The Kei to success: Part 2
The Subaru 360 was the company’s first mass-production car and was quite advanced for its time – 1958, especially as it was a small budget car for the masses. In the second instalment of our two-part 360 story, MIKE MONK describes the car’s later development and its impact in America.
The Kei to success: Part 2
The Subaru 360 was the company’s first mass-production car and was quite advanced for its time – 1958, especially as it was a small budget car for the masses. In the second instalment of our two-part 360 story, MIKE MONK describes the car’s later development and its impact in America.
By complying with the Japanese government’s ‘kei-jidosha’ challenge to produce an affordable light car to help motorise the country’s post-WWII population, the 360 was an instant success in its home country. The ladybird’s limited size helped to combat congestion, and as a result was exempt from stringent parking regulations and gaining tax concessions.
Launched in March 1958 as a two-door saloon, in August 1959 a ‘convertible’ model – actually just a roll-back fabric roof – was added to the line-up, followed in December by a commercial van version whose rear windows were hinged to fold onto the rear wings for easy loading. In October 1960 a slightly longer 450 export model, also called Maia, was introduced with a 423cm3 engine. Apart from a flat-nosed truck called Sambar introduced in 1961 and based on the 360’s running gear, there was a lull until 1963 when a 360 Custom station wagon was released in August, with Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions appearing in December. The SDX boasted overdrive on top gear. In 1964, a Subarumatic lubrication system was fitted that provided automatic fuel-oil mixing via a reservoir located in the engine bay.
The last derivatives of the 360 were the sporty Young S and SS models that made their debut in November 1968. The S had an uprated engine delivering 19kW, a four-speed gearbox, a rev counter and ‘a striped roof with a dent along the middle to put one’s surfboard’… The SS went further with a twin Mikuni-Solex carburettor that raised peak power to 27kW, which translated into a magical 100bhp/litre.
The early models had a full metal dashboard; subsequent models featured a partially-padded dash with an open glove compartment, pop-out rear quarter windows, split-bench front seat and map pockets. Later on, a three-speed Autoclutch transmission was offered an option, the clutch operated via an electromagnet.
In 1961 Frank O’Brien, a used-car dealer in Ballarat, Victoria imported approximately 73 Subaru 360 vehicles into Australia, made up of Maia saloons and Sambar vans and trucks. Unfortunately, overheating problems ruined any chance of sales success before a solution was found, and precluded any further imports.
But the 360 was a winner in motorsport. In May 1964, 360s finished first and second in the T-1 class at the 2nd Japanese Grand Prix.
Ten years after its introduction, American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin and business partner Harvey Lamm took a leap of faith in February 1968 and started importing the 360 into the USA, with documented figures varying from 6 000 to 10 000. Brashly advertised as being ‘cheap and ugly’, the following year the car was targeted in a consumer magazine report that rated it as being ‘not acceptable’ because of a lack of power and concerns over safety. Since the 360 weighed less than 1 000 pounds it was exempt from normal safety standards, but it was reported that it fared badly in a test crash against a large American car, with the bumper ending up in the passenger compartment of the Subaru! There were also claims that the ‘suicide doors’ could, and did, result in a partially-locked door pulling open in the wind at 20mph (32km/h) during testing. Not surprisingly sales collapsed, leaving many cars unsold on dealer floors for two to three years.
Undaunted, Bricklin acquired 900 unsold 360s, hired dune-buggy designer Bruce Myers to design a durable plastic body, then had a race circuit built. He called it FasTrack – a turn-key racing franchise where the public could race on a custom-built course at $1 a lap. The 360 was replaced by the R-2, quickly followed by the Rex, which restored American faith in the Subaru brand.
The 360 has appeared in Japanese anime series including Pokémon and GetBackers, as well as racing video games such as Gran Turismo and Auto Modellista. In recent times it has become something of a collectors’ car, and in 2013 the Orient Watch Company introduced a limited-edition Subaru 360 55th anniversary watch. Although flawed, the Subaru 360 was still a revelation, with steering and road-holding equal – if not superior – to many Western designs. Production ceased in 1970, but the 360 helped establish Subaru on the world’s motoring stage.
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