Meet the bulletproof Subaru from the future past

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While the Brits had their fair share of 1960s television science fiction with Doctor Who, The Thunderbirds and The Prisoner, the Americans had The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Star Trek. But how about the Japanese? We’ve just learned they weren’t behind either and had a series called Kaiki Daisakusen (‘Operation Mystery’), which aired in 1968 and 1969 and was all about a delicate team of detectives from the ‘Science Research Institute’ (SRI); sent of to anything supernatural.

The best thing is: they had their own vehicle to do so, and what a fantastic little creature it was. Named ‘Tortoise’ after its supposed bulletproof bubble top the thing was based on the diminutive Subaru 360 and used to get away from burning pagoda temples; avoid laser beams coming from wooden televisions and chase ghastly ghosts with white Geisha faces - have a look here to get an idea. We love it!

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture courtesy Tokyo Broadcasting System)

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