependence observed in light systems, to an extent which cannot be explained by a simple nucleon-nucleon model. We also found charge dependent structure in the pion spectra, which we analysed in the framework of both Coulomb distortion and clustering models. We conclude that while we did not find clear evidence of collective effects in subthreshold pion production, it would be very worthwhile to conduct a systematic investigation of pion production for all charge states and over a range of angles, system masses and beam energies, below threshold. 170 refs., 78 figs., 10 tabs