Subaru 1500 – 1954

Developed under the code name P-1, the company’s first fourwheel passenger car required a name, so the company’s CEO Kenji Kita started casting around for a suitable moniker. With no suitable suggestions coming forward Kita decided on the name Subaru, the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster and the new model was subsequently called the Subaru 1500.

Launched in 1954, production of the 1500 was unfortunately hit by supply chain difficulties and only a handfull of these four- cylinder powered cars were ever built. Despite the very small numbers, the idea was good and power came from 47.3bhp OHV 1.5 litre inline-four similar to what was used in the Peugeot 202. Later cars used an in- house developed engine, the L4-1, which was 20 per cent lighter.

The Subaru 1500’s drive train was conventional in that the front north-south mounted engine drove the rear wheels through a live rear axle. Front suspension was by double wishbones and the car’s slab sided monocoque was said to closely resemble a Peugeot 303.