Subaru does not build many cars like the Subaru 1000: a 2/4-door sedan / 3/5-door van/station wagon with 977 , built from 1966 to 1969 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Its designer of record is Shinroku Momose.
Where it came from
The Subaru 1000 is a car produced by the Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries from 1966 to 1969, and until 1972 as the FF-1 (also sold as the Subaru Star). It was the first front-engine, front-wheel drive Subaru, and also the first Subaru 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.
Under the skin
Under the skin sits 977 . Kerb weight is 670 -. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2420 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Where it sits in Subaru's history is not in doubt: it was built at Yajima Plant, Ōta, Gunma, Japan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Dodge Charger, the Lamborghini Miura, the Alfa Romeo Spider. Nearby in the Subaru catalogue sit the Subaru Chiffon and the Subaru Lucra.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Subaru 1000 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.
Subaru1953