The Fuji Rabbit is a

motor scooter A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, a transmission that shifts without the operator having to operate a clutch lever, a platform for their feet, and with a method of operation that emph ...

produced in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Fuji Heavy Industries , formerly , is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was named ...

(now

Subaru Corporation , formerly , is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was nam ...

) from 1946 through 1968. The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan rates the Fuji Rabbit S-1 model introduced in 1946 as one of their ''240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology''.

Production

Production of the initial model, the S-1, began in 1946, some six months before the

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...

went into production. It was largely inspired by scooters used by American servicemen during and after World War II, benefiting from engineering efforts from the scooter built by the Powell Manufacturing Company. As the first motor scooter manufactured in Japan, it was enormously successful and revolutionized the

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

vehicle industry. Eventually the Fuji Rabbit scooters evolved into some of the most technologically sophisticated scooters of their era, featuring electric starters, automatic transmissions and pneumatic suspension systems. The Fuji Rabbit scooters were the first Japanese made scooters capable of reaching speeds in excess of . The Rabbit's primary competitor was the Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon, which started production around the same time. Motor scooters were so important to the post-war vehicle industry that In May 1948 both a Silver Pigeon and a Rabbit were presented to the Emperor of Japan. Starting in 1954 the Rabbit also faced competition from the

Honda Juno The Honda Juno is a Scooter (motorcycle), scooter. Two versions were produced, the K-series of 1954 (K, KA, KB), and the M-series of 1962 (M80, M85). Juno K The Juno K was a deliberately elaborate bike in 1954. It was Honda's first scooter and ...

. As the Japanese economy expanded, the demand for scooters decreased in favor of more comfortable four wheel transport, called ''

kei car Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese expressway-legal motor vehicles. The term ''kei'' is a shortening of , (kanji: ), which translates to English as "light vehicle" (). With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners ...

s'', and Fuji followed suit and diversified into automobiles in 1958 with the introduction of the Subaru 360. The last Fuji scooter rolled off the production line in June 1968.

In popular culture

Although not very well known outside Japan, the Fuji Rabbit has earned itself a place in Japanese

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

as a symbol of

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...

. Fuji Rabbits have been featured in Japanese animated series such as '' Paranoia Agent'', and are a favourite amongst collectors of scooters and motorcycles in Japan.

North America

In North America, the Fuji Rabbit is best known for starting Malcolm Bricklin's motor vehicle career. (Bricklin was later responsible for importing the Subaru 360 and the Yugo hatchback, as well as producing his own car, among other things.) The main importer for North America was the American Rabbit Corporation.

References

External links

{{Subaru Corporation Motor scooters Subaru Motorcycles of Japan Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s Motorcycles introduced in 1946