Why Subaru Discontinued The BRAT Pickup Truck

The Subaru BRAT was a goofy little truck produced from 1978 to 1987 and represented one of only two pickups Subaru ever offered in the United States (the other pickup being the Subaru Baja). BRAT was an acronym, according to Subaru, that stood for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter. What set the BRAT apart from other small trucks at the time from companies like Toyota or Mazda was the addition of two little seats in the bed that faced the rear of the vehicle. While not exactly exemplifying the pinnacle of safety today, in the 1970s and 1980s, it was a cool feature nonetheless.

The BRAT was an iconic part of Subaru's lineup and forever immortalized by the two things: Ronald Reagan owned one and it looks so funny. One has to wonder why Subaru pulled the plug on the BRAT and waited until 2003 to start making trucks again with the Baja. The answer isn't as clear cut as something like the Lincoln Town Car where the factory closed.

In 1963, Europe and the United States were in a bit of a trade spat. In the scuffle, Europe started imposing heavy tariffs on chicken that was getting imported from the States. As a result, the President at the time, Lyndon Johnson, fought back with a tax on overseas exports that initially included foodstuffs like potatoes, but grew to include trucks (partly due to pressure from automakers in the U.S.). This was called the Chicken Tax. Those heavy import taxes were the genesis of the bed-mounted seats. It was a four-seater kinda-sorta passenger SUV, and no longer a utilitarian truck.

Even the political maneuvering that birthed the BRAT in the first place didn't attribute to its demise. It didn't have to do with the egregious safety violations it represented either. As boring as it is, the BRAT ceased production because it couldn't reach sales muster. In the late 1980s, Subaru was still the new kid on the block and it didn't make sense to spend time, money, and effort building and importing a car that wasn't going to sell very well. Most sources report that only around 100,000 BRATs were ever made meaning, that while it was big on personality, it wasn't big on sales.