Looking almost like it just left the factory, this 1985 Subaru BRAT GL is one incredible car. It appears to be loaded or at least almost loaded – I don’t know what features and options that may be missing but it has the all-important factory jump seats in the back! The seller has this time capsule listed here on eBay in Alexandria, Alabama, there is surprisingly no reserve, and the current bid price is a mere $5,677.
We’ve run across a lot of nice Subaru BRATS here on Barn Finds but this has to be at or at least towards the top of the list. To top it off, the seller has provided a lot of great photos. This is one nice Subaru! Barn Finds writer and editor, our Wonder From Down Under, Adam Clarke, may refer to this car as a Subaru Brumby, but we knew them as the Subaru BRAT which stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter. I wonder what the acronym for Brumby is, hmm…
The BRAT (or, Brumby) was never officially offered in the Japanese market and they were offered for the 1978 through 1994 model years, having been designed in 1977. Most of us have heard the story of the famous/infamous rear jump seats before. Basically, it had to do with the “Chicken Tax”, a 25% tax on light trucks to give US automakers a leg up on imports as a few countries were imposing a tax on imported chickens from the US. Subaru added the two jump seats in order for these vehicles to be classified as passenger cars instead of trucks, I kid you not. It sounds like an urban legend but it’s true. Has there been a movie made about that yet? If not, it’s time. Is that blue bedliner sprayed in the back of this BRAT?
There are a couple of cracks in the dash under that sneaky dash cover, but otherwise, it looks great inside. Sadly, I do see some blue overspray on the door sills and rubber parts so this one has been repainted. They say that it’s all original but Subaru would have never put out a car with blue paint on a rubber door gasket. As long as there isn’t any rust or bondo, who cares, it looks great. And, this one has removable roof panels which is a cool feature.
The engine should be Subaru’s EA-81, a 1.8L boxer-four with 75 horsepower or so. The seller says that it runs and drives great and seeing the engine compartment, it’s obvious that someone resprayed the body in a darker blue which is unfortunate. I mean, it’s a nice color and to each his/her own, but this car is so ridiculously nice that leaving everything original spec would have brought some serious money. Do you have any thoughts on this BRAT?
Were those rear seats even legal in many states? Did they come with seat belts? Don’t look very comfy, that is for sure.
Yes – they were legal and they had lap belts. I spent many miles in those seats in my uncle’s ’79 BRAT.
Seat belts, yes ! Had to have them to be legal. They were fun for the kids to ride in. Laws passed made it illegal in sins states to ride in the back of trucks because of injuries from accidents. Thank you insurance companies ! Still a rip-off today. We pay a priming for insurance and every time they try to short change you. Enjoyed my 78 Brat .
The seats have been reupholstered too. The plaid has a little more pinkish-red to it than Subaru used with a blue interior, the pattern’s not quite right and anyway they were done with plaid seats by ’85 (’83 seems to be the last year for plaid). Here’s the ’85 color and trim chart – larger resolution’s behind a paywall but as you can see, no plaid;
http://importarchive.com/brochures/subaru/subarulineup1984_03/subarulineup1984_03_003.jpg
I do not disagree, but sure did spend, relative to the car value, a lot of money on the seats, and the floor mats. No?
The original color is in the engine bay. The car has been partially restored. Who cares, it still looks nice. Though, I wouldn’t have paid a ridiculous amount of money for it. If it was around $6k them it’s worth it.
The mileage has also been rolled back if you look at the autocheck provided by the seller the car had 179k in 2017 now it has 114k …Hmmmm
Great find on the info, most would miss that.
Nice catch Daniel. At first I was like Wow! Then I was like meh. Lipstick on a pig. I would think the consumer would have recourse on this mileage thing, yes?
quick web search found this:
1985 SUBARU BRAT JF2AT53B7FE503981
JUSTICE MOTORS INC. Miles: 181118.
Price: $6,500.00.
