06-18-2008, 12:29 PM
|
Network Design Administrator
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Boiling Springs, SC
Posts: 4,344
|
|
Brat gets som recognition...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayof...ef=mpstoryview
Quote:
Originally Posted by CNN
Cult cars: Subaru BRAT
There are plenty of cars out there that people call cult, like the Lamborghini Countach or the Volkswagen Beetle, but if the car was on every teenage boy's wall in poster form in the 80s (the former) or is one of the best-selling cars in history (the latter), we say it doesn't count.
Cult means rare, and cult means a small, devoted following. That pretty much defines the devotion of BRAT owners. One of the ugliest cars in history (with the possible exception of the El Camino), devotees call its looks "quirky" and extol it as ahead of its time.
Its name is actually an acronym for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, and it was essentially a four-wheel-drive station wagon with the wagon-top cut off. Other quirky features included a jumpseat welded into the back, which allowed Subaru to classify BRAT as a passenger car rather than a truck, and skip out on some otherwise pricey import duties; it also explains much of the cult appeal of this weird vehicle.
I had a BRAT-owner friend, and his favorite feature was that the Subaru logo in the middle of the steering wheel could be pried off, revealing a tiny empty space. "That's where you keep your weed," he explained. (I think that pretty much says it all.)
BRATs haven't been made since the 90s, but there's a healthy used-BRAT trade -- apparently they just won't die. (Sounds like Troma should make a movie: Drug-addled BRATs Must Die!!!, or something.)
|
__________________
Chris
SVX World Network Administrator
-1993 Subaru SVX LS-L, Barcelona Red, #46, 160,000+ Miles (Sold to SomethingElse)
-2011 Toyota Sienna SE, Black, 30,000+ Miles (Swagger Wagon )
-2002 BMW R 1150R ABS, Black, 26,000+ Miles (Daily Driver )
SVX Owner from February 1997 to March 2008
SVX Online Community Member since February 1998
SVX World Network Member since February 2002, Member #520
Life is a game. Play to win.
The world belongs to those who can laugh at it.
|