Subaru 360
Encyclopedia
The Subaru 360 was the first automobile mass-produced by Fuji Heavy Industries
' Subaru
division. A number of innovative features were used to design a very small and inexpensive car to address government plans to produce a small "people's car" with an engine no larger than 360 cc when most in Japan could not afford a car. The body size and the engine capacity were designed to match within Japan's kei car
regulation. Nicknamed the "ladybug" in Japan, it was one of Japan's most popular cars, and among the smallest cars in the world to attract a significant following. It was a significant step up from microcar
s such as the Iso Rivolta Isetta
as the first kei car that had four wheels and room for 4 passengers. 392,000 units were produced in Japan from 1958 to 1971. Production ended for the 360 and was replaced by the Subaru R-2
.
The car's name was derived from the size of the 356 cc engine. In 1961 the 360 saw a competitor called the Mitsubishi 360, the Daihatsu Fellow
in 1966, and the Suzuki Fronte
in 1967.
inline
2-cylinder 356 cc engine mounted transversely at the rear. By contrast, most conventional automobiles at the time used water-cooled four-stroke engines with 4 or more cylinders mounted in the front.
Two-stroke engines are lighter, simpler, easier to cold start, and produce twice the power for a lesser weight because they produce power every two piston strokes, rather than every four. As with the two-stroke Saab 93
s and other small two-stroke gas engines, oil was needed to be pre-mixed with gas, with the fuel tank lid serving as a measuring cup. In 1964, the "Subarumatic" lubrication system did this mixing from an under-hood reservoir.
While this was one of the more notable cars which adopted an arrangement similar to the Volkswagen Beetle
, the car is much smaller, less powerful, and was not nearly as well accepted in the world marketplace. The body was of monocoque
construction, where the body serves as the frame, and used a lightweight fiberglass
roof panel. Since the post war period, more automobiles would switch until unibody construction is now the norm for passenger cars and even many light trucks. Many of the ideas came from engineers from the former Nakajima Aircraft Company
, which became Fuji Heavy Industries
. The "suicide door
s" are hinged at the rear, which Consumer Reports remarked could and did result in a partially locked door falling back in the wind in their testing.
, and two sport models known as the Young S, which had a slightly upgraded engine and transmission (4 gears instead of 3), bucket seats and a tachometer along with a black, white striped roof with a dent along the middle to put one's surfboard. The Young SS, which had the EK32, dual Mikuni Solex carburetors and chrome bores, produced 36 hp (27 kW). From 1961 onwards, a flat-nosed truck and van called the Sambar
were also produced using the 360's engine, with arrangements similar to the Volkswagen Transporter
in a smaller size. Many small businesses became very successful thanks to the pickup's small size for tight streets, quickness, ease to drive and great fuel economy. In the United States, the engine's displacement was increased to 423 cc using the Subaru EK51 series engine between 1960 and 1966. It was also given the name Subaru MAIA. The Maia variant was the sole sedan model imported into Australia (approx. 35) in 1961 - along with approx. 38 Sambar vans and trucks.
Approximately 10,000 were exported to the US, with an original price of $1,297. The 360 was exported to the United States by Malcolm Bricklin
before he later manufactured his own cars. The Subaru 360 received notoriety in 1969, when Consumer Reports
magazine branded the automobile "Not Acceptable" because of safety concerns and lack of power. Because the car weighed under 1000 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.
Sales soon collapsed, as there were various rumors of Subaru 360s being tossed overboard or being shredded to pieces. It was also reported that many 360s sat on dealers' lots for two or three years without ever being purchased. Despite this, Subaru gained popularity in the United States with its later models, and remains profitable there today.
The Subaru 360 was replaced by the less popular but more advanced R-2
which was quickly superseded by the long-lived Subaru Rex
model.
and Morris Mini. Although it was primarily popular in Japan, it was not entirely forgotten even in markets such as the US. It was one of the smallest cars to attract a significant following from the 1960s to early 1970s, though it was never significant in North America, and still appears in Japanese anime
series such as Pokémon
and GetBackers
.
's release in January 2005, that a production Subaru blatantly cited influence from the 360. The R1 concept, known as the R1e, wore a 360 Young S-like yellow paint scheme along with a small front grille.
Fuji Heavy Industries
, or FHI, is a Japanese transportation conglomerate most known for being the manufacturer of Subaru automobiles. It traces its roots to the Nakajima Aircraft Company, a leading supplier of airplanes to the Japanese government during World War II...
' Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
division. A number of innovative features were used to design a very small and inexpensive car to address government plans to produce a small "people's car" with an engine no larger than 360 cc when most in Japan could not afford a car. The body size and the engine capacity were designed to match within Japan's kei car
Kei car
Kei cars, K-cars, or , are a Japanese category of small vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks. They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is...
regulation. Nicknamed the "ladybug" in Japan, it was one of Japan's most popular cars, and among the smallest cars in the world to attract a significant following. It was a significant step up from microcar
Microcar
A microcar is the smallest automobile classification usually applied to standard small car . Such small cars were generally referred to as cyclecars until the 1940s. More recent models are also called bubblecars due to their egg-shaped appearance.-Definition:The definition of a microcar has varied...
s such as the Iso Rivolta Isetta
Isetta
The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built in a number of different countries, including Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Produced in the post-World War II years, a time when cheap short-distance transportation was most needed, it became one of the most...
as the first kei car that had four wheels and room for 4 passengers. 392,000 units were produced in Japan from 1958 to 1971. Production ended for the 360 and was replaced by the Subaru R-2
Subaru R-2
The Subaru R-2 was a kei car manufactured by Subaru from 1969 to 1972. The R-2 was a full model change of the popular Subaru 360, but with an updated appearance and increased interior space...
.
The car's name was derived from the size of the 356 cc engine. In 1961 the 360 saw a competitor called the Mitsubishi 360, the Daihatsu Fellow
Daihatsu Fellow Max
The Daihatsu Fellow Max is a small Japanese automobile in the Kei car class. Originally introduced as the Daihatsu Fellow, the name was partially retained for the Max Cuore and then again for the 2000 Daihatsu Max.-Fellow:...
in 1966, and the Suzuki Fronte
Suzuki Fronte
The Fronte automobile was first introduced in March 1962 as a sedan version of the Suzulight Van. The nameplate remained in use for Suzuki's Kei car sedans until replaced by the Alto name in September 1988....
in 1967.
Design
The 360 was named for the size of its very small air-cooled, 2-strokeTwo-stroke cycle
A two-stroke engine is an internal combustion engine that completes the process cycle in one revolution of the crankshaft...
inline
Straight engine
Usually found in four- and six-cylinder configurations, the straight engine, or inline engine is an internal-combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row, with no offset...
2-cylinder 356 cc engine mounted transversely at the rear. By contrast, most conventional automobiles at the time used water-cooled four-stroke engines with 4 or more cylinders mounted in the front.
Two-stroke engines are lighter, simpler, easier to cold start, and produce twice the power for a lesser weight because they produce power every two piston strokes, rather than every four. As with the two-stroke Saab 93
Saab 93
The Saab 93, pronounced ninety-three, is an automobile manufactured by Saab. It was announced on August 18, 1955, and was first presented on December 1, 1955. It was styled by Sixten Sason and had a longitudinally-mounted three-cylinder 748 cc Saab two-stroke engine giving 33 hp . The...
s and other small two-stroke gas engines, oil was needed to be pre-mixed with gas, with the fuel tank lid serving as a measuring cup. In 1964, the "Subarumatic" lubrication system did this mixing from an under-hood reservoir.
While this was one of the more notable cars which adopted an arrangement similar to the Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
, the car is much smaller, less powerful, and was not nearly as well accepted in the world marketplace. The body was of monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
construction, where the body serves as the frame, and used a lightweight fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
roof panel. Since the post war period, more automobiles would switch until unibody construction is now the norm for passenger cars and even many light trucks. Many of the ideas came from engineers from the former Nakajima Aircraft Company
Nakajima Aircraft Company
The Nakajima Aircraft Company was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer throughout World War II.-History:...
, which became Fuji Heavy Industries
Fuji Heavy Industries
, or FHI, is a Japanese transportation conglomerate most known for being the manufacturer of Subaru automobiles. It traces its roots to the Nakajima Aircraft Company, a leading supplier of airplanes to the Japanese government during World War II...
. The "suicide door
Suicide door
A suicide door is a car door hinged on the trailing edge, the edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. Such doors are rarely used on vehicles in modern times because of their disadvantages....
s" are hinged at the rear, which Consumer Reports remarked could and did result in a partially locked door falling back in the wind in their testing.
