While our own young man, the wonder from down under – Adam Clarke – might refer to this vehicle as a Brumby, most of us would refer to it as a BRAT: a Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter. This one is a four-seater: yes, it has jump seats! The seller has this 1979 Subaru BRAT listed here on eBay in Haleyville, Alabama and the current bid is $1,445.
I really like the early round-headlight BRATs, not that I’d turn any of them away. The next owner has some work ahead of them if they plan on making this BRAT look like new again. Although, don’t they totally restore a vehicle in three days on tv reality shows to meet some fake deadline? Other than some bent panels, the body looks surprisingly solid, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad of a project.
Here’s the clincher, though, literally and figuratively: the jump seats are still here! Or maybe I’m thinking of clencher instead of clincher when I say literally, because if you’ve ever ridden in the back of a Subaru BRAT… It seems as if the jump seats are missing from most BRATs that we see here on Barn Finds, so these are worth the current bid price alone. No, really. I bet that’s what the bidders are after. Sadly, this BRAT is one year away from having had the famous third-eye passing light, better known as the Cyclops light. They were only offered on 1980 through 1982 BRATs and other Subaru GL models.
The interior is in rough shape, as a lot of vintage Subarus are. Plastic and vinyl materials seem to start cracking on the drive home from the showroom, and it’s a constant search for parts to keep these cars alive and running. But, that’s half of the fun for a lot of people. The seller shows a few underside photos and it appears that the floors have been repaired, sort of, and undercoating is everywhere. The BRAT was sold from 1978 through 1994 and they were all four-wheel-drive.
The engine compartment looks scary, with a nest of wires and hoses and surface rust, but the seller says that this EA-71, a 1.6-liter boxer-four with 67 horsepower, runs and drives and everything works, but it misses a beat or skips a bit. Still, if you’re restoring a BRAT and you see an auction for two seats plus an entire car attached to them for $1,500, you buy it. Hagerty is at $5,000 for a #4 fair-condition car, how much will this one sell for with those two all-important jump seats?
Thanks Scotty. I never knew what BRAT stood for.
I had a 1986 that I bought brand new. Had 10,000 miles on when someone T boned me and totaled it. Loved that little car.
This one looks like it needs a TON of work.
A former girlfriend of mine, Carol Ann, used to call me a brat…
Nice find and write-up, Scotty. Subaru really stretched the English language to make the acronym BRAT. When these came out, I remember thinking the jump seats were super-cool, and they cleverly avoided the 25% light truck tariff by making it a “car.” This one seems like a bargain. Let’s hope it gets some love and a second life.
In 1987 my friend Keith purchased a used one just like this (We where in HS) I remember him coming to my house one snowy day and getting stuck and he asked me to help him out. I had a 72 Mustang and slid right into the back of his BRAT at about 7mph and put a big dent in the back door which immediately started to rust. We just laughed nothing happened to the chrome trim on the leading edge of my hood or bumper.
I am confused – neither the Mustang or the Brat has a “back door” and why would the Brat get stuck in snow – being a 4-wheel drive – and how would a Mustang pull/push that out?
I think by back door they probably mean the tailgate. ???
The frame is bent😅
Nice looking BRAT. Although I was way too young to drive a car at the time, I remember when the Subaru looked like this. Assuming everything on it works like they should, this would make a good price. I can imagine this would make a great candidate for resto, provided spare parts are still available.
No reserve, many years since i have seen one.
If you plan on using seats in back of truck, better check your state laws on this. Illegal in some stats.
You’re right, sir! I’ve mentioned that in previous BRAT posts but should have mentioned it here, too. Thanks for putting that out there.
My first and third cars were 1980 Brats. I was 1988-89 when I had the. I paid $350 for the first one and $100 for the second. The both had the jump sears and one of them even had a cap for the bed. Everyone loved to ride in the jump seats. The first time I registered it the DMV lady insisted she go outside to look at it to make sure it indeed had seats in the back otherwise she was going to charge me as if it were a truck. It had to have more passenger area than hauling area.
Even after all these years that car still remains my favorite car. Had a lot of great times in it before it rusted away before my eyes.
Called a Brumby in Australia (name for wild horses) , a friend had one new , every time i see one I remember going thru a swamp with water lapping up to the bottom the windscreen ! Another guy I used to know twin turbo’d his & dragged it , crazy fast
Worked on these when new, 78 was first year for cylinders being cast in the aluminum block made a vast improvement in the reliability of engine.
Being a belter, Rust Belter that is, this Brat shows your typical low buck understructure repairs, and a severely compromised floor pan.
The images embedded images in the text of the ad show at least 2/3 of the floor has been repaired with what looks like hardware store sheet metal. 100% of the driver side is a patch. The OE under floor boxed support structure that should be there is totally gone and was replaced by a piece of light gage angle iron.
This vehicle has some serious rust issues that don’t show in the gallery photos but are in the ad’s text. While not looking too bad on the surface, it will take some and time and money to repair the rust issues.
I should stop looking, see image #5 of the engine bay in this article. The passenger side strut tower is all but disconnected from the chassis, look at the missing material at the fender ledge.
This Brat will be a tough slog to rebuild!
I hadn’t really looked at this closely because I don’t want one, but your comment got me looking out of curiosity. Yikes !!!. At least the seller posted a lot of pictures. What a mess. And there are several bidders with 25 bids. Maybe for parts but as a project?