"limited Edition" SVX - Page 2

Budfreak · #16 11-28-2006, 10:34 PM

I talked to the guy again and he said that once I told him that there was no such thing he checked it closely when he got home and it turns out they were high quality vinyl decals that somebody put on.

ensteele · #17 11-28-2006, 11:10 PM

oh my!!

PDSides · #18 11-29-2006, 08:07 AM

[QUOTE=svxcess]Speaking of the Subaru 360, there were 332 of these very small, rear wheel drive minicars imported in 1968.

Interesting you should mention the Subaru 360. Do you know what happened to all those little cars? Does the name Malcom Brickland mean anything to you? Great story.
Preston

dcarrb · #19 11-29-2006, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedForSpeed

May 91 seems early, but maybe many have May cars?

My teal was built in May '91, and yes, there are probably many of the same vintage.

dcb

NapaBavarian · #20 11-29-2006, 11:09 AM

April '91

and one of these days I'll check the build #

svxcess · #21 11-29-2006, 12:10 PM

[QUOTE=PDSides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by svxcess

Speaking of the Subaru 360, there were 332 of these very small, rear wheel drive minicars imported in 1968.

Interesting you should mention the Subaru 360. Do you know what happened to all those little cars? Does the name Malcom Bricklin mean anything to you? Great story.
Preston

svxcess · #22 11-29-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDSides

Do you know what happened to all those little cars? Does the name Malcom Bricklin mean anything to you?
Preston

Malcolm Bricklin and his friend, Harvey Lamm founded Subaru of America. With an investment of only $75,000, Subaru of America is founded with 20 dealers on the East coast and 60 in California.

The 360 was first produced in 1958, and imported into the U.S. ten years later. It received much negative notoriety in 1969, when Consumer Reports magazine branded the automobile "Not Acceptable" (because of safety concerns and lack of power), and sales completely collapsed.

There were various rumors of Subaru 360s being tossed overboard or being shredded to pieces. It was also reported that many 360s sat on dealers' lots for two or three years without ever being purchased.
.

Ira Davis · #23 11-29-2006, 01:07 PM

Let me guess now the little doo dads are collectable.

Never actually seen one up close.

Jamie Thomas (aka Subiegal) owns one. That's about the extent of my knowledge.

Ira

PDSides · #24 11-29-2006, 04:16 PM

Bricklin received a settlement out of a lawsuit and that settlement got him several hundred Subaru 360s. Not being able to sell them, he developed a series of "race tracks" across the country where, for a few dollars, you could rent a Subaru 360, then go out and flog it around the track (at your own very high risk). They rolled and tumbled, broke and smoked and pretty much came apart at the seams, as did Bricklin's scheme. He later got the USA franchise to import and sell the Yugo. And of course, he had to try his hand at building his own ill-conceived automobile, the gull-wing Bricklin, which had a tendency to leak water to the point that some owners drilled holes in the floor pan to let it escape. I'm afraid the Subaru 360 is not something Subaru owners look back on with great pride.
Preston

benebob · #25 11-29-2006, 05:50 PM

Here's the truth about the 360 and Subies that came here prior to 72.

1. Subaru never imported the 360 to the US (Malcolm Bricklin did with a company he set up not the SOA that exists today).
2. Subaru screwed Bricklin and the dealer network he developed by selling new franchises to sell the FF1 here. If one of the existing Bricklin Subaruships wanted to remain a dealer they had to again pay for the rights. Oh and these new dealerships and SOA did not support the 360 that they didn't sell and wouldn't order parts for it. This was the major reason for the decline of the 360 sales and the dealers giving them away. They were totally sold out to dry much the way Daewoo dealers were a few years ago.
3. There's a lot more than 332 68 360s still in this country today let alone in 1968. Try more like 5,000 68 360s here.
4. The 360 is one of the best microcar designs ever and was pretty much bullet proof so long as it was rebuilt as often as a 4 stroke VW engine was (which is amazing for an aircooled 2 stroke!) Even today it is the most likey past Subaru you'd see at a Subaru dealership. I know of 6 or so dealers in PA that have one they "show" in their showrooms.
5. The 360 was made as a van truck and sedan. The sedan had a performance version called the Young S that had the same engine but around 45hp. Not a bad performer by any means esp. when you consider the torque it had since it was a 2 stroke.
6. Subaru's parent company had already been here for about 10 years prior to the 360 arriving. I have one of the 1st legally imported Fuji Rabbits in my basement at the moment. Its a 4 stroke 246cc, automatic, air suspension, electric start scooter that in terms of quality and features makes a Vespa from the 60s look like a model t. When Bricklin started importing the 360 he also bought the rights to import the Rabbit from Subaru (it was previously held by a company in San Fran) but he wanted a car line not a scooter line.

92SVXLS-LDC · #26 11-29-2006, 06:13 PM

mr. brickland has something new up his sleeve... give him a chance with this one, "chery" or "visionary vehicles" ...chinese company... they have some really decent looking cars with (supposed) quality of a lexus and prices around 15k if i remember correctly, i'll bet i could make some money from the market once they go public if they even do half as good as kia or hyundai...