Hardly a new concept . The Ferdinand Porsche designed Volkswagen beetle used
this design in the 1930s, as did the revolutionary Tucker automobile, as
well as the Chevrolet Corvair, although unlike the Subaru and Tucker, the
Volkswagen and Chevrolet designs were air cooled. Porsche had the design
perfected well before Fuji Heavy Industries even thought about producing the
Subaru. A very large version of these flat opposed engines powered buses
in the 1950s