(first posted 1/9/2016) Today was a very sloppy day outside with an uncharacteristically wet and heavy snowfall – as my wife and I headed to lunch, while getting out of our car and admiring the blue Tundra 4WD I heard a familiar sound from the past behind me. As I turned my head I saw this marvelous Subaru pulling around us and into a spot next to us.
Before the driver was even out of his car I had my phone set to camera in hand and was walking over while my wife just said “Oh, jeez” and walked away into the sandwich shop. As the driver exited the Subaru I introduced myself and asked if it would be alright to take a few pictures. He gave me the look that all of us contributors are familiar with by now, told me to go ahead, and then went into a nearby building after confirming the year and that it only had around 130,000 miles on it.
Colorado may be one of the Subaru creature’s natural habitats (along with Vermont and the Pacific Northwest) but we still don’t see that many BRAT’s anymore or really any Subaru’s of this generation for that matter. The sound of its flat-four engine reminded be of the one from my old 1982 Wagon.
The tan color was fairly popular back in the day and looks great on this car among a sea of bland silver and black cars around here. “Beige-mobile” is usually a pejorative term and doesn’t really refer to color but in this example the actual beige-ness is a large part of its beauty. Or character. Yes, character is probably a better word.
While I’m not personally a big fan of the wheels on this example or the way they stick out too far I’m sure they’ve been with this car for probably at least two decades. I do on the other hand really like the camper shell and the row of lights on top of the roof. The headlight grilles are a nice touch as well. I wonder if this one still has the jump seats in the back? No time to find out for sure today, my lunch date was waiting!
I had trouble keeping front axle CV joints in my 1980 4WD GL wagon. This one has been lifted a good bit so I wonder how he keeps the axles happy at those angles. Not like you can put a body lift on one of these!
Actually part of a lift like this is a sort of body lift. The engine, steering and lower control arms are all attached to a cross member that is bolted to the body. So you unbolt that assembly put spacers between the body and cross member. You also put spacers on the trans cross member and between the strut mount and body. If the spacers are the same size and no other changes are made all of the front end geometry is the same. That said the highest lifts use taller spacers on the struts and/or longer springs potentially increasing the axle angles significantly.
In the rear you can drop the rear control arm and diff mounting and of course use longer springs or spacers on the strut mounts.
My roommate in college had a BRAT, and it influenced me enough to buy a Subaru (wagon) of the same vintage when I finished school. I had the same problem with CV joints on mine and it wasn’t lifted. Decent car, quirky in an amusing way and a couple of reliability weak spots.
I had trouble with CV joints on my ’83 DL wagon as well. And that is correct; you cannot put a body lift on these. But you can put a suspension drop on these for lift.
Never owned a Subaru, but I’m curious about this on the CV joint problem–were the boots still good when the joints went bad?
I’ve had some CV joints go bad on other vehicles but it was always after a boot went south. In fact, I’m guessing the lifespan of a CV joint after a boot cracks is about ten miles.
Got a warning about a torn boot on my Citroen at inspection 6 months ago CV is still fine
The boots didn’t seem to last very well on the replacement axles, but I did have issues with them even when the boot didn’t rupture. I don’t know if it was just a bad design or maybe lower quality aftermarket axles or what. The raised ride height of the 4WD models did put the axles at a distinct downward angle whereas most normal FWD cars the axles generally operate more or less horizontally. That additional angle puts a LOT more motion through the joint’s balls and other moving parts, so I always thought that was the root cause of the issue.
IIUC one of the issues for Subaru CV joints is that the (very hot) engine and exhaust system tends to cook the CV boots, with the low mounted boxer and longitudinal configuration. Certainly that was the case with my ’02 6 cyl.; the right boot is only inches from the catalytic converter.
Yup the exhaust system did tend to cook that inner boot but the outer joint was often the one that failed.
Yep, the boots would crack and you’d start hearing that click, click, click…
Subaru boots must have been made by the lowest bidder.
When I first arrived in Colorado in 2008 I was pleased to see all the cool old cars especially all the AWD/4X4 vehicles. Even the City of Boulder has Subarus in its fleet or at least they did.
While this Brat has passenger car plates I have seen some Brats, even Bajas with truck plates instead. This Brat has low miles and newish license plates, wonder what it’s back story is.
“While this Brat has passenger car plates I have seen some Brats, even Bajas with truck plates instead. ”
Interesting. I had forgotten this but my Brat which I owned in the early 80’s was licensed as a truck In Minnesota
I got traction, on an icy day
And when cars are sliding, I just go on my way
I guess you say, what could make me drive this way?
My Brat; talkin’ about my Brat…yeah
With apologies to The Temptations, and their song, “My Girl” http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/temptations/mygirl.html
2000 Forester owned many years lots and lots of money spent on the usual Subie issues. It is now at 175k and it runs and drives good I am trying to get it to 200k without any calamities.As soon as it makes it if it makes it It is out of here Does the B&B think I should buy another Subaru?
