Step inside the Subaru Vintage Garage as Mike Whelan profiles one of the most iconic Subaru vehicles to date. The 360 was the first Subaru sold in the U.S. market. Learn more at www.subaru.com...
Oh God, I miss my old 360. My husband was 6'6" tall, we tore out the front bench seat and replaced it with buckets from an old Comet. We had an Irish Wolfhound and when the three of us would exit the car it was like a circus.
Very cool.. My dad worked for Subaru in the late 60's in Philadelphia and would park the 360 on the front lawn at our house where my friends and I would sit inside and pretend to drive. Fond memories which fostered a loyalty: I'm now on my 6th Subaru.
n8trsho cool, nice of you to share. Which model are you driving now? I'm 27 and looking to buy my first car soon but everyone insists I buy new. I think an older Subaru can still provide many years of life and reliability.
Thanks, Mike, for shooting the video at Cooper River Park, my favorite recreation spot when growing up in Pennsauken some 50 years ago. Subaru has their headquarters on the site of the old Latin Casino, where I took my high school sweetheart Jamie to her senior prom and also to see the Temptations. Jay Leno did standup there later. Jamie and I took a test drive in a 360 in 1968 at a dealer on City Avenue in Philly. The salesman asked me if I was old enough to buy a car. I didn't know, so I said "Yes", and the three of us went out for a spin. Good car for the city, but underpowered for anything else, so much so that New Jersey banned it, as I recall.
i saw one of these not long ago in the gt5 used car lot. i watched the demo, which had it going around a hilly track. while reading about the history, i saw it go up a large hill and it barely made it to the top. i was going to buy it, but sadly, i didnt :(
Cool stuff. I was aware of the car, but did not know it was sold here somewhat widely. This is exactly why you can't judge a book by its cover. Detroit executives wouldn't even glance in its direction in 1968, yet look at Subaru's position now. I swear, the official car of the middle class in 1980s America (Oldsmobile, and often the ubitquitous Cutlass Supreme) and now buried over 15 years was succeeded by Subaru. I just look at all the neighbors both then and now.
Older customer of mine when I home delivered his new Subaru back in 2000, asked me if I wanted his 360 20k miles but needed brakes....Couldn't as to I knew the value to the area collectors and told him so...Regret not paying fair money and buying it. :(
I had a Subaru 360 in high school 1970-73, the football.players picked it n up one day and set it inside the gym on basketball court, you can i.aginenwhen I wentnto get in my cool, little car after class, everyone laughed , my parents bought it for me from a friend of mine for $300. Wish I still had it.
That car was the that my grandparents left with after there the wedding and funny thing is he still has it in the garage the baby still runs Subaru’s are really reable
Hundreds of the Subaru 360's were pushed off ships heading to Los Angeles port. Sale were so bad, Malcomb Brinklin didnt want to pay the import tariffs... and thats the rest of the story.
Subaru should do a modern version of this, keep the vintage styling and economical design. Ideally having an AWD model with turbo . Maybe make them a little larger closer too modern beetle. Would probably win out against competitors like the mini.
The 360 is not an ugly car it is cute as a ladybug. Most of today's Subarus including the Outback wagon and the WRX are really good vehicles and not ugly. What is this guy smoking? PS they also make some of the highest rated cars in the whole industry!
