14 Dec 06
Subaru
Subaru, roughly meaning 'unite' in Japanese, dates from 1955, but its roots go back to 1917, and the establishment of Japan's Aircraft Research Laboratory by former Navy engineer Chikuhei Nakajima. This Ota City facility grew into the Nakajima Aircraft Company; its first five prototype planes crashed, but the sixth, a Type 4, won a 1919 competition. Nakajima went to France on a fact-finding mission, and came back to build the Type B-6 for the Japanese airforce, a Rolls-Royce-engined plane very similar to the Breguet 14 in design. An engine factory was then set up in a Tokyo suburb, and the Type NC (1928) used Najakima's aircooled engine based on the Bristol Jupiter. The firm went on to build versions of the Lorraine-Dietrich V- and W-format watercooled engines for its Breguet-type planes, and the Type 90 fighter/carrier. The nine-cylinder Jupiter engine was used in the Type 3 and Type 91, as well as Najakima's versions of the Fokker troop transporters. This engine, and the US-made Pratt & Whitney Wasp unit, influenced the firm's first self-designed unit, the nine-cylinder, 450bhp Kotobuki (1930). Versions of this were used in the Type 90 and Mitsubishi Zero fighters, and the expanded 720bhp Hikari in the heavier Type 95 and 96 carrier attackers. Najakima also made the smaller Sakae engine, used in the Pearl Harbour Type 97, 99, Type 1 Hayabusa and the later Zero fighters. Najakima also made the eight-passenger AT-2 civilian transporter (a copy of the DC-2) for Japan Airlines.
By now a huge company with many production facilities and engineering divisions, by the end of World War II it employed 250,000 people. In the aftermath of the war, Najakima was put under military control, and broken up into over 15 companies. Fuji Sangyo, incorporating the rival Tachikawa aircraft firm, was formed and its products included the Rabbit scooter, made from leftover aeroplane components but serving a need for basic transportation as Japan mobilised again. Fuji Sangyo was divided into 12 smaller companies once restrictions were lifted, in 1950; four of these merged back together to form Fuji Heavy Industries in 1955. Fuji Sangyo's various spin-offs went on to spawn car companies including Tama/Prince Motors (later merged into Nissan), but its own incorporated automotive division became known as Subaru and its first car, initially known as the FHI P-1, was badged Subaru 1500. Its one-piece monocoque construction, the first such from a Japanese car-maker, was clearly inspired by the structure of aeroplane fuselage; it never went into full production, but the smaller, simpler, bug-shaped 360 Ladybird (1958-1970) proved to be Japan's answer to the Volkswagen Beetle. The Subaru 1000 (1966) was more advanced, as Japan's first mass-produced front-wheel drive car, and the 1972 Leone the first mass-market passenger car with four-wheel drive, setting the template for the future Subaru car line-up and its rallying victories with the Impreza Turbo.
Fuji continued to make planes, too: in 1954, it started building a fleet of Beech Mentor light aircraft for the Japanese, Fillipino and Indonesian airforces, as well as developing its own four-seater from scratch. The FA-200 Aero Subaru - Japan's first entirely self-designed plane to reach mass production - flew for the first time in August 1965; it was powered by a 160bhp Avco Lycoming engine and was offered in four-, three- and two-seat forms as well as a lightweight aerobatic version. Fuel-injected 180bhp versions followed and it remained in production until 1980, when Subaru was planning to launch the ill-fated Fuji FA-300; a small number were made again in the 1980s to total around 275, most of which were exported. There was also Japan's first domestic jet, the T-1 trainer plane (1958) used by the Japanese airforce until very recently, and subsequent T-3 (1974), T-5 (1988) and T-7 (2002) trainer craft.
The Fuji FA-300 was a collaboration with US firm Rockwell; a four-passenger turboprop powered by two Avco Lycoming engines, it was known as the Rockwell Commander 700 in the US. First flying in late 1975, development of a more powerful Commander 710 continued, but Rockwell's aviation division was sold off to Gulfstream in 1979, putting an end to the joint venture. Twenty-five Commanders were made in the US, which then evolved into the Gulfstream 700, but although Fuji retained the rights to make its FA-300 version in Japan, it never saw full production.
Besides the T-7 jet and continuing T-5, Fuji's highly profitable Aerospace division currently makes wing sections for five Boeing planes, including the 767, 777 and 787, components for the Japanese airforce's AH-64D helicopters, wings and tailfins for the PX and CX patrol and transport craft, components for the Hawker 4000 executive jet and wings for the Eclipse 500 microjet. Fuji also announced in 2002 that it was planning to return to making its own light aircraft, and has a six- to eight-seater executive jet under development, said to be a potential rival for the upcoming HondaJet.
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