You were going to have a hell of a ride or you were going to die, nothing in between
whatever.I have wanted one of these since I was a kid.
I think this car got every kid excited at some point. Those seats were crazy genius.
Kids? I'm 49 and got excited when I scrolled down and saw it! The seats were the coolest thing ever.
But seriously, what’s the modern day equivalent? Is there? Maybe a nice Jeep with no doors or top?
Hyundai Santa Cruz.
Wow, I never see these. Well, I see Tesla trucks all the time—Silicon Valley. Cool Hyundai, but no jump seats. You could install some?
Haha, I just bought one and I know it's because of my love for the brat. Seats...? Likely not. I think it's illegal in most places to ride in a truck bed anyway....
Make them removable with locking pins. Come on, do it. We make our own laws.
A Jeep with the back seat installed backwards?
Me too. My camp counselor, when I was nine, had one of these. It was so fucking cool to nine year old me. This guy also legit wore an eye patch and had a seventies cop stache so all the nine year old boys thought he was the coolest.
That guy is my hero. I always wanted an eye patch.
Don’t say there’s no safety equipment!
Just hold tight to the handgrips - they’ll keep you snug in your seat even if there’s a rollover. Zero chance of ejection.
No, you have it wrong. If there’s a rollover you want to be ejected. I have this on good authority from people who refuse to wear seatbelts.
Back then Subarus had this neat feature where it would automatically turn into a coffin upon impact.
Pretty sure it would just be a cloud of rust dust. Damn near every one I saw as a kid was rusted out and that was when they were still in production.
The majority in Australia aren’t rusted to hell unless they were coastal cars.
However they also don’t have the bucket seats in the tub because we didn’t need to avoid the chicken tax.
Back in the mid 2000s, there was a company here that imported Minis and Morris Minor cars from Australia due to the lack of rust. Looking back I really wish I had bought one. All great condition, the average Mini was about $3k. They had a bright orange Mini pickup too. For some reason I thought $5k was too much and didn't buy it. LOL. Damnit.
Had one in the family.
Helped my step-sister fit 11 people in that thing once.
Always a hell of a ride.
I'm assuming it was a bunch of young adults going to the river to do young adult shit, I did the same thing, except mine was a little Toyota Truck.
Almost dead on. Lake. Had room for refreshments too.
Those were the best times.
When we would do this, someone had to ride in the trunk. How are we still alive
With the rear seats and the rollbar, it's 10x safer than a 70s Chevy El Camino which had neither.
I mean. You can sit in the back still. It’s only a couple a minutes down the road at 65.
I was the tail gunner in my dad’s brat
Thank you for the laugh. I’m so surprised we are here today.
/suzuki samurai enters the chat
Don’t turn!
Once did a 360 riding in the back of a Samurai in the snow in Alabama. (First sign of trouble should have been that it was snowing in Alabama...) Good times.
Ah yes... the consumer reports test that couldn't get it to flip... until under orders of the Test Manger to the test driver "to make it flip or be fired".
They kept modifying the test course that had been used and unchanged for 15 years until they finally got it to flip.
It was too late for Suzuki, the bad PR forced them to leave the US, but it was eventually proven the Samurai was just as stable as the other SUVs of the time, like Jeeps.
Consumer Reports is a garbage organization that doesn't believe in fair testing, they believe in making sure theirbfavoeite product "wins" at all costs.
My brother and I used to pretend the handles fired missiles at the cars behind us. So many good times in the back of that car.
I miss that car.
I had a boyfriend who had a bratmobile. He hated it when I called it that. lol.
That's awesome.
World love to find one in decent condition
I would unironically drive the hell out of one
Transplant in the engine and drivetrain from an STI
Kinda hard. They rusted to pieces in a few years
I was in the back of one of these things when it rolled over.
were you able to hold onto the handles?
yes
Damn. That must have been scary.
I want one now for a daily.
You will be perfectly safe if you hold onto the handlebars.
The car I learned to drive on! Ours was certainly not this pretty...Vermont car...lots of rust, there was no moment driving that car where you did not feel as if you were on deaths door. And to ride in the back? Good lord almighty...
Wait, some people had seats? This would have been a game changer; less rolling round in back with the tools and gravel and dirt flying into my face. Never saw one of these in the wild.
Edit: Looks like they're bringing them back Brat.
They had to, to classify as a passenger car, or else the Chicken tax would take effect.
Something like that.
Spare tire bouncing around was always fun.
No seats in the back, no deal
Ride or die?
or and
Subaru Brat: the smart way to be a dumbass!
