(Continued from last week/ Excerpt from “History of Subaru”)



From the second half of 1966, the economy started to recover and Japan entered an extended period of prosperity that rivaled the Iwato boom years of 1958-1961. General income levels were raised and consumers spent more on more pleasant and convenient products in a period that came to be known as the consumption war (1967). Reflecting this prosperity, the automobile industry displayed further growth and by 1967, when the class of motorists known as “My-car owners” emerged, Japan became the second largest producer of cars in the world. In 1968, it consolidated this position by further opening the gap between itself and the third-placed nation West Germany. With the arrival of the popular car boom underpinned by the emergence of “my-car” owners, this period was particularly characterized by an increase in passenger cars, and for the first time the ratio of passenger cars out of overall automobile production exceeded 50%.

New rivals such as the Daihatsu Fellow (1966), Honda N360 and Suzuki Fronte (1967) were developed and launched with the clear intention of competing with the Subaru 360, and it was forecast the light car sector would enter an era of intense competition between these emerging models and the established light passenger vehicles. However, contrary to most expectations, the market expanded and entered a period of unprecedented boom in which production grew to more than 280,000 units in 1967 and exceeded 480,000 units in 1968.

Against this background, Fuji Heavy Industries, which had continually taken the initiative in the light car sector over the previous 10 years, began to examine the mini car image for the new age while at the same time adhering to the basic Subaru philosophy of pursuing the intrinsic quality of light cars without making model changes.

In 1967, some minor modifications centering on the interior comfort and safety of the Subaru 360 Series were made, and a new record was set when production exceeded 68,000 units. (Also, in May this year, aggregate production of the Subaru 360 Series broke through 500,000 units. This was a new record for the production numbers of the same car series manufactured in Japan.)

Having reached its 10th anniversary in March 1968, the Subaru 360 was equipped with a new engine (25 PS, 3.5 kg•m) and performance was further improved (maximum speed 110 km/h) with the adoption of the three-speed + OT transmission in all models except the auto-clutch car. At the same time, major improvements were made to interior and exterior fittings and underbody, thereby making the Subaru 360 more robust for the highway age. Furthermore, in November, higher performance models in the Subaru Young Series (S: 25ps, 3.5kg•m, SS: 36ps, 3.8kg•m) were launched in an effort to attract young motor sports fans. These models were warmly greeted by some motor sports fans, however, it was from this year that sales of the Subaru 360 Series started to drop conspicuously. Many reasons can be considered for this, however, perhaps the biggest factor was that disparity had arisen between the Subaru 360 and the needs of the age with respect to mini cars.


(To be continued next week… / Excerpt from “History of Subaru”)



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