Just so everyone is up to speed, when we talk about Bubble Era Japan we mean the period from about 1986 to 1991 when real estate and stock market speculation, cavalier lending, and loose government policies all conspired to make that period a really good time in Japan, with everyone flush with cash and carmakers feeling free to try all kinds of bonkers things, until it all came crashing down, because, you know, bubble.
But, before that bubble burst, we got incredible cars like Nissan’s Pike Factory quartet, the Be-1, Pao (you know, like mine!), Figaro, and S-Cargo, as well as cars like Mazda’s gullwing’d Autozam AZ-1 or Honda’s fun little Beat. These were all cars that were designed to be fun over everything else, built on tried-and-true platforms but highly experimental and open with body styles and character. It was a fun time for cars, with a significant but not-too-serious retro flair. Subaru played a bit in this space as well, but a bit later than everyone else, with cars like the Vivo Bistro, a little city car with a lot of retro style, but, significantly, Subaru, despite their long history with four-wheel drive, never thought to adapt the retro-fun-car aesthetic to a genuine off-roader. But they could have, and that’s where The Bishop comes in. Hot damn, that does look fun: a proper VW Thing/Mehari/Mini Moke-style off-road fun car, but this one would actually have four-wheel drive, something usually missing from this category of fun cars. And I could definitely see Subaru being able to pull this off. Let’s see what else The Bishop is thinking about the gloriously fictional Kalahari: This company later built cars with a third headlight under a door, tires mounted on top of the engine and made a production four seater where two of the passengers sit outside the car? NOW we’re talking a company (Subaru) that would have been crazy enough to make one of these stupid cars AND sell it here. But what kind of stupid car? If there is one area that the Pike cars and retro movement left underserved, it was off-roaders. This was an area that needed to be addressed in a time when even the most retro 4WD available at the time (the Wrangler) was getting square headlights and a plasticky dashboard…ewww. Is there a better company than Subaru to make this happen? Of course, Subaru didn’t offer a true Jeep-like truck type vehicle as a basis, but neither did companies like Volkswagen or Citroen, and that didn’t stop them from creating scrappy little off-road vehicles. In fact, it is car-based vehicles like the VW Kubelwagen/Thing and Citroen Mehari that would serve as inspiration for the Subaru retro Rover, and they had the perfect car to underpin it in the by-then-old Leone, a car already used to create the bonkers BRAT. Presenting the alternate reality 1991 Subaru Kalahari, a pastiche of those aforementioned French and German buggies, though being a two-box four-door it does bear the greatest resemblance to a Gelandewagen or the Kübelwagen, ironically a car that years later power-hungry owners would stuff with Subaru flat fours to upgrade. Coal rolling Ram owners and knobby tired Bronco drivers would bet this thing couldn’t off road, and I can assure you that would be a very bad bet. If Soobie felt the need to add insult to injury they could even install a turbo or the flat six from the door-stop-shaped XT6. [Editor’s Note: These caught my eye immediately. – JT] Another advantage of doing a Pike Off Roader is that, I think, as ‘trucks’ they would not be held to the more stringent safety standards of cars. The tubular bumpers would need to be beefed up to be 2.5MPH units…note that the molded caps on the ends of tubes incorporate side marker lights. There’s more fun stuff around back: I thought about the hood lifting around the tire instead of with it, but that gets complex. The tire on the hood, of course, makes it heavy to lift, so like on VW products such as a Type 3 or 4, Porsche Boxster, and Audi A2, the items you need to access regularly (dipstick, washer filler) are behind a small flap in the fender in front of the driver’s side door so you don’t have to raise the hood anyway (the driver’s door secures the flat when it is shut). Let’s face it…it’s a Soobie so you will never need to open the hood until the oil looks like a milkshake and you know it’s time to replace the head gaskets because Subaru.
