The Subaru 1000 is a car produced by the Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries from 1966 to 1969. It was the first-and-only Subaru with front-wheel drive that was in the Japanese government "compact car" classification. Previous Subaru models such as the Subaru 360 and the Sambar had been rear-engined, rear-wheel drive kei cars.
It was the first production Subaru to use a boxer engine, and one of Japan's first front wheel drive cars.
History
Prototype Subaru A-5
In 1962, Subaru management decided to introduce a successor to the prototype Subaru 1500 with a code name A-5. The engine was technologically advanced for the time; the experimental EA51X was a Otto cycle, overhead camshaft, air-cooled, horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine displacing 980 cc driving the front wheels in a compact car platform. It was to have a double wishbone front suspension. Due to FHI's limited resources, the car was not produced. The Subaru 360 was selling only in Japan at the time but Subaru wanted a car that could comfortably carry four passengers without a cramped compartment, that was an alternative to rear wheel drive competitors Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sunny, Mazda Familia, Hino Contessa, Isuzu Bellett, and the Mitsubishi Colt 1000. Subaru also wanted to reduce engine noise by placing the engine at the front and improve interior space by implementing front wheel drive, thereby eliminating a centrally mounted drive shaft powering the rear wheels, and utilizing an independent suspension at all four wheels. Installing the air-cooled engine in the front took advantage of additional airflow into the engine compartment while the vehicle was in motion, while other air-cooled vehicles directed airflow into the rear engine compartment using externally installed air scoops to aid in cooling. To maximize space for front seat passengers, a bench seat was used and the transmission used a steering column attached gearlever. The only other Japanese company to use an air-cooled, horizontally opposed engine at the time was in the Toyota Publica with the Toyota U engine. Its appearance is similar to the Citroën Ami sharing an unusual reverse-raked notchback rear window, similar in style to the 1959 Ford Anglia 105E in Great Britain, and turn signal lamps installed next to the rear window as well as an air cooled flat 4 engine. Its dimensions were long, a wheelbase of , a front wheel width of and a rear wheel width of , with an overall width of .
Production model
In 1963, Subaru tried again, with a new project code A-4, with a smaller 923 cc engine, front wheel drive, and an overall length of , a wheelbase of , a front wheel width of and a rear wheel width of , weighing . The model was put into production; it was assigned production code A-63 and was eventually introduced as the Subaru 1000. For compactness and to ensure quietness of operation with vibration kept to a minimum, the engine was developed with water cooling instead of the originally intended air cooling in the A-5 concept.
The Subaru 1000 was formally introduced on October 21, 1965, at the Hilton Hotel Tokyo, now known as the Hotel Tokyu Capitol. It was shown at the 12th Tokyo Motor Show Sunday October 29 later that year. It was available for purchase May 14, 1966 with a national release in Japan in October 1966. Its model code was A522. The two-door sedan, model A512 was introduced February 15, 1967, with a four-door van released September 14, 1967.
These cars featured a unique water-cooled, horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine, with overhead valves operated by pushrods. Subaru engineers examined designs by Porsche, Renault, DKW and the Chevrolet Corvair, and concluded that it would be desirable to combine this type of engine with a front wheel drive system. The main problem in achieving this combination was the vibrations from universal joints, but in collaboration with the bearing maker Toyo Bearing (now known as NTN), the innovative "double offset joint" was devised. Modern Subarus still make use of horizontally opposed four-cylinder engines, albeit of a much greater capacity and with more modern overhead-cam-driven valves.
As was typical of early front wheel drive cars, the 1000 featured inboard drum brakes up front to reduce unsprung suspension weight and an easier implementation of an independent front suspension (but atypically Subaru would retain this unusual design into the seventies). Other unique features of the 1000 were a lack of a heater core, the heating system took its warmth directly from the radiator, and a hybrid suspension system that used torsion bars in combination with coil springs (much like the front suspension of the Subaru 360).