One of my uncles has one still that has flatbed because rear rusted away years ago, he hauls lobster traps with it, drags his boat out of the lagoon... sits on the back and drinks mucho beers mostly
Ha! He sounds like a cool guy.
Tio Mano Fria!
Uncle cold hand. His hand is always cold because it always has a beer in it
Haha! That’s great.
I love those cars. Subarus in general are great cars.
From the late 90s on, yes.
I've had a three of wagons 81 GL, 83GL 92 Loyale. All were great cars. Nothing else I've driven handles as well in snow and ice.
My Subaru engine exploded because it was built poorly.
Every time I try and explain how crazy it was "back in the day" I mention this vehicle.
Its a Japanese El Camino. CMV.
So many times in back of a Brat at freeway speeds in teens lol. I miss the 80s
We had a silver one growing up. I haven't see one in a long time. They look so much smaller than I remember. When it was too cold to ride in the back, My brother would sit in the passener seat and I used to have to squish behind that seat. Glad we never got in an accident.
You knew you had spectacular grip strength if you stayed in the back.
Pfffft seats and handles.
When I was 13 years old, my parents.put me in the back of a pickup, in a lawn chair for a 2.5 hour ride at night. It’s just getting worse as I type it. Yikes.
I couldn’t convince my dad to buy one. Now if I found an early one either round headlights in decent condition I’d definitely drive it
My gym teacher had one. She must have been pretty bad ass.
1 dude in high school had one of those. It's one of the few I've ever seen.
I still want one.
Ah the Brat. I had so much fun in those! Especially riding in the back while the driver did donuts.
100%!
Damn! I want that Brat!
My Dad had one, I learned to drive stick with it when I was 11 or 12. Would have been mine when I turned 16 but my brother wrapped it around a tree.
wonder where this picture was taken... looks like a Wicked Big Meet or something like that
My name is earl
My dad had one of those. They were fun. I used to preted I was shooting the cars behind us.
Not gonna live for ever, let’s go!
And stop at the liquor store first.
When I was in the navy we had these around base.
My first car was a 2 door GLF. I was so jealous of the brumby.
Remember that Subaru commercial?
"But Dad, it is a Subaru!"
Moderator removed comment
22d
You’re weird.
No name-calling or similar stuff.
Yes, this is up to the mod team to decide.
I'm in Australia and even up the mid 90s we used to put an old lounge suite in the tray of a ford falcon ute and do laps of the city. Two in the cab and 3 or 4 of us in the back taking in the scenery and atmosphere drinking and having a laugh. I think the minority killed the fun for the majority. There was always one dickhead who drove like an idiot with people in the tray. Couple of friends were killed when the ute they were in rolled. Think they made it against the law around '95 here.
I had a friend at my first professional job, was a little older than me. He’d loan me his beige Subaru wagon. It was slow as shit but it would drive through the woods so me and my girl (now wife) could have some alone time.
SEATS ARE FOR THE WEAK!
Friend of mine had a brat was a lot of fun as long as you weren’t doing anything too crazy
Or at the very least a large piece of gravel in the back of your skull.
Only, i don't see a bottle of Cuervo.
An old high school friend had a Brat.
Bought an 86 in 2016 and held onto it for a few years.
Those engines are indestructible. 50hp, but bullet proof.
Very probably both, at the very same time.
I have actually ridden in the jump seats. Also, Subaru avoided taxes due to this.
We called those "Atari seats"
I just bought a Hyundai Santa Cruz. The Subaru Brat is why.
My dad had one of these as a demo. I shot the back window out while unloading a 44 Magnum. Bullet hit the rearview mirror and went down into the dash. Hey gave me the mirror as a present to remind me of what a dumbass I was at 13. I still have it somewhere 40+ years later.
Subaru and A.M.C. are my all time favorite car companies
Pfftt... People rode in the back of my truck without seats ! Just held onto the bedsides and got low when necessary.
My dad had one of these, and we absolutely loved it as kids!
My former coworker (GenX) from NYC refused to believe me (from Southern California) and our other coworker (from Phoenix) that these were an actual vehicle. She thought we were genuinely yanking her around. 30min later, she comes over to our workspace simply said "how were those approved?"
My Dad had a couple of those when I was little. I loved riding back there.
oh, he was a hell of a ride alright….
I got downvoted in another sub a few days ago in a post complaining about people riding in the back of a pick-up when I pointed out that they used to sell pick-ups with seats in the bed.
Fun fact: the rear seats were so that the Brat could get around the "chicken tax."
Scrambler with rear seats!! Rode in one!!
Hey those seats are what we used to call our “safe space “.
Love the hand grips. Such a perfect sign of the Gen X times!