This is a Subaru! A 1969 Model 360 to be exact. Prior to about 1980, I had probably never heard of, much less seen a Subaru – or at least, gave little thought to the up and coming brand. Looking like a combination of a toon car and the rider compartment of a kiddie Ferris Wheel, this Subaru is located in Rush, New York and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $2,050 with twenty-one bids tendered so far.

Introduced in 1958, the Subaru 360 was a sub-compact coupe weighing approximately 1,000 lbs. While not immediately noticeable, the 360 was quite a bit smaller than the Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle) though it mimicked the Bug’s layout with its rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. This particular Subaru carries the model designation “Young” which means it has a slightly more powerful engine than its non-Young (Old?) counterpart as well as an extra gear in its transaxle. Three-body styles were offered, a coupe, such as our subject car, a cabriolet with a retracting canvas top, and a station wagon. Production of the 360 continued through 1971 and total output reached almost 400K copies.

The seller suggests, “This car deserves restoration, and nearly everything is in place. I can find no rust through or Bondo. The only things I can find that need replacing are headlight bezels and rear side windows“. The body is a bit rough but agreed, it doesn’t appear to be rusted beyond the surface stage. There are minor dents spread across its diminutive flanks but they are not serious. The minimal amount of trim is mostly present though some of the windshield’s reveal molding is missing. Of note, the roof panel is fiberglass.

The Subaru 360 is so named due to its engine size, 356 CC’s, which kept it, barely, under a higher 360 CC and up Japanese tax bracket. It is a two-cylinder air-cooled affair good for about 36 HP and attached to a four-speed manual transaxle. The seller, who has owned this Subaru for five years, adds, “I have not tried to start the engine, but this car is light and rolls easily, so shipping should not be a problem“. The old “not tried to start it” saw has become an eBay, craigslist, Facebook Marketplace listing standard. The head-scratcher, however, is, “But they are a blast to drive – the automotive equivalent of taking your puppy out for a walk” talk about a non-sequitur…And that, of course, engenders another question – if this one hasn’t been started, how would one know that it’s a “blast” to drive? Experiences with other examples, I guess.

There are no telling images of the interior included but this one of the instrument panel was a surprise as it includes a tachometer – one of the features of the “Young” trim level. Then again, motorcycles of this era had tachometers, so maybe it’s not such a surprise. The 18K mile reading is probably a once around, and if that’s truly the case, 118K miles is an impressive total for a car of this nature.

From what can be seen here, the interior is a typically spartan affair, the kind of environment found in economy cars from over a half-century ago. There appears to be a shelf located under the dash – a place to put whatever.

While a car like this Subaru 360 seems strange, and yes, foreign, especially when compared to what most Americans were driving in ’69 (think Impala, Galaxie, Fury, and yes, VW Bug), it’s an important component of automotive evolution and a radical departure from today’s Subaru. It’s also a telling example of where the Japanese auto industry was at the time. Back to the comment regarding this car deserving restoration, I completely agree!  Do I want to take it on? Nope! But how about you?