Cool or Horribly Unsafe?

[sparkplug]

In my experience, “cool” and “horribly unsafe” are pretty much synonymous.

[Mike-rkpx]

My father bought a new Subaru Brat in 1979, a vehicle we all loved. It was amazing how many people wanted to ride in the rear facing seats, even old people! It was fun to ride in the back exposed to the elements like that, except for one major drawback: those thick, hard plastic seats were rock hard, and you’d get sore before too long.

[robertmatthews]

As a kid in the sixties we rode in the backs of pickup trucks all the time with no seat belts or seats. You could find baseball hats on the side of the road all the time.

[DavidReyes]

That Scooby Doo looking paint job fits so well

[scrubadiver]

"Hey Crab-Man."
"Hey Earl."

[Stillcage]

I kind of love when companies find clever work around for rules or regulations and end up making something unique and very cool.

[shroom]

It is still legal to ride in the back of a truck in many states. Some require that it be your families only mode of transportation " no room for everyone inside the cab" and other's just require the riders to be over 18

[Randomsae]

This man sounds like he's about to tell me the quirks and features of this truck

[mrfunatparties]

Cop: that's illegal
Driver: your laws said otherwise

[ordinaryk]

The Japanese-built Ford Courier and Chevrolet LUV got around the chicken tax by being imported without their beds attached. They were then put on in a US factory, and that made them "assembled in USA", thus exempt.

[domading]

Brats were pretty cool.. They have a step built in the side of the bed with a spring flap to climb over the side.. Wish the big 3 would do that

[jaredkennedy]

There were all kinds of ways around the chicken tax. Ford and Mazda got around it with the Courier and B Series pickups by shipping them incomplete and installing the bed here. Ford still used some tricks with the Transit Connect, which was made in Turkey. They were all imported as passenger versions, but the cargo ones had these cheap cardboard seats that would probably collapse if you actually sat on them. They'd be removed right after arrival, and sent back for the next batch.

[CapsizedCloud]

Subie’s losing money not lopping the top off the Impreza 2.5, giving it a lift, and marketing it as a new BRAT. Same with the Baja, just cut off the last third of an Outback. The ingredients are there.

[Spyder]

This dude is like a cross hybrid of Matt from Game Theory and Doug DeMuro. Good vibes

[Hedgeknight]

I was driven to CCD in a station wagon with rear facing seats in the far back . Such fun inventions back then .

[jeremywheeler]

The chicken tax and cafe standards really screwed up buying a vehicle in the US

[markpimlott]

''BRAT' was an aronym for:
Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter!

[thecoffeez]

Had an 83 Brat, loved sold it with 283, 000. Great little rig. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

[zackthomas]

I love the paint job on that one... just a tip from someone who has ridden in one of those, you take bugs and leafs and stuff to the back of the head at times. If you're going to be somewhere rocky or going fast a helmet might make you a bit happier

[tenletters]

Infinitely better solution than turning every truck into a space waster