Junkyard Find: 1986 Subaru BRAT, Sawzall Style
You could buy the Subaru BRAT in the United States until the 1987 model year (though removing the Chicken Tax-loophole jump seats— which made the BRAT a passenger car, legally speaking— meant that it got a lot more expensive in 1985). Thing is, Coloradans love BRATs, which means you can’t even find a total basket-case example for cheap here. What to do? Why, take a beater 4WD Leone aka GL hatchback and apply ingenuity!
Other than the mini-pickup-bed in the back, there really isn’t much difference between the mid-80s Subaru Leone hatchback and the BRAT of the same era.
Oh, sure, nitpickers might point out that the BRAT had a rear window and associated body structure, but the problem of roof flutter at high speeds can be solved with a couple of S-hooks and an old bicycle inner tube. Bungee cords are too expensive!
There’s this weird hallucination among Subaru lovers that 80s Leones were million-mile survivors that needed zero maintenance, when in fact most of the examples of these things I see in the junkyard have less than 200,000 miles on their clocks. 80s Subarus fell somewhere between 80s Nissans (pretty good) and 80s Mitsubishis (don’t ask) on the Japanese-car reliability spectrum.
One of the dangers of the Sawzall convertible can be seen in this photograph. Safety tip: always duct-tape some pipe insulation over the sharp metal pillar edges after you make a “roadster” out of your car. Your passengers will be glad you did!
Given that it spent the final months of its life with wind-in-your-hair (and face, and everywhere else) modifications, passengers in the Sawzall Subaru probably didn’t look at this placard and curse the original buyer for cheaping out on the dealer-installed AC.
We’ll grant you that this car was about half as good as a real BRAT. But it only cost a fourth as much! WINNING!
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Makes me sad to see one of these neat little hatchbacks cut up like this. Since 1986 I've had three of these (among various other Subarus). Each one I bought always seemed to cost about $700, including the last one which was a fairly rare last-year-for-the-model 1989 GL 4WD hatchback. I wish I still had that one. The rust and the poor quality interior materials seemed to be the biggest issues with any of them- the EA81 engines were nearly indestructible save for the troublesome carbs.
Irrelevant, but the strap pictured holding the roof down looks like a store-bought "rubber tarp strap" example: https://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/E/M/EM06701_2_1000.jpg Notice how the rubber is thicker at the end for support where the hook hole is.