We see a lot of nice vehicles here on Barn Finds, most of them are muscle cars or pickups. Microcars are in a different category altogether but this 1969 Subaru 360 Deluxe is incredibly nice and I think they’re interesting. The seller has this one listed here on eBay in Dushore, Pennsylvania. The current bid is $6,200 but the reserve isn’t met yet.
A lot of those other, “normal” vehicles, the muscle cars and pickups, are popular with almost every reader and commenter. I don’t expect everyone to like this car, despite the fact that it has been restored to an almost jewel-like condition. This car won’t be cheap. I have mentioned before that Hagerty says that the biggest single-year gain in value for a classic car is for the Subaru 360, I kid you not. These aren’t $2,500 cars anymore despite what some folks think they should be worth.
The Subaru 360 was made beginning in 1959 but it would be almost another decade until they were imported into the US. In 1968, Malcolm Bricklin started importing them but it wasn’t long before it was discovered that they weren’t suited for freeways nor were they made for such purposes. That still comes up whenever one is shown. It’s like berating a tricycle for not being able to travel on interstate freeways, they weren’t made for that, they were city cars for tight, congested cities mainly in Japan. A scathing Consumer Reports article on them didn’t help sales. I have always wanted one but I can’t get my legs in enough to operate the pedals, I’m just too tall.
Most of us know the history of the 360 so let’s just check out this particular example. This is one of the nicest that I’ve seen. The only thing I would change would be to try to source a more correct nubby vinyl seating material, otherwise, this is a gem. It almost appears to have had a total restoration and the seller has included a ton of photos, even underside shots. One of the tough parts of restoring a Subaru 360 is its brakes but this one has had a new master cylinder and the wheel cylinders were sleeved along with having a new wiring harness, a gas tank restoration, and much more.
These are rear-drive rear-engine vehicles as the front compartment is where the spare tire is and the battery, etc. The engine looks fantastic, as clean as the rest of this car is. It’s Subaru’s 356 cc twin-cylinder air-cooled two-stroke with 25 horsepower, give or take. This one has been rebuilt with the preferred Weisco Pistons and the NOS and reproduction parts list is extensive according to the seller. This car looks amazing and only those of you who are Subaru 360 fans will probably agree with that. Are you one of those people?
There is no way I am fitting my fat a$$ in this little car lol! Sure wish I did fit though.
Here is something ya just don’t see every day.
This definitely isn’t the car for an enormous behind for sure! You’d also be dwarfed by the 5,500 bound behemouths that we call SUVs and CUVs. This is an interesting curiousity for a Subaru collector, probably nothing more.
“Deluxe”,,,( whistles) who had that kind of cash? Go ahead and laugh, but if current trends continue, and there’s every indication they will, people just won’t have the money for gas, and in a frantic effort to recoup sales, I can see it now,,”All new for 2025, the Subaru 360, 66 miles per gallon,,,see your Subaru dealer today”,,,newsflash, nobody wanted it then, someone looking for gas mileage, “how slow could it possibly be?” This slow,,,,0-60 ( it’s claimed top speed) in 38 seconds, and 1/4 mile times don’t exist, because the timing crew got bored waiting and went home. I read many of these were dumped in the ocean, or sat for years. Aside from gas mileage, I can’t think of a single thing these do well.
Having sold these back in the day at Pontiac Plaza in Portland, Or, I can certify these sentiments. We hardly could give them away. Apropois speed, it didn´t exist. I love Micro cars and can think of a whole bunch which are preferable. One of the attractions of Micro cars is, some are over the top original, which the Subaru isn´t. Now, forward 25 years – the Subaru 2-seat sports coupe, THAT was original as well as a gas on every level. Sadly, it was too individualistic to succeed on the market place.
I remember Pontiac Plaza (prior to it being Mike Salta Pontiac) and that they sold those little whiteish-gray bugs–the Subaru 360. Weren’t they all the same color? You saw a number of them around when they were new, but it didn’t take long for them to disappear from the streets. Not hard to figure out why!!!
Parking in congested large cities would be the other plus besides mpg……cheap maint. maybe, how much do 10″ or 12″ tires cost?
Thanks for reminding us how cool something different can be, Scotty. I think we can modify one into a three-seater and get your Larry Bird frame in there. A little bit of “gangster lean” and you’re all set.That space behind you can then become a rolling espresso station. Keep the dream alive. :)
I remember these well. Subaru’s headquarters was in Pennsauken NJ, the next town over from where I grew up. When they stopped selling the 360 for “highway” use, they took a bunch of them and painted them up like Easter eggs. Then they built a course in the dirt lot behind their building, and sold tickets to drive them around the course they’d built. We’d go there and beat the living crap out of those silly little things. Eventually they rebodied them with a fiberglass pseudo sports car body, and Bricklin tried to set up similar tracks in other parts of the country, but I don’t think it ever came about.
