Car Love – Ronald Reagan’s Subaru Brat!
His 1978 Subaru Brat has been restored to its former glory.
WOW!!! Pretty!!! I had no idea he owned a Brat! Makes sense. He was a rugged individualist, and nothing says rugged individualist like a Subaru Brat. Yet more proof Reagan was smarter than liberals give him credit for. (JK )
Being a Subaru fanatic, this makes my day! I always had a soft spot for the Brat. Such a unique car… er, truck… er, whatever. For those who don’t remember, the Brat had jump seats in the back of the bed, exposing you to the elements.
I can remember more than one Boy Scouts camping trip, riding in the back of my Junior Scout Master’s white 1980 Brat, Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” blasting from the 8 watt stereo, almost freezing my orbs off. But that was part of the fun. Subaru was a pioneer of Shift-On-The-Fly 4 Wheel Drive. Sure the engine was not the most powerful thing in the world, but like most Subies in those days, shift into low gear 4WD, they could go anywhere. People often freaked when they saw the location of the spare, a feature common on Subaru’s up to the 90’s.
Like I said – unique!
The BRAT was featured in the Burt Reynolds movie Hooper.
Ah… Those were the days.
A few years ago Subaru tried to recapture the Brat magic with the Baja, but it just wasn’t the same..
BTW, I own two Subies – Murphy, the $500 87 Turbo Wagon, and Red, the 94 Legacy Alpine Wagon (heated seats ROCK!!!) I buy broken down Sub’s for nothing, then fix them up and their good to go. Subaru’s are by far one of the easiest cars to work on… Period. They are the automotive equivalent of Lego’s.
Hat Tip: My friends at Ultimate Subaru.Org
PS. Reagan’s restored Subie turned out great, but these, I’m afraid were beyond hope of saving. 2006 was not a good year for older Subarus.
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