History of Subaru Subaru 36, the ancestor of K-Car

Kei? Car (hereinafter referred to as K-Car) is a unique mini-car in Japan. Nowadays, K-Car refers to a mini-car limited by Japanese laws and regulations, and some necessary parameters are stipulated in the previous third-generation laws, such as the engine displacement is no more than 66cc, the upper limit of horsepower is 64 horses, the body length is no more than 3.4 meters, the body width is no more than 1.48 meters, and the body height is less than two meters. However, K-Car is nothing new; After the end of the Second World War, Japan experienced years of war, ruin and economic decline; Because of low income, most Japanese citizens can't afford cars. In order to increase automobile sales and promote the development of automobile industry, in 1949, Japan decided to develop Japan's "national car", which directly led to the emergence of the concept of K-Car.

Although the original intention is good, how can there be a consumer group in Japan where everything is in ruins? Even the Japanese underworld, which has gained huge benefits in the process of reconstruction, is busy supporting national construction, not to mention civilians? Therefore, this law enacted in 1949 has not been accepted and corresponding by the car manufacturers. In addition, the mechanical specifications are too dead. The upper limit of exhaust capacity set in 1949 is only 1cc/15cc. How can the power output be recognized by the market if even the engineers of the car manufacturers are not satisfied with it? So in 1995, the first edition of the law was revised to the upper limit of 36cc, and with the strong support of the Japanese government, Japanese car manufacturers began to introduce mini-cars with low price, low fuel consumption and small body; And one of them looks like Volkswagen? Subaru 36 of Beetle (Volkswagen Beetle). Subaru36 is a four-seat mini-car developed from the prototype with the code name K-1. It was first introduced by Subaru in 1958 and is also the second car produced by Subaru.

further reading: the origin of Subaru Car Factory

In p>1945, after the end of World War II, Nakajima Aircraft was reorganized into Subaru Industry (predecessor of Subaru Heavy Industry), and in the following year, it began to develop and manufacture Subaru Rabbit Sukeda (Fuji? Rabbit? Scooter）。 Isesaki Factory in Gunma County began to manufacture lightweight bus bodies in 1947, followed by imitating American buses in 1949, and independently developed the first bus with rear engine and frameless single structure (or stress skin structure) in Japanese automobile history. No matter the engine or single metal structure technology, it is related to the background of its aircraft manufacturer. In 195, under the order of GHQ (Note 1), Subaru Industry was split into 12 companies, Donlon and Sanying Factory merged into Subaru Industry, and Isesaki Factory was reorganized into Subaru Automobile Industry. Among these 12 companies, five companies, including Tokyo Subaru Industry, Subaru Industry, Subaru Automobile Industry, Omiya Subaru Industry and Utsunomiya Vehicle, raised funds to establish Fuji Heavy Industry in 1953. Since 1952, Subaru automobile industry, which was reorganized from Isesaki factory, has devoted itself to the development of passenger cars. First, Subaru 15, a four-door car with 1,5c.c engine and monocoque structure, was tried out.

Note 1: Allied Supreme Commander General Command, Allied Supreme Command, referred to as General Union or General Union Government, also known as General Union in Japan (English: General? Headquarters (abbreviated as GHQ) is a title of General douglas macarthur, commander of the US Far East Army and commander-in-chief of the US military stationed in Japan during the Japanese allied occupation.

picture: Subaru? 36 is one of the earliest K-CARs in Japan. If Suzulight, which was completely transplanted with the concept of ordinary cars, is excluded, Subaru 36 should be regarded as the first specially designed Kei-Car, with a very round appearance.

Subaru? The most well-known feature of 36 is that it looks like Volkswagen? Beetle's design; In fact, after the Second World War, Japanese automakers almost started from scratch, and their situation was the same as that of our own brands many years ago. They needed to gain market recognition by imitating successful foreign models, so most of the early Japanese cars would imitate or even copy the designs of classic European and American models. As a "Japanese national car", Subaru? 36 chose Volkswagen? Beetle as the imitation object. Another example is that Toyota's 2GT, which we once introduced, is an imitation Jaguar? E-Type and Honda S5 are imitations of MGA, etc. The imitation in the initial stage of business is normal. All the newly-launched large enterprises in the world have had such a history. Even if they are tall, like the military industry, they are all imitations. The weapons copied by the United States from the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union from the United States abound, but the key point is that imitation, imitation and even copying can only be regarded as a way to reduce risks and avoid detours for enterprises in the initial stage, but it cannot be long.

Figure: Although Subaru? The design of 36 imitates Volkswagen? Beetle, but Subaru has made many changes to the design.

Figure: Is the "suicide" door also Subaru? The characteristic design of 36 is convenient for the rear passengers to get on the bus; However, some consumers reported that the suicide car door was at risk of being accidentally opened by the wind when driving at high speed.

it is worth mentioning that although it is an old car from 195s, Subaru? However, the 36 used the load-bearing frame design early. After the frame was made of steel, the door and ceiling were made of FRP. In this way, the weight of the car body can be further reduced, and at the same time, the production cost can be reduced. You know, in this small country of Japan, steel is a very precious resource.

picture: Subaru? The front and rear wheels of the 36 are suspended by dragging arms, and the rear engine and rear drive layout are adopted.

Figure: It is the most basic propaganda rule in the commodity society to shoot what kind of advertisements for what kind of cars are positioned. But looking back at the advertisements of China car companies today, it is a warm family Feel of cars, which is really speechless.