Performance
Equipped with a 3-speed manual transmission, it had a top speed of 60 miles per hour. It weighed under 1000 pounds, which exempted it from normal US safety rules. Fuel economy claims were as high as 66 mpg, but in Consumer Reports tests, acceleration was modest, with 0-50 times over 37 seconds compared to 14.5 seconds for a Volkswagen, and they reported to expect 25–35 miles per gallon. When introduced in 1958, the 360's engine turned out 16 hp. By the end of production, power had increased to 25 hp with a 36 hp twin-carbureted engine as an option.Variants
Several variants were produced, including a station wagon (called the Custom), a convertibleConvertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
, and two sport models known as the Young S, which had a slightly upgraded engine and transmission (4 gears instead of 3), bucket seats and a tachometer along with a black, white striped roof with a dent along the middle to put one's surfboard. The Young SS, which had the EK32, dual Mikuni Solex carburetors and chrome bores, produced 36 hp (27 kW). From 1961 onwards, a flat-nosed truck and van called the Sambar
Subaru Sambar
The Subaru Sambar is an automobile built by automaker Subaru for the Japanese market. It is Japan's first Keitora , shorthand for "kei class truck" and is still in production. The Sambar is available in both microvan and Kei truck to fulfill the Kei car guidelines...
were also produced using the 360's engine, with arrangements similar to the Volkswagen Transporter
Volkswagen Transporter
The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its fifth generation, refers to a series of vans produced over 60 years and marketed worldwide....
in a smaller size. Many small businesses became very successful thanks to the pickup's small size for tight streets, quickness, ease to drive and great fuel economy. In the United States, the engine's displacement was increased to 423 cc using the Subaru EK51 series engine between 1960 and 1966. It was also given the name Subaru MAIA. The Maia variant was the sole sedan model imported into Australia (approx. 35) in 1961 - along with approx. 38 Sambar vans and trucks.
Export
A used car dealer in Ballarat, Victoria (Frank O'Brien) brought approximately 73 Subaru 360 vehicles into Australia in 1961. This was a mix of Maia sedans and Sambar vans and trucks. Unfortunately they suffered from overheating problems and although a solution was eventually found, it came too late, as the associated losses were too great for the dealership to cope with and further importations ceased.Approximately 10,000 were exported to the US, with an original price of $1,297. The 360 was exported to the United States by Malcolm Bricklin
Malcolm Bricklin
Malcolm Bricklin born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an automotive entrepreneur. He is best known for his self-named automobile company, and for being one of the few Americans who has successfully introduced foreign cars in bulk to the American public from firms such as Subaru, Fiat and...
before he later manufactured his own cars. The Subaru 360 received notoriety in 1969, when Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
magazine branded the automobile "Not Acceptable" because of safety concerns and lack of power. Because the car weighed under 1000 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.
Sales soon collapsed, as there were various rumors of Subaru 360s being tossed overboard or being shredded to pieces. It was also reported that many 360s sat on dealers' lots for two or three years without ever being purchased. Despite this, Subaru gained popularity in the United States with its later models, and remains profitable there today.
The Subaru 360 was replaced by the less popular but more advanced R-2
Subaru R-2
The Subaru R-2 was a kei car manufactured by Subaru from 1969 to 1972. The R-2 was a full model change of the popular Subaru 360, but with an updated appearance and increased interior space...
which was quickly superseded by the long-lived Subaru Rex
Subaru Rex
The Subaru Rex, also known as Ace, Viki, Sherpa, 500/600/700, Mini Jumbo or M60/M70/M80 in various export markets, is a kei class automobile produced from 1972 to 1992 mainly for sale in Japan by Subaru, although it was also sold in Europe, South America, and the Caribbean...
model.
Legacy
In the 2000s, the 360 remains a popular subject for collectors, and model cars among other mini-cars such as the 2CVCitroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...
and Morris Mini. Although it was primarily popular in Japan, it was not entirely forgotten even in markets such as the US. It was one of the smallest cars to attract a significant following from the 1960s to early 1970s, though it was never significant in North America, and still appears in Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series such as Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
and GetBackers
GetBackers
is a manga series written by Tadashi Agi and illustrated by Rando Ayamine. The series was serialized and is published by Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 until 2007, totaling 39 volumes. The plot follows the "GetBackers", a group that retrieves anything that was lost...
.
Future
For many years, Subaru searched for ways to capture the car's heritage in a new model. A string of city car concepts in the 1990s were tied to the 360 in various ways. The Subaru Jusmin from the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show was painted in a yellowish color reminiscent of the 360. Later concept cars such as the 1997 Elten and 1999 Elten Custom proposed a modern remake of the 360. However, it was not until the Subaru R1Subaru R1
The Subaru R1 was introduced by the Japanese carmaker Subaru on January 4, 2005. It was designed to fit within the Japanese kei car tax bracket.The R1 is a two-door version of the Subaru R2, but with a shorter body and wheelbase...
's release in January 2005, that a production Subaru blatantly cited influence from the 360. The R1 concept, known as the R1e, wore a 360 Young S-like yellow paint scheme along with a small front grille.