If you’ve loved it more than hated it, yes, get a new Subie.
If it’s another Forester, go for 2011 or newer. Different head design and a timing chain instead of a belt. The two biggest “Subie issues” simply aren’t issues on those engines. They do have a bit of an oil consumption problem.
If that’s beyond your budget, (given the high resale on any Subaru that’s true for many) the head gasket issues aren’t nearly as frequent on the ’04-up EJ25s, and they’ve never been a problem on the turbos. ’98-’02 (and early ’03) it wasn’t a matter of if, but when the HGs would blow.
The H6s are ok too, since they are basically the smaller chain driven engine from the Impreza, which didn’t have the problem, with two extra cylinders tacked. Knock on wood, but mines going strong at 170k.
Be sure to try it before you buy it. After owning a 94 Impreza for a bajillion years, I am unimpressed with my ’17 Legacy. The Subaruness seems to have been baked out of it.
This is the exact same color as a Subaru a roommate of mine had in college. His was a 1981 model that he acquired in 1992. The car came from Indianapolis and it was sporting quite a bit of rust. Yes, Jim, I drove it! 🙂
It’s good to see this one has escaped having the same amount of corrosion. These are intriguing vehicles and it certainly appears to have a good caretaker.
I would be surprised if the jump seats were still there; removing them was typically the first modification a BRAT owner would make to the vehicle. No one would ever want to ride in the jump seats more than once and they took up a considerable amount of room in the bed. I haven’t seen a BRAT from this generation on the road in many years, they have either rusted to death or succumbed to the head gasket/timing belt issues that plagued Subies from that era.
These old OHV Subarus had no belt or cylinder head issue it was the later OHC engines that gave problems mostly the DOHC engines my single cam Legacy did 350,000kms before it ate the trans for the second time the engine was perfect.
What I want to know is, how did those jump seats not run afoul of some NHTSA safety law? I’m pretty sure it’s safe to ride unbelted and backwards in an open pickup bed, right? I like those ejector-seat handles on each side too. The jump-seat headrest is the highest point on the whole vehicle. Good for rollover safety I guess.
The jump seats were not removable (except with a blow torch or saw), and of course were put there to skirt the 25% “chicken tax” on imported trucks by making the BRAT ostensibly a passenger vehicle. Subaru utes were sold in Australia and elsewhere without the jumpseats. The tax is levied upon importation into the United States, not upon sale. Did Subaru realize they could just slice off the jump seats right after passing through customs, just like Ford does now with Transit Connect cargo vans which are imported with rear seats and windows that are removed after they’ve entered the USA, before being sold?
Unsafe yes, but not illegal. In most states it is still not illegal to ride in the bed of a pickup truck. I would not do it (now, I did it often when I was younger), but you see people doing fairly frequently. It is obviously unsafe but in all honesty I think adults should be able to make their own decisions about this. Children riding in the bed of a pickup is something else as they don’t have the life experience to make this type of informed decision. As my uncle told me years ago, “as soon as they try to make something idiot proof, the world just produces more idiots”.
As a farm kid who’s ridden in the back many times, I would only recommend it at low speeds and short distances.
A good friend bought a 1978 when they first came out, traded in a 73 MG Midget, I was skeptical, but it was reliable and gave good service. Sitting in those seats in the bed took courage, but after a few beers and being in our 20’s, it was interesting, God knows you could never do that now. What finally caused its demise was a Sunroof not adequately sealed, it literally dissolved the Cab….even though he sold it 10 or 12 years later …..the new owner drove it a few more.
My Subaru has never had a lick of trouble with the tranny. I had it loaded to the headliner with flea market items in august on a 95 degree day hauled that load better than my old Ranger pickup maybe those 800 dollar recommended ”major services” help prolong the transmission I tell my mechanic that I bet the transmission will be what does it in!
Neat little cartrucks, these. It’s been ages since I’ve seen one though; the only Subaru of this generation I’ve seen in probably 5+ years was one lone 3-door hatch last year.
I do also like that camper shell. For some reason I like them more on car-based trucks than on actual pickups. Maybe because they tend to be oddly shaped to match the body sides?
It looks like they have used adapters to mount those wheels as it appears that there are 5 lug nuts. That could certainly account for some of the wheels sticking out so far, though the wheel does not seem to have much offset either. Have to wonder how bad it eats through wheel bearings. Front wheel bearings were one of the few weak points in the reliability dept on this era Subaru.
In the last couple of years, that shade of tan has made a comeback, particularly on Tacomas. I don’t really like it on newer trucks, but it looked great with the simpler lines of the ’80s.
Great wagons
What a classy rocket.
Had one, no trouble and go anywhere.
Most economical and the cv.joints are easy to fix.