Subaru Actually Made a Pickup Truck With Seats in the Bed, Without Seat Belts.

Who Remembers the Subaru Brat? Who Remembered Safety, Apparently Nobody!

The Subaru BRAT (an acronym for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter) was the coupe utility version of the Subaru Leone from the 1970s. The BRAT was developed directly from the company's four-wheel drive station wagon model and was first introduced as a 1978 model.

American versions also had carpeting and welded-in rear-facing jumpseats in the cargo area—serving actually to circumvent a tariff known as the Chicken tax. Although the BRAT could fairly be called a truck, the plastic seats in the cargo bed allowed Subaru to classify the BRAT as a passenger car.

The BRAT was restyled in 1982 and the jumpseats were discontinued after the 1985 model year. The BRAT was introduced with a rise in popularity of small trucks being sold in the USA. Production continued into 1993 but ceased to be imported to North America in 1987. It was also known as the Brumby in Australia and the Subaru 284 in the UK. Imports to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand continued until February 1994. The BRAT was not sold in Japan and was manufactured for export markets.