KEY POINTS:
Subaru celebrates 50 years as a carmaker - and there's a Kiwi connection on every vehicle.
Its logo represents the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus. It's the same cluster known as Matariki whose appearance in the northeastern skies in late May or early June signals the Maori New
Year.
The word Subaru means "unite" or "gathering together" in Japanese, recognition of the five companies that merged in 1953 to found Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of the car.
Production began with the Subaru 360 "bubble car" in 1958. It remained in production until 1971. In the mid-1960s American Malcolm Bricklin, who went on to build the Bricklin sports "safety" car, began selling 360s and the company's Rabbit motor scooter. This is often credited as being the start of the Japanese vehicle influx in America.
The 360 had a two-stroke in-line 356cc engine that was rear-mounted and air-cooled, most famously used on the Volkswagen Beetle. The body was of monocoque construction and had a fibreglass roof panel, features considered advanced 50 years ago.
It produced 12kW and achieved a claimed 66mpg fuel economy. Later versions produced 19kW with an optional twin-carburetted version tuned to a dizzying 27kW.
Several versions were built, including a flat-nosed truck and van called the Sambar, which looked like a smaller version of Volkswagen's Kombi. But the 360 received notoriety in 1969, when the American Consumer Reports magazine branded it as "Not Acceptable" because of safety concerns and lack of power.
Subaru regained popularity with its later models and is a key Japanese brand in North America, often winning praise from the same magazine that had damned the 360.
By the early 1960s, Subaru had decided that the flat four cylinder horizontally opposed engine suited its move to front-wheel-drive vehicles. The Subaru 1000 of 1965 set the company apart from its Japanese rivals who were producing conventional front-engined, rear-drive cars.
The 1000 morphed into the FF1 and then the first of a long line of Leone models. The world's first 4WD car, the Leone 4WD Station Wagon was launched in 1972.
The company was also developing smaller cars and in 1987 launched the first electro continuously variable transmission in the Justy.
With the launch of the Legacy in 1989, Subaru established itself as producer of quality cars with worldwide appeal.
