Rabbit Superflow

Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru automobiles, built and imported a small line of luxury scooters to the U. S. in the early '60's. I don't know how many years the Rabbits were imported, but it certainly wasn't many. I have a set of brochures for a year or two, and my best guess is that they represent three 1963 or '64 models. Rabbit built the 200cc flagship called the Superflow, a 150cc Junior, and a 90cc model. American Rabbit Corporation in San Diego imported these premix two-strokes, and I would guess that they are very rare today. Malcolm Bricklin was even involved in their importation in the early '60's, sandwiched between the time he was the importer of Lambretta scooters and the development of his Bricklin sports car.

The Superflow was intended as a top-drawer model, featuring electric starting (which was very rare for a scooter back then), a trunk underneath the rear seat, whitewall tires, automatic transmission, and an elegant, two-tone gold paint job. The scooter's eighteen horsepower produced a top speed of 60 mph, and if I recall the Cycle World test correctly, the claimed top speed was not overly optimistic.

The Junior was a less deluxe, less powerful version of the Superflow. Its 150cc engine produced 7.5 horsepower and a claimed top speed of 58 mph. The Junior used a three-speed manual transmission with an automatic clutch. There was a hand clutch lever accompanying the handshift on the left handlebar, allowing some manual control over the clutch mechanism. I'm not sure how well this system worked, since I have never seen a Junior. With its slab sides and colors only a hospital attendant could love, the Junior was distinctly the Superflow's ugly cousin.

The Rabbit 90 was a pretty innovative, elegant little scooter. Its fifteen-inch spoked wheels made it look like a Honda 50 Cub's scooterized cousin. You could call it the ancestor of the Aprilia Scarabeo or Kymco People. An electric start, 5.5 horsepower engine propelled the 90 to a claimed 52 mph, using a clutch and three-speed handshift similar to that of the Junior 150.

Visit the Rabbit historical site for a lot more details.
Beautiful Indian Red 1960 Superflow