Subaru 360 (1958 – 1971) Review

The Subaru 360 is a retrospectively popular entrant in Japan’s Kei-Class of microcars. When contemporary, few people in the UK were aware of these strange little cars, but in recent years, thanks to the rising popularity of Japanese classics, a number have found their way to these shores.

Unlike the competition from Honda and Toyota, which were deliberately styled to resemble shrunken versions of full-scale cars, the Subaru had a bug-like style all of its own. It was an interesting mixture of advanced – the independent suspension – and primitive – mechanical brakes and three-speed gearbox. Cramped, slow, utterly baffling to Europeans, and yet the Subaru 360’s following among enthusiasts is growing rapidly.