A Subaru 1000 owner shares the joy of keeping the same car for almost 60 years

Most of us like too many different cars to stick to just one, but that’s not the case for one Subaru 1000 owner in Japan. The unnamed gentleman has owned his 1000 Sports Sedan for almost 60 years, and the joy he exhibits while talking about the car is infectious. He’s known it longer than his wife, has driven it all over Japan, and has a photo of it with his first-born son, a toddler in the picture but who is now 51 years old. This is what a loyal owner looks like.

The interview was conducted by Subaru to honor the boxer motor’s 60th anniversary. The 1000, which debuted in 1966, was the first model to adopt what would become the de facto Subaru engine. The Subaru 1000 Sports Sedan left the factory with with dual carbs, center-mounted tachometer, front discs, and holds the honor of being the first Japanese car to come equipped with radial tires. This specific example appears to be a 1968 example with a later 1300G engine swapped in. A 1000 engine still sits in the man’s garage.

“It just feels so good to drive. When you take it out for a spin, the feeling you get is top-notch,” he says. “There’s no engine vibration. It revs beautifully. It makes you want to keep pushing forward.” The 1000 has taken him everywhere from the 1970 Osaka Expo to Kamikochi. Subaru placed the spare tire above the boxer to add weight to the front wheels for better handling, which served the owner well when he went skiing in snowy climates.

But even after his family grew and a two-door classic was no longer practical, he couldn’t bear to part with it. At some point near the 2000s, it bottomed out on the depreciation curve and it was worth nothing but scrap. Yet, he held onto it, until one year when he went to the (sadly defunct) New Year Meeting car show in Odaiba. He met a fellow 1000 owner who inspired him to restore his car.

While restoring the car he found the umbrella that his son used in elementary school. That son is now a middle-aged man himself at 51, a lifetime of memories made with the car. To own one car your entire life is not something many people can promise. We admire his loyalty and commitment. May we all know this kind of devotion in our own lives.