Import controversy
The verdict that nearly killed Subaru's US debut.
In April 1969, Consumer Reports rated the newly-imported US-market Subaru 360 "Not Acceptable" — one of a small number of vehicles ever to receive that verdict — and US sales reportedly collapsed soon after. The episode is well corroborated across retrospectives, but the primary April 1969 text itself has not yet been directly read, so the exact wording of the verdict and a widely-repeated "most dangerous car in America" characterization remain unverified rather than confirmed quotes.
A car exempt from the rules it failed
The 360's sub-1,000-lb curb weight placed it below the threshold that triggered contemporary US federal motor vehicle safety standards — Malcolm Bricklin's marketing reportedly leaned into that exemption rather than hiding it, which made the eventual verdict land harder.
What the review reportedly found
Cited deficiencies include a crash test against a full-size American car in which the bumper reportedly intruded into the passenger compartment, lap belts that loosened over time, front seats that could slide forward unexpectedly, and roughly 37-second 0-50 mph acceleration inadequate to keep pace with US traffic.
A phrase not yet confirmed, and a scope worth keeping straight
Multiple independent retellings attribute a "most dangerous car in America" characterization to the piece, but this project has not verified that exact phrase against the primary text, and treats it as provisional. Scope also matters here: this is a US-import-specific story — the 360 continued selling successfully in Japan through 1971, and roughly 392,000 total units were built across its full run.