Figure: The earliest model has only one speedometer on the center console, and its function is quite simple.

Figure: The ultra-thin seat is straight and hard, just to make room for the back row.

Figure: The comfort of this kind of seat is not much different from that of the bus seat, which plays the role of "having a back row".

Figure: However, although the seat comfort is worrying, the rear space is optimistic.

Picture: Even sumo wrestlers can squeeze into Subaru? In the 36 car, although the uncle will be squeezed to breathe hard after getting on the bus, for such a small mini-car, such internal space is quite excellent.

as for the power part, at that time, the Japanese government stipulated that K-Car should use a maximum engine of 36cc, while Subaru? The 36 adopts the EK31 twin-cylinder engine with 356cc, and adopts the layout of rear drive, which is also designed to reduce the production cost. With this 356cc engine, it is equipped with a 3-speed manual gearbox, and Subaru has successively introduced 4-speed manual gearboxes and 3-speed "automatic clutch" gearboxes (manual gearboxes with automatic control clutches).

Figure: The fuel consumption of the twin-cylinder engine code-named EK31 is only 3.6 liters per 1 kilometers. The early version can output about 16 horsepower, and it was upgraded to 25 horsepower later. Due to Japanese regulations, although Subaru? 36 theoretically has the strength of 1km/h, but its speed is forced to be limited to 4km/h, which is the speed limit of urban roads in Japan at that time.

Figure: These three control levers behind the shift lever, "C" stands for Choke, which is used to start the engine; "H" stands for Heater, which is used to start the air conditioner, while "F" stands for Fuel, because Subaru? The 36 is not equipped with an oil pump, but uses gravity to make gasoline flow and deliver it to the carburetor, so this F-bar is used to open or cut off the oil circuit.

in order to further expand Subaru? 36' s audience, just like today's K-Car, Subaru has launched "sub-models" with slightly different shapes, namely 36? Custom、36? Convertible (convertible) and 36? Young? SS, of which 36? Young? SS is equipped with an upgraded version of EK32 engine, and its power "surges" to 36 horsepower.

picture: Subaru? 36? Custom can be regarded as a mini station wagon with more rear storage space.

picture: Subaru? 36? Young? SS is a "high-performance" model with a special "SS" pull pattern on the front.

picture: Subaru? 36? Young? SS is equipped with EK32 engine, the displacement is still 356cc, and the power is increased to 36 horsepower.

in addition to the Japanese domestic market, the early Subaru? 36 has also tried to export to the international market; Subaru produced nearly 1, units equipped with EK51 in the 196s. The left rudder version of the 423cc engine Subaru? 36 and sent to Australia and the United States. However, this hot-selling mini-car in Japan eventually encountered an overheating crisis in Australia, but it was unsalable in the United States because of its questionable safety and serious lack of power (after World War II, compared with other victorious countries and defeated countries, the United States was really like a paradise and hell, and the degree of prosperity can be seen from the car sales and car use concept. From the end of World War II to the end of the 195s, the American car sales reached millions, and it was also a V8 engine all over the street). Subaru's export plan ended in total failure, and it was K-Car's acclimatization in the international market that led Japanese manufacturers to gradually use K-Car as a local special supply model instead of "wasting" the cost and trying to export it to other countries or regions.

Photo: Subaru once exported a batch of left-hand rudder 36 to Australian and American markets, but unfortunately it was unsalable due to acclimatization; It is said that there were a large number of overseas versions of Subaru? 36 has remained in the hands of dealers for three or four years and has not been sold.

Figure: Except for the K-car which was popular in China in 199s? Plus models have left-hand drive, so it's really rare to have a pure left-hand drive Kei-Car.

Figure: Left rudder Subaru? 36 changed into EK51? 423cc engine, so it will also be called Subaru? 45 or Subaru? Maia, and the speedometer bottom of these left-hand drive models has reached 12 km/h. If it has not been changed, I wonder if it can really run at this speed?

however, even if Subaru? 36 was a great failure in the international market, but before it stopped production in 1971, it reached an amazing output of 392, units, and most of this output was digested by the Japanese domestic market, so Subaru? 36 has indeed become a veritable "Japanese national car."

Subaru imitated German Beetle and became a "Japanese national car", which promoted the development of K-Car, a unique car type, and also opened Subaru's legendary history in the car world. On the other hand, domestic independent brands, although in the absence of experience, imitation is indeed a shortcut to grow and develop, but when Geely, Great Wall? Wall), Chery and even BYD are all abandoning plagiarism and trying to find their own design features; Some domestic manufacturers stubbornly hold this "magic weapon" without connotation to make money, and brazenly take the design of successful foreign models for themselves and take pride in it. For some consumers, buying a self-owned brand car that looks like a luxury car at a low price will have a "face". This kind of consumer is the source of sales of such brands, but it is impossible for these brands to develop in the accumulation of money. Once the domestic consumers' cognition of shanzhai cars is improved, and more and more people regard shanzhai cars as a symbol of "vulgarity" and "rusticity", then these manufacturers who stop at the imitation level will be impacted or even recovered. In fact, for manufacturers in the early stage of development, imitation is not a shameful thing, it is a learning process; But "applying what you have learned" and finding your own development direction is the right way for an automobile manufacturer to grow stronger and stronger.

This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.