Have you ever looked to the stars at night and thought “I’m a multinational conglomerate engineering company, maybe this could be the identity of a car company that will become famous for rallying and boxer engines”? Well, hello there Fuji Heavy Industries.
We are, of course, talking about Subaru. Unlike many car brands which started out as one man’s desire for the perfect sportscar, or a tractor salesman putting the finger up to one of the most powerful names in the business, the Japanese manufacturer’s origins are a little more… industrial.
It can trace its roots back to WW2, as with many modern engineering companies. The Nakajima Aicraft Company was one of the largest suppliers of planes in the Japanese war effort, that was until the Allied occupation of Japan.
Before FJH and Subaru, there was Nakajima
With Allied powers preventing Nakajima from developing and producing more aircraft, and without a backup industry to fall on unlike the other big-name plane manufacturer Mitsubishi (you may have heard of them), it was forced to dissolve into several smaller companies.
Among those was Fuji Heavy Industries, officially incorporated in 1953, made up of five other companies – Fuji Kogyo, Fuji Jidosha Kogyo, Omiya Fuji Kogyo, Utsunomiya Sharyo and Tokyo Fuji Sangyo. It was that year it began building cars, starting with the tiny 360.
Subaru began building cars with the 360
You may be thinking “Ok, so what does this have to do with the stars on the Subaru badge?”.
Well, there’s six of those on there – representing what we know as the Pleiades, but in Japan, it is known as Subaru. Once you find out the word itself means ‘unite’ in Japanese, the pieces all come together.
The five smaller stars represent each one of those five companies that united to become Fuji Heavy Industries, which is then signified by the big star.
Possibly the best motorsport livery of all time?
An interesting story to a not-all-that interesting bit of history, then. It led to probably the coolest rally car liveries of them all though, so we can thank the stars for that.
