[REVIEW] Tomica Subaru 360

Tomica time again, which often makes for a good Land of the Rising Sun-day, and this can also be a Subaru Sunday. Today we examine a casting of the quintessential old Kei car. This is Tomica 21-4, the Subaru 360. This casting entered the range in June 1983, and is a charming little example of the “ladybug”:

The 360, a car with an engine smaller than that of a mid-sized motorcycle. Slow car fast, max rpm all the time. One may notice this casting entered the range years after the actual vehicle had ended production. It is assumed the car had a cult following by then - it definitely does now. These were even sold in Murka for a short time, I know I have seen a couple over the years. There are numerous variants of this casting - my Tomica reference book lists 15 by its publication in 1986/7, and I suspect there are more. Scale is a claimed 1:50, likely accurate, as usual. The real vehicle is tiny of course, and the diecast is the size of a normal vehicle, with the proportions of the vehicle giving the model a chunky feel. The button wheels are appropriate for this vehicle. This casting has a detailed interior with gear shift, but the steering wheel is a solid piece. No snappy door action as the doors don’t open (rear hinged opening doors would have been very cool), but it has the crisp glazing and springy suspension we known and love from old Tomica. From all angles, it is a neat little model:

Front and rear have similar detail:

The base is metal, which adds to the hefty feel of this model, and features nice detail:

One has probably noticed the hood/frunk of this model opens. Just think of all the cargo that can be fit in here - this added to play value no doubt, I can imagine a kid placing small items in the storage area:

This example is lucky enough to live in its original black box:

I am definitely happy to have this in my collection. I think I found this at a local toy show last year, I can’t recall - but I know it wasn’t expensive. Although not rare, it is probably a necessity for any representative Tomica collection, and it definitely has some charm:

A few 1:1s from fineartamerica.com, pinterest, and smclassiccars.com