Visited the parents last week, and saw one of these on 95 on the way down. Subaru Sambar - Wikipedia There are a couple listed for sale here, one is even a fire truck version. Subaru Sambar - Wikipedia
As kei car, it isn't much bigger than the Matchbox. If I hadn't seen it keeping up with 65mph+ traffic, I'd have thought it a low speed utility vehicle from the size. A Jalopnik writer had the patrol cars at the Subaru test track coming out.
A friend briefly owned a '69 or '70 Sambar van, went for a few rides in it. Thrilling might be the word?
Not the same truck as the Subaru one. A Subaru engineer in the Jalopnik article called it like a 911, and it is a popular car to drive at the test track. The Subaru Sambar is RWD(4WD option) with a rear mounted motor, giving it a near 50/50 weight balance, and the truck is light weight despite being low on power. Most other kei cars, including the Daihatsu's, have front/mid mounted engines, giving them less fun dynamics. With Toyota gaining control in Subaru's parent company, Subaru no longer makes kei cars. they are now all rebadged Daihatsu's now.
For a while I had a theory that Subaru went whole-hog on flat four engines because they were already set up to cast those two cylinder inlines for the kei cars, so the same foundries could cast half an EA block without much retooling. Just a theory. The Subaru dealer over in Wescosville had, and may still have, a beautifully restored 360 on display. I understand it was personal property of the former owner and there was an agreement to keep it on display. I knew of an indie subaru shop in Mertztown that had a couple of Sambars. Gone now.
@Prodigyplace, yes, thats exactly how I came to that conclusion. From the 3rd paragraph of the originally linked Subaru article:
Being a rebadged Daihatsu designed and built by Toyota makes it as much of a Subaru as the Yaris built and designed by Mazda is a Toyota mechanically. The difference between the two kei trucks is actually greater than between the Toyota Yaris and rebadged Mazda2. You can call a Toyota a Chevy or Pontiac, but that doesn't make it a GM car.
