Well, when I say “fast”, I mean it just scythed through traffic with ease and effectiveness that fits much younger cars. It was a testament to its driver, of course, but also to the bullet proof nature of this now iconic pickup.
Iconic in Israel, if not anywhere else. Back in the 1980s and even in the 1990s, these Subaru pickups made the local marked their own, outselling anything around, and doing so whilst enjoying the excellent reputation of their sedan\ wagon\ hatchback brothers. It was never called BRAT in Israel, so I won’t address it as such. Its only competition at the time was the Volkswagen Caddy, based on the Mk 1 Golf, which was much more expensive and not as easy- or cheap- to maintain as the Subaru.
Anyway, this specific specimen caught on dash-cam last week was vivid enough with its obviously-not-original yellow paint, but also sported the weirdest wooden (or maybe they’re plastic?) stake sides I’ve ever seen on a pickup:
This paint scheme reminded me of the Jamaican flag colors, so you get Reggae for soundtrack.
And now for some photos of Subaru Pickups from various classic car meetings. Unlike the harried yellow/ green pickup in the video, these are treated for what they are- classic cars who are well past their working days:
Called a Subaru Brumby out this way good utes they were very popular thanks to poor rustproofing there are hardly any left.
In Israel they survived alright, probably thanks to a more sympathetic weather.
That road sign in the 1st pic looks like Hebrew, Arabic, & Latinized Hebrew. Is this standard practice?
Gotta remember to read right-to-left with Semitic scripts, assuming one knows the alphabet.
Yep, standard practice by law.
Looks like you have Ace Hardware in Israel?
Indeed we do, although it’s not as big as in the US.
We’re these all 4 wheel,drive in Israel, or was a front wheel drive version available?
Both were available.
My grandfather had a Brumby with a home-made steel mesh side barrier (it served on 2-3 of them actually) that was broadly similar to this although not as tall. He also had a set of pipe racks made from actual water pipe. I remember a trip with those loaded up with a portable sheep yard and shearing plant that had to have been double the payload at least, there was one hill it went up in 2nd gear.
His brother died last year leaving his Brumby in similar condition to the grey one pictured, whereas my grandfather’s was dented all over. Shows what happens when it is just used for transport rather than hard work on a farm!
I rather like the gray one with the alloys. I don’t recall seeing many here that nicely trimmed–of course I haven’t seen one at all in a few years.