Subaru Brat

[unclescott58]

With all of the great reissues Round 2 has brought back over the years, I'm wondering where this one is at? I think this kit was out only the one time. I wonder if there is some problem since it was tooled up when Lesney was in control of AMT? Or licensing issues with Subaru? Or what? I'd love to see this one come back. 

[Zoom Zoom]

I'd love to see it come back, not sure of the tooling status but likely they still have the mold. Start a write-in campaign, it can't hurt, Round2 more likely to listen. It's a cool kit, I had fun making mine into an STi using parts from a Fujimi STi and Revell WRX, and it inspired a guy in the UK to build a real one like it:

[Tom Geiger]

I'd wager that the tool for this one still exists. Everything else from that era does.

With Round 2 slowly putting out all of those kits,  it may hinge on how well recent releases of issues like the Dodge D-50 and Datsun pickups do sales wise.  Or as said, there could be a licensing issue with Subaru.  Note that Round 2 doesn't have any other Subarus, and today it's possible that Tamiya or other Japanese company has the exclusive license for kits?

[1972coronet]

I also seem to recall that the BRAT was issued only once as well ... 1979 ? 1980 ?  I built one when they were new ; it was a Friday night , and we just got home from WoolCo . I remember watching The Carol Burnette Show with my parents while I built the kit .

A re-release is overdue ... sans those garbage tyres , of course .

[espo]

I don't remember this kit at all. I would be far more interested in building one now then when the real Brat was on the road. The real car had a somewhat limited following and as I recall didn't sell all that well. This kit would offer so many possibilities to todays modelers. Lets hope Round 2 reissues this, I would buy one at this time.  

[Tom Geiger]

I remember there being controversy on the seats in the bed when the car was new.  Even with seats and seat belts, some states forbid passengers riding in a pickup bed.  In other states it's a way of life!   

[iamsuperdan]

I built this one when I was around 10 or so. We had a small local drug store that used to have models in the toy section. I remember nagging my mom to get me this one. 

I'd buy it again if it was reissued.

 

[Jantrix]

3 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

I'd buy it again if it was reissued.

 

Same here. 

[Daddyfink]

From what I can tell, the Datsun 620 Pick Up re-issue is a hit. As for the Dodge D-50, I think they need to bring  back the off road version of that instead of the street version. 

But yes, I would love to see the Brat back! 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I always wondered why they named a car after a sausage.

[Aaronw]

22 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I remember there being controversy on the seats in the bed when the car was new.  Even with seats and seat belts, some states forbid passengers riding in a pickup bed.  In other states it's a way of life!   

 

Another victim of the chicken tax. The seats in the back were added to classify it as a passenger vehicle to get around this tax. In the late 80s the interpretation was changed and any 2 door sport utility was reclassified as a light truck and subject to the tax, seats in the back or not, so good bye Brat.  

[Tom Geiger]

3 minutes ago, Aaronw said:

 

Another victim of the chicken tax. The seats in the back were added to classify it as a passenger vehicle to get around this tax. In the late 80s the interpretation was changed and any 2 door sport utility was reclassified as a light truck and subject to the tax, seats in the back or not, so good bye Brat.  

Ah I forgot about that aspect!   When Ford imported the first Transit Connects from Turkey,  they arrived at port with a back seat to classify them as station wagons.  The seat was removed before the trucks were shipped to the dealers.  

And in reality the Brat was a Subbie wagon with the roof hacked off.  I know of at least one modeler who built a wagon out of a Brat kit.

And there was a return of the Brat, renamed.  Again a limited seller, but Subaru no doubt knew the limitations of the model.  

[Aaronw]

35 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Ah I forgot about that aspect!   When Ford imported the first Transit Connects from Turkey,  they arrived at port with a back seat to classify them as station wagons.  The seat was removed before the trucks were shipped to the dealers.  

And in reality the Brat was a Subbie wagon with the roof hacked off.  I know of at least one modeler who built a wagon out of a Brat kit.

And there was a return of the Brat, renamed.  Again a limited seller, but Subaru no doubt knew the limitations of the model.  

 

Ford had to stop doing that, it was ruled removing the seats before offering the vehicles for sale wasn't enough to reclassify them as passenger vehicles. Ford stopped importing them, until they could figure out another way to get around "importing" them. I think they found a way to do final assembly in the US, probably something silly like bolting on the bumpers in a US factory. If a certain number of vehicles are manufactured in the US or a certain percentage of each vehicle is built in the US they count as built in the US and not subject to the tax. Nissan and Toyota get around it by building some of their trucks in the US. Those Mercedes / Dodge Sprinter vans got around it by building them outside the US, then they are disassembled, shipped and reassembled in the US.

I'm guessing the chicken tax is also one of the reasons we have so few 2 door wagons after the 1980s. VW traditionally offered a 2 door wagon in the US, first the Squareback and then the Fox, but I don't think they have had one since 1991 when they stopped importing the Fox. Of course station wagons started to go out of favor around that time anyway, so maybe just coincidental timing.   

 

I forgot about the Baja, yep, it was basically just a 4 door Brat. Like the Ford Explorer pickup a bed so small I'm not really sure that it offers any value as a pickup. The Brat was small but it had a longer bed making it a little more useful. My wife had one for a short time and I could at least sit in the back legs fully extended. I'd think I would have a hard time in the back of the Baja.