Yes they did – it was called FasTrack (sp).
There was one right before you entered OCIR
(Orange County International Raceway).
I’ve owned and ridden motorcycles with three times the engine displacement.
And yet, I’ve aged to a point where this thing actually looks like fun.
I had one of the 360 vans and a friend had a few of these cars. The cars were great off-road rigs as they are basically a small VW bug in design. They were small enough to fit on a lot of the motorcycle trails where normal VW-based buggies could not go. Alas, we sold all of them a long time ago.
I think we have become so accustomed to what we expect from a car that we can’t see anything else. This wasn’t intended to be a car to go running down the highway in or take on vacation. It was meant to putter around town to visit the kids or mom and dad. Run to the grocery store or just to and from work(provided you worked in the same town). We have people now running around our city in golf carts. And they are licensed for the street! Heck. If it isn’t quick enough for ya, guess what? Put an LS in it!
I’m not familiar with these little things but that little access door above the engine compartment looks like where you would insert the wind up key.and that is probably what I would I stall there and get out at traffic lights to turn it just to get a reaction from other people
Always wanted a peddle car when I was a kid……..oh wait! Those were even smaller!! 😆
So, Malcom Bricklan a supposedly astute businessman invested in these toys NOT KNOWING they couldn’t be driven on the freeways without drastically risking your life??
I don’t believe it!
Back in the day, on the back of a VW hippie van , it read
“0 to 60 in fifteen minutes “
I guess it all comes down to priorities.
Not being familiar with this car in the least, however one thing strikes me as odd regarding the interior.
Why doesn’t the dash pad match the seats, door cards? Seems the pad should be red? Or maybe the rest should be black?
Regardless fun little oddity this is for certain.
Federal safety standards, it’s anti – glare finish.
Also they were sold in at least two other colors, so black was universal.
Interiors were either red or black, exteriors were either white(ish), black, yellow or red. Dash was always black.
“A scathing Consumer Reports article on them didn’t help sales.” I wonder how much this really affected the sales of these cars. I don’t remember even seeing any dealer that sold these, but if I did and wanted one a “scathing Consumer Reports article” wouldn’t have kept me from buying it. In fact, when I think about it, I never had a car that CR liked.
What a death trap! No matter where it is driven you would be seriously hurt! Reminds me of my 1987 Suzuki Forsa I once owned. Told anybody who drove it that if it was a choice of plowing into pedestrians or a brick wall it was up to them if they wanted to live or die. Now I only drive rear wheel 400cid V8 and up cars with the exception of my turbo cars.
Thought they were ugly new, and still do. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
I was at Duncan Imports in Christainburg,VA yesterday.
They have at least three of these,including an SS model –
the high-performance model).
Like gbvette62 said…
I used to race around the track behind S..O.A. (Subaru of America) What a blast!!!!!
Where are the headrests on the front seats. Vehicles built/sold from 1969 on had to have that safety feature! It must be an older model.
I drove one in Tacoma, WA when gas was just ticking over $1.00/gal. $5 to fill & $1.25 for 2-stroke oil every other tankful.
Couldn’t climb a pebble in the road without a running start!
I used to stand next to a Honda 500 motorcycle & dream of having that much power.
When my wife got pregnant & too big to fit in the car, we drove into Tacoma Subaru & traded it in on a Chevy Chevette. (They had a non-running 360 on the showroom be floor.) The salesman & his manager took mine for a spin around the parking lot.
Years ago Motor Trend featured a business that used these on a dirt track for people that wanted to experience “racing” or “life size” bumper cars. Think go- kart tracks only supersized with 360s and not go-karts.
I got a brochure [fact sheet actually] for these when we visited Denver when I was a kid.
Auction update: this auction ended early because it’s no longer available. Which one of you rascals made them an offer they couldn’t refuse?!
Not me…I wouldn’t fit in it lol.
great little car for us people under 6 ft. tall an don,t out weigh the car i got a solid 60mpg with the 2 i owned top speed on my 2 i had was around 60 mph i am 5ft 7 an weighed 160 lbs i would like another one now when they were new they cost around 1,300 so why are people trying to get rich on them now different world now run buy greed
I like this car. I’m always attracted to cars that are unique and different, not the same old same old. Maybe that’s why my collection includes a 1st Gen Honda CRX as well as a 76 Continental, amongst others.
I realize this may not be what many folks prize, but is there any reason why people have to throw out the negative comments. Presumably we are all on here because we enjoy old cars, and to me anything that is taken care of, restored, or otherwise prized by someone is nice to look at.