Home / Mini Trucks / Subaru Sambar / KS3/KS4
Subaru Sambar Truck5th generation
Sambar Truck KS3/KS4
Built March 1990 to January 1999. EN07 658 cc. Truck body.
Engine and powertrain
What drives it.
The Sambar Truck KS3 runs the EN07 engine, 658 cc, naturally aspirated.
From Sources below. Power is the maker's net figure; horsepower is worked from it.
| Engine | Size | Power | Imperial | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN07 To confirm | 658 cc | 40 cu in | naturally aspirated |
Specifications
Every figure, metric and imperial.
| Item | Metric | Imperial | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built | March 1990 to January 1999 | Sources below | |
| Chassis | KS3, from March 1990; KS4, from March 1990 | Sources below | |
| Bodies | truck | Sources below | |
| Drive | 2WD, 4WD | Sources below | |
| Engine size | 658 cc | 40 cu in | Sources below |
Dimensions, weights and fuel economy are being read from the maker's own catalogs and land here row by row, each with its source.
What changed
7 dates, launch to last.
Each date is Subaru's announcement or sale month, never a build date. Open one for the whole entry and its source.
March 1990Launch To confirmThe 660 cc Sambar for the 1990 kei rules.
The 660 cc Sambar for the 1990 kei rules. Subaru's own forty year table dates the Sambar 660 to March 1990 and calls it the only kei commercial with a four cylinder engine. The EN07 658 cc SOHC inline four sits behind the rear axle (RR), with four wheel independent suspension and a separate chassis frame, the layout every Subaru built Sambar kept. ja.wikipedia adds: a carburetted EN07C of 40 PS at 6,500 rpm, a supercharged EN07Y of 55 PS at 6,200 rpm, front ventilated discs and MacPherson struts, semi trailing arms at the rear, a 5MT with an extra low gear (EL+5MT), Subaru's ECVT continuously variable automatic and both a part time and a viscous coupling full time 4WD. Wheelbase 1,885 mm, 3,295 by 1,395 mm.
September 1992Minor change To confirmRound sealed beam headlamps replaced by the Dias's square halogen headlamps on every truck and van except the Akabou courier trucks.
December 1993Minor change To confirmcarsensor captions a December 1993 minor change front of the 660 STD and opens a bucket there.
carsensor captions a December 1993 minor change front of the 660 STD and opens a bucket there. Subaru's forty year table puts the Dias Classic, the retro round lamp version, in 1993; its trucks got a Classic grade later.
October 1995Partial improvement To confirmThe ECVT automatic replaced by a conventional torque converter 3AT for durability in commercial use.
The ECVT automatic replaced by a conventional torque converter 3AT for durability in commercial use. Some bed parts (the guard frame and the gates) became common with the Daihatsu Hijet (ja.wikipedia). carsensor lists the 3AT trucks with an EN07 of 46 PS against 40 PS for the manuals.
September 1996Catalog bucket To confirmcarsensor bucket; an SDX Classic and STD Special II appear in the line up.
carsensor bucket; an SDX Classic and STD Special II appear in the line up. Content of the change not read.
July 1998Special editionSambar Truck 4WD STD Radial Special, released 1 July 1998: 145R12 radial tyres, an electronic AM radio with clock, a guard frame with rope hooks, a passenger multi desk, lit climate panel and mud flaps, EL+5MT, Polar White.
January 1999End of production To confirm
Body notes
- Subaru's forty year release counts 928,932 Sambar 660s built from March 1990 to January 1999, truck and van together.
- Built at Subaru's Gunma main plant: production had been subcontracted to Kiryu Kogyo from 1973 and was brought back to the Gunma main plant in October 1994 (Subaru, 2001). Kiryu Kogyo built the special bodies (dump, cold box, freezer, hooded container, mobile shop, fire truck, crane).
- Type prefix V-KS3 and V-KS4 in the catalog listings for every bucket from 1990. carsensor also opens buckets at August 1991 and November 1997 with no change stated; the August 1991 one fits the 1990 emissions rules that applied from September 1991.
- The Akabou courier trucks are a separately certified version for the national Akabou cooperative with strengthened engine parts (ja.wikipedia). Many used Sambars in Japan are ex Akabou.
- Every 5th generation Sambar has the separate chassis frame, the rear mounted four cylinder and four wheel independent suspension; no other kei truck of its day had any of the three.
- All 25 years old on 28 October 2026.
The 25 year lane
In the road lane today.
Earliest units of this chassis turn 25 in this month, counted from production.from. Each truck's own date of manufacture decides, to the day, under 49 USC 30112(b)(9).
The last units turn 25January 2024
The newer lane
EPA certificates.
EN07Named 2010 to 2015
Two four cylinder families, model years 2010 to 2015. Nothing after 2015.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 31 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
The paperwork. How a Sambar Truck comes in, the forms, the duty and the title, step by step. Import one yourself.
The Sambar Truck line
Before and after.
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