 

 

I'd buy a couple of Brats if they reissued the kits, they are neat little trucks and I'm sure people would find all kinds of interesting things to do with them.

[Fat Brian]

I would love to have a few of these, I'd build one as a replica of my uncle's truck.

[Casey]

I was (and still am, though a little less so) hopeful this kit would be announced for reissue after the the other former Lesney era VW Scirocco , Sunbeam Tiger, and Datsun 280ZX Turbo kits were, but nothing...yet.

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Casey

[Atmobil]

7 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Ah I forgot about that aspect!   When Ford imported the first Transit Connects from Turkey,  they arrived at port with a back seat to classify them as station wagons.  The seat was removed before the trucks were shipped to the dealers.  

And in reality the Brat was a Subbie wagon with the roof hacked off.  I know of at least one modeler who built a wagon out of a Brat kit.

And there was a return of the Brat, renamed.  Again a limited seller, but Subaru no doubt knew the limitations of the model.  

I would love to see the Brat reissued, I got one but have way more than just one idea for building one.
As a slight sidenote to this I would like to comment on the Baja.
A friend of mine is a Subaru fan and he learned about these when they where launched but they where only available in the US. Sure, it is only a Legacy Outback with the back of the roof missing but he thought of it as really cool.
He has searched for a model of one for years but could not find anything exept for a set of Micro Machines with five small cars in the set. 3 of them Subarus and 2 others. The 3 Subarus where 2 protypes and 1 Baja. He searched for a long time on Ebay and other places. In his searches he found that Micro Machines was made by Mattel and they stopped making them in 2006, the set with the Subarus was launched in 2006 and only in Germany and only for a very shot time before they where pulled from the market with all other Micro Machines. So this set is very rare. He finally found one on Ebay and since he does not have a Ebay user himself I bid on it for him.
It ended up costing something like 300$ US in the end, and he only wanted the Subarus so the two others in the set he gave me to give to my son. So he paid about 100$ for his little Baja. Wonder if that is the most expensive Subaru Baja of all time when the size is considered.

[oldcarfan]

I had no interest in this kit when it came out, but I would buy a couple now. I just got two more of the Datsun pickup and I recently got an unbuilt Ram D-50, the molded in blue version.

[64Comet404]

I would buy one of these kits. I remember the kits in the stores, but was never able to buy one at the time. The built-ups I have found have been too badly glued to disassemble.

[Dann Tier]

14 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

I'd love to see it come back, not sure of the tooling status but likely they still have the mold. Start a write-in campaign, it can't hurt, Round2 more likely to listen. It's a cool kit, I had fun making mine into an STi using parts from a Fujimi STi and Revell WRX, and it inspired a guy in the UK to build a real one like it:

This is SOOOOOOOOOO SWEET!!!!!!

[Richard Bartrop]

I remember building that one when it first can out, and Icould get behind a reissue.

[martinfan5]

I would like to see it get reissued for sure.

[martinfan5]

17 hours ago, Aaronw said:

 

Ford had to stop doing that, it was ruled removing the seats before offering the vehicles for sale wasn't enough to reclassify them as passenger vehicles. Ford stopped importing them, until they could figure out another way to get around "importing" them. I think they found a way to do final assembly in the US, probably something silly like bolting on the bumpers in a US factory. If a certain number of vehicles are manufactured in the US or a certain percentage of each vehicle is built in the US they count as built in the US and not subject to the tax. Nissan and Toyota get around it by building some of their trucks in the US. Those Mercedes / Dodge Sprinter vans got around it by building them outside the US, then they are disassembled, shipped and reassembled in the US.

 

 

 

 

According to the internet, Ford is still importing the Transit Connect as passengers vans and doing the conversions in the US,  but is paying the 25% import tax on them.  How factual that is, I dont know.

The Ford Transit( full size van) is built in two locations in the world, one of them is in
Claycomo, Missouri, U.S.
(Kansas City Assembly)

Edited February 3, 2018 by martinfan5

[Luc Janssens]

19 hours ago, Aaronw said:

Those Mercedes / Dodge Sprinter vans got around it by building them outside the US, then they are disassembled, shipped and reassembled in the US.

Back when I worked for Opel (ex-GM) we found out that the vehicles we were exporting to Russia were disassembled , by removing drive-train seats, and cockpit, near the Russian border in Poland, shipped to Russia and then reassembled, which sometimes resulted in funny warranty claims, like engine problems on a vehicle of which our record showed that, that vehicle wasn't built with that engine.

Oops!

 

[tim boyd]

22 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

I'd love to see it come back, not sure of the tooling status but likely they still have the mold. Start a write-in campaign, it can't hurt, Round2 more likely to listen. It's a cool kit, I had fun making mine into an STi using parts from a Fujimi STi and Revell WRX, and it inspired a guy in the UK to build a real one like it:

Bob....way, way cool idea, and a fine model build as well.....TIM 

[Aaronw]

6 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

According to the internet, Ford is still importing the Transit Connect as passengers vans and doing the conversions in the US,  but is paying the 25% import tax on them.  How factual that is, I dont know.

The Ford Transit( full size van) is built in two locations in the world, one of them is in
Claycomo, Missouri, U.S.
(Kansas City Assembly)

Well that would be silly, why deal with the added expense of installing and removing seats if you were going to pay the tax anyway?