Great catch! My uncle’s Brat, which he sold in the late 80s or early 90s, had 200K plus on it when he sold it. I saw it listed in the local paper some time later at the dealer’s lot advertised with less than 100K on it (5 digit odometer) and innocently mentioned it to my uncle. He was furious and called the dealership the next day to fix their ad!
What?? A dealer roll back miles? Say it isn’t so! I am rather surprised they didn’t say this was a BRAT that someone bought then stored in a showroom for thirty years, with “only” 25k miles.
I am not saying the mileage is accurate, not by any means, but we gotta remember that Autocheck, Carfax, and such are not necessarily real accurate. Frankly, I take what any of those services say with a grain of salt.
That being said, this one is probably inaccurate. Obviously a repaint. Lesson learned here today about Subaru plaid points to reupholstery.
But who cares? It would be a toy, not a daily driver. There is probably no legal recourse, because it is a federal law that any vehicle over 10 years old is considered “exempt” on mileage statements.
Nice vehicle, and original or not, I would buy it. Too bad my fat a$$ won’t fit in it lol.
A brumby is a wild horse.
Alabama. That’s all you need to know.
Indeed!!!!
Nothing but scamming hicks there in Alabama, right? That seems fair. If only all could be as sophisticated as northerners.
Would you have more confidence if it was in NY or NJ? Lol.
Everything’s legal in Jersey as long as you don’t get caught.
All “original” paint with overspray , and the real paint color looking right at you under the hood. That, and the already mentioned rolled back odometer and wrong upholstery colors really should keep people away from this- Who knows what else isnt being mentioned ?
Buying a used car from Alabama is the equivalent of ordering a mail-order bride from Alabama.
Only 6 teeth missing but knows her way around the kitchen. Lol
Awesome looking Brat! Although I was way too young to drive during the time this was on the market, I remember the Subaru Brat. I’ve known people who have driven them. The only things I’d remove are the jump seats. Unless there’s a high enough roll bar, I don’t see how anyone can survive a roll-over accident.
If you’ve looked at how these era subarus are structurally made in total, you probably won’t survive an accident even if you are seated inside the car and buckled up.
Safety wasnt their highest priority at that time. Price and fuel efficiency was their goal.
It’s only since the 90s we’ve gotten way over paranoid IMO with safety to the point of many people afraid of their own shadow.
Actually, the rear pillar was reinforced, rather like a built-in roll bar. But it probably didn’t protect anyone in the bed much.
Well I was interested until I looked at the autocheck report and seen the mileage discrepancy from the seller claimed and where the car spent most of its life good luck to the seller
Had a brand new ’88 Jeep Cherokee with factory overspray instead of paint on all of the doorjambs. I blamed the EPA, and the unionized paint robots!
I appealed to the dealer and he ‘couldnt help’! I repainted the car , beautiful and enjoyed it for 6 years! In the ’80’s I took a PPG class for repainting ‘peelers’! Byproduct of legislators making rules that can’t be implemented. Kinda like the current(no pun)electric car deal.
$7,211 now, also a Vette for sale.
Just about what I paid for my new ’79 BRAT….less than 8k out the door.
Yeah, I bought an 81 DL wagon with 18k miles in 82 for $4,999.00
But I also was getting paid $3.50/hr………..
Speaking of the “chicken tax”, the same thing applied when Ford imported the Transit vans to the US. They all came to this country with seats, which were then removed to turn them into cargo vans.
Love it , want it.
I see this car and think “neat $2000, to $2800 car”. Stop perpetuating over valuing funky under appreciated older cars. $6000? Get. Out. Its clearly no all original Garage Queen with 50k or less.
if I can get in’n out I’ll take it (& a red to customize).
Love em (& the dodge rampage, ’60s ranch, etc, etc
Those seats remind me of the interior of the 2nd gen Challenger.
Auction update: this BRAT sold for $9,400!