It’s natural for car lovers to think, “what was the first car released?” by a certain car company.
For Subaru, their first automobile produced was the Subaru 360 (manufactured from 1958 to 1971).
And because it was released as a Tomica diecast vehicle, in 1983, it’s natural to see this vehicle being released in Tomica’s limited “Tomica Rekidai Meisha Collection” (which translates to “Tomica Famous Car Collection”) series in 2023.
The first six have been released with the 001 being under Y1000, the 002-006 being Y1996 and from then on, it will be Y1999.
Now what’s interesting about the Subaru 360 is that it’s small, has a monocoque construction, swing axle rear suspension, fiberglass roof panel and real-hinged doors, making it an inexpensive car designed for Japan’s light car (Kei car) regulations.
This would lead Subaru to experiment with releases such as the Subaru Young S with an upgraded engine and transmission (4 gears instead of 3) and the Subaru Young SS (chromed cylinders and dual BS32 Mikuni Solex Carburetors). And also a convertible version of the Subaru 360.
And you will notice several people outside of Japan who own a Subaru 360.
The first exporting of the vehicles came from Frank O’Brien of Ballarat, Victoria who brought 73 vehicles into Australia in 1961 (which unfortunately had overheating problems), 10,000 were exported to the US at the price of $1,297 per vehicle (in today’s currency, that is a little under $11,000) courtesy of Malcom Bricklin.
“Consumer Reports” were not a big fan of this vehicle calling it “Not Acceptable” because of the lack of safety concerns and lack of power, especially since it weighed under 1000 pounds.
Because of the bad news surrounding the Subaru 360, car sales weren’t good.
Tomica start releasing their “Famous Car Collection” in May 2023, with the first being the Nissan Fairlady Z 432. The vehicle retails for Y1969 and part of the reason for its higher cost is that this is not part of the regular Tomica line but is released as a magazine.
In Japan, these are popular to see especially for trains, you see a several page magazine (some range under 40 pages or under two dozen pages) that come with a DVD, Blu-ray or a vehicle/toy. This 002 of Tomica’s “Famous Car Collection” comes with ten pages.
As mentioned, the “Subaru 360” was released by Tomica in 1983 that came with the black Tomica box, while the car was released in yellow with a red hood and red interior.
There are cars that will always have a beginning to their story and for Subaru, it was the Subaru 360. And while the company has evolved to produce awesome cars such as WRX STI and Forrester STI and also the Outback and Crosstrek and are currently the 21st largest automaker in the world. And Subaru has its devoted fans.
As for the Subaru 360, while one knows they put themselves at risk driving these small cars (the same can be said for those who collect and own classic vehicles that didn’t have to go through crash test/safety protocols), there are people who love them. Collectors who want one. Heck, I want one (moreso for city only commute, as I can only wonder how it would feel to ride on the highway and a big rig driving right by).
But if anything, the Tomica Famous Car Collection 02 – Subaru 360 is definitely worth checking out!