This seems like exactly the kind of vehicle you’d want to take the top and doors off, but The Bishop has another idea: The interior would be spartan, like a military vehicle, and would get a lot of inspiration from military hardware for dash controls, display, and switchgear:
Accessories will be key, just like on the Pike cars, and in this case we could look at things like a hardtop to make it more carlike, or go the opposite direction and go into the whole outdoor lifestyle for sleeping, cooking, and living in the face of insects and rain. Oh, and don’t forget that the hose-down front seats can pop out to lounge by the campfire. I really love the idea of this thing, and feel like maybe Nissan sort of approached the look and feel of this with their not-Pike-but-almost car, the Nissan Rasheen. The Rasheen was even a four-wheel drive car as well, but a lot less, I suppose, hardcore than what The Bishop is imagining for the Kalahari. Here’s The Bishop’s summation of this wonderful fever dream: I kinda think he’s right… I bet this could have sold decently well. I think it still could, if Subaru decides they want to be a little bit bonkers again. But what do you think? That’s what matters, here, the collective Autopian opinions! So tell us, and I’ll let The Bishop know to get in here and discuss it all with you. He even went out of his way to change a detail in the main rendering of it, just for you: Would it sell? More than any of the other cars I’ve drawn so far, I think this dumb-assed thing would undeniably be an insane success. Like the Pike cars, I see these being produced to the tune of about 30,000 units worldwide, a number which will undercut demand to the point that this will be gouged at 1989 Miata levels.. maybe even 50 percent over sticker price in some markets. But we’ll never know, because it’s too late now….OR IS IT?? Autopians are smart and nerd out on the details!!!”
- More removable camping items – make the radio a self-contained (including speakers on the sides), removable, waterproof, bluetooth unit, include a removable console cooler ala Aztek, and maybe some solar panels (or mounting points for them?)
- Focus on sustainability – natural/recycled materials wherever possible (a current Subaru tenet)
- Preferably a thrifty hybrid like the Maverick – great mileage while keeping costs down and actually accessible to people. Although I know that Subie would just want to toss this on top of a Busy Forks (Soltara) EV chassis…
- Keep cost to a MINIMUM. This could be Subie’s Maverick – Something super practical and thrifty in a cool wrapper people actually want. Ford paved the way. People don’t want small thrifty CARS anymore. They want small thrifty cars pretending to be trucks.
- Keeping with the Maverick, add places for people to click in accessories they either buy or 3D print themselves, ALSO lots of exposed hardware!
- Lose the flappy door thing. I know it goes with the simple, cheap mantra, but, I just don’t see people driving around with the car’s body inside-out.
About that spare tire; those boxers are not too tall, so maybe mount it on a strut-brace and cut a hole in the hood? On the brace so it doesn’t move with the motor as my EA81&-2s did
This really caught my imagination, and I’ve been wondering if those fenders would work with the tall front struts Roos have because I really love the look
Actually, I was sold when I saw real controls included in the interior design. I have never been comfortable with touchscreens or tiny pushbuttons that require a display of some sort to verify their position. Would love to see the instruments; something Stewart-Warner-y or plain ol’ mil-spec, perhaps?
A little more imagination is needed color-wise, though. Those are all nice hues, but this thing would absolutely ROCK everything from Musou Black to Kandy Tahitian Orange, with maybe a cork surface (or DiNoc) thrown in for extra nuttiness (ind individuality) points.
This really works! You know why? Because the designer isn’t re-imagining an existing vehicle (“This is my take on a 2023 Subaru 360, y’all!”) but is using existing subsurface bits in a new and fresh way. Just like Subaru could if they would.
In this day and age, nothing is off the table… If you would have told me 25 years ago that Buick would resort to making primarily SUV’s and shoving high-torque turbo-3’s in them, I would have laughed so hard and told you that your doctor must be prescribing you the really good shit. However, such a dystopian future is already here my friends. Maybe that Buick L3T is just what the metro family needs, but is a single turbo enough here?
Put curved surfaces on the fenders like an old 360. Give it the looks of a 450 or a version of the oddball chrome tombstone grille on the “Dias Classic” models of the Sambar. Make it fake aero-angular like the XT. Just do anything truly unique with the outer panels.
Just like the Nissan Be-1 was too much like a Renault 5 to be nearly as lovable as the Pao, Figaro and S Cargo, this is too much like other things already out there. The fun bubble era cars were borderline outrageous. This isn’t quite there. I guess so, because here I am, saying it. It covers the bases for people signaling an active lifestyle, living it, or ignoring it altogether. It looks cool, with great features in a small package, and does indeed remind me of a Bubble Era Japanese export. I also believe nostalgia is strong and this would sell if only for that reason. But I also believe safety regs would also make it a stillbirth. Glad you like the concept!
