1977 Subaru Brat

An Automotive Iconoclast brought to you from the creator of the NB Bricklin and the man responsible for bringing Yugo to North America and currently fighting for the right to give us ‘cherry bombs’ ; Malcolm Bricklin.

Launched in 1977, the Subaru BRAT was designed for the American hippie/yuppie/preppie market and became symbolic in New England and Northwest United States. Brat  stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter.

The Cars were exceptional in snow, mud, sand and water and have earned a loyal following.  I used to see tons of them when travelling in New England and always thought it ironic that the man who could build a car in Canada, wouldn’t import one.  The subsquent Legacy based Gen II Brat was too far from its orginal simplistic transportation motif to be succesfull.

Its most promising design feature were two hard plastic seats in the back, designed for your Labradors/and or noisy kids to have a spot to lie down or be in time out.

The Stats:

1,600-cc engine is a horizontally opposed four-cylinder
carbureted
67 horsepower
four-speed manual transmission.

Photocredit: Subaru Drive Magazine