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Car and Driver
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
1978 Subaru BRAT, a Genre-Bending Four-Seat Not-Quite Pickup
From the February 1978 issue of Car and Driver. The weird little Subaru rocketed over the crest and launched itself into space, and as all four wheels left the ground, what had seemed like harmless fun only a few moments ago turned into a pretty dumb way to get terrified. Yes, there's that peculiar, familiar old feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you're in real trouble but that there's no turning back. Just as it dawns on the destroyer captain a few microseconds before he rams the U-boat that there's a chance he might screw up and sink his own ship in the process, the only thing left to do is ride it out. Go with the flow, even if the thing has no roll bar and you've got no helmet. Nice work, stupid. On the other hand, that's what this was all about. Subaru is supplementing its line with a secret new recreational vehicle called the BRAT, they told me, so go out to Palm Springs and get crazy with it. Since getting crazy with oddball cars isn't a wholly unusual pastime with me, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but as I trucked into Coin Capital of the Desert, I wondered just how crazy you can get in a foot of sand with only 65 horsepower. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Upon arrival at Subaru's makeshift press headquarters I had fully expected to find some bizarre clown car because we had been forewarned what BRAT stood for: Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, assuming you slur the letters together and squint your eyes a little. But when I wheeled John Buttera's fenderless '29 Model-A highboy roadster into the posh racquet club replete with hip young waiters, there on display was a stand of surprisingly good-looking mini-trucks. Aside from the dumb-looking mud flaps on all four corners and a pair of bucket seats bolted awkwardly onto the cargo bed, the BRAT actually appeared to be a stylish imported pickup. As I found out, at Subaru, appearances can be deceiving. You didn't have to be Charlie Chan to notice the Subaru people twitching whenever anyone referred to the BRAT as a truck. At the preview breakfast they took time to explain that the four-wheel drive system was intended for snowy streets or dirt driveways, not off-road. And with that they loaded us into a bevy of BRATs and headed us out for a full day of off-roading. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver That night around the pool it took some serious big-city investigative reporting in conjunction with a half dozen well-placed margaritas to get one Subaru type to cut loose with the real story. The import duty on trucks is 25 percent while duty on "four-wheel drive on-highway passenger cars, new" is only three percent. Which explains why the BRAT looks like the 4WD station wagon with the roof cut off. It is. Subaru, of course, is best remembered for those little 360-cc "egg cars" Malcolm Bricklin imported that were last seen winding their two-cycle two-cylinder engines to a painful death on some PG-rated Southern California bumper-car track. You might even go so far a to think of Subaru as Japan's answer to Studebaker, although lately, of course, Subaru has been doing just fine, even if it is tucked into the shadow of Datsun and Toyota. Subaru sales jumped 66 percent in the first two-thirds of 1977, passing Fiat and making it the fifth largest auto importer in this country. Of course, you've got to remember that the Japanese auto industry as a whole was up the same percentage in that period as far as imports to this country were concerned. Just how much weird cars had to do with Subaru's success was what I was here to find out. Moment of truth number one came on Monday morning when a train of BRATs caravanned out to what was purported to be the biggest pile of sand in the area. Off-road oldie Bill Stroppe had been hired to lay out a challenging, yet not too tough course where the press types could flog the BRAT without getting into too much trouble. Bill Sanders, editor of Four Wheeler and I sat in the back of the line and watched as five different BRATs tried to scale a long, sandy incline that marked the start of the course. When they all gave up and went around to the other side of the hill for the easy way up the gentler road, we let some air out of the tires and gave the hill a banzai charge in the best Gonzo go-for-the-throat style. To wit: Plunk it into four-wheel-drive, put it in first gear and leave it there, push the pedal down as far as it will go and don't lift, regardless. Despite the fact that the 1595-cc OHV pancake four-banger screamed a bit and sounded as if it was going to cough a connecting rod, the BRAT clawed, scratched, and bounced its way to the top with C/D's own beloved Turtle Wrangler in complete control. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Alone at the top we pressed on and soon found that second gear effectively cuts the torque multiplication in half, which flat isn't enough if you're in the soft stuff. Keep the revs up and above all, don't stop. This was no Jeep CJ-7 we had. Still, aside from one detour in which I cleverly turned out of the tracks and immediately sank the BRAT to its front hubs in the soft sand, the thing proved amazingly tractable. This may be due to the fact that the BRAT weighs just 2145 pounds wet, thanks, in part, to the aluminum engine and transmission. Light weight may mean good fuel economy numbers on the highway, but in the dirt it means that the thing doesn't want to sink quite as deep in the sand. Putting the engine ahead of the front transaxle helps on the uphill stretches as well, since the normal weight transfer from front to rear axle is reduced. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Obstacle number two was not the deeply rutted and bumpy section that caused the BRAT to pitch from side to side rather brusquely, but the Japanese film crew standing in the way. The fact that they not only didn't speak English but were also not acquainted with the rule of off-road driving that says "never stop unless you are pointing downhill or are on solid ground" didn't help matters, but a universal understanding of the meaning of a vehicle careening directly toward you with the horn locked full on helped resolve the situation at the last second. On the downhills, all you've got to remember is to stay off the brakes, leave it in low and let engine braking do the job. One BRAT-ful of neophytes either forgot or never knew in the first place. They rolled their Subaru, instantly making it a 4x4 convertible. More nice work from the press crew. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Just to make sure that we were giving the BRAT a full measure of punishment I had imported a ringer for our photo session. Danny Thompson works for SCORE, prepares off-road race cars for his dad Mickey Thompson, and does a fair share of off-road racing himself. He's young enough to have no fear yet experienced enough to know when to lift. And he loves to bounce around inside a 4x4. Thompson is your typical Southern California kid. There was one portion of the course which approximated a sine wave, something the off-road racers call the "Oh-shits." The name derives from the fact that every time the vehicle crunches down on top of the curve, bottoming out the suspension, you think every bolt is going to snap. And guess what you say to yourself? Going through this corrugated stuff with Thompson Jr. at the wheel is like being in an all-day plane crash. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Under his delicate ministrations, the BRAT's air cleaner kept coming loose and falling forward into the fan, making a sound like a plastic woodpecker, and a metallic ticking began to emanate from the engine as if something internal was contacting the flywheel. But we pressed on because we knew the BRAT was made of sterner stuff. And besides, we still hadn't really begun to get even a little crazy. After several trouble-free laps around the course, I managed to get the BRAT stuck atop the first long hill when I drove into a gaping hole and high-centered. But eventually, with Danny driving and me hanging off the rear bumper to teeter the BRAT so the right rear wheel touched the ground, we drove it out of trouble. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver The consensus, so far, was that Subaru had done a fine job of making a four-wheel vehicle that worked well off-road even if it wasn't supposed to go there, and even if it is identical to the standard (read "cramped and plastic") car up front. And although it really isn't a mini-truck (even with the rear-facing bucket seats removed, the box has precious little room), the Datsun, [Chevy] LUV, Toyota, Mazda, and [Ford] Courier pickups are going to have a difficult time providing a four-wheel-drive unit to compete with BRAT's on a weight and price basis. Because the Subaru is front-wheel drive to start with, the standard five-speed gearbox is used with fifth being changed to an in-out gear to kick the driveshaft in for four-wheel-drive. That means no transfer case. And with a base price of just $4249, the BRAT has got to be the cheapest way to go four wheelin'. (And, while fuel economy is not an attribute normally associated with 4x4's, the EPA rates the BRAT at 26 city mpg and 36 highway.) It should be your basic smash hit in California where the off-road trip is only a short ride from anywhere. So Subaru has done it again. Hot on the heels of its four-wheel-drive station wagon, it has created another vehicle that has no competition. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver But we're drifting off the subject, which is achieving craziness in the desert. Subaru had Stroppe prep eight special BRAT's with roll bars and wide tires for a special dust-bowl timed competition. Since there were so many press types, two-man teams were arranged and I got matched with an ad sales flack who was as checked-out on off-road driving as any 19th Century mayor of Hong Kong. The result was that by the halfway point our BRAT had course marker ribbons flying from the bumper and front fender, and a cardboard sign wedged under the windshield wiper. I kept yelling at him to keep the throttle down—"You're doing fine!"—but when he rolled the right-front tire off the rim it was no go. As we stopped to change the tire, we noticed the course was dotted with clapped-out BRATs with various maladies, and when I finally got my turn there wasn't much left in the way of equipment; the sand and standard press misuse had fried the clutch. But there was one bright spot when a Subaru executive shot over the hill near the start/finish line and stormed out of control directly toward the shelter that had been erected to keep the sun off the cold soda, narrowly missing a gaggle of stunned hangers-on. Normally it's the press types who get crazed and endanger the host car makers, but this turnabout kept us amused for the remainder of the day—not to mention putting paid to the rumor that only journalists are nuts. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver The second day of bashing about in the sand drew toward a close, and I was increasingly aware that our time was almost up with no genuine craziness erupting to spruce up the action. There was a chance for a last try, though. As I watched lensman Satterwhite clicking off shots of Thompson thundering over the crest of the hill we had picked for the dreaded "jump shots," I said that I would like to take a lick at getting some daylight under the tires as it looked both fun and easy. Checking out Danny's approach down one side of a valley and up the other to the crest, I noted that he ran it through first, second, and broached the peak in third. What I failed to notice was that he let off the throttle and changed direction just before he got to the top of the hill where the road jutted left. Satterwhite motioned for me to get into our backup BRAT and do some "speed stunts" down in the valley with Danny for the final shots, the last of which called for us to zip down the valley trail in close formation making a lot of dust for the camera. Knowing that the guy in the back gets all the dust I opted for the lead position, but when I found Danny filling up my rear view mirrors, the old bodily juices started flowing. I knew I wasn't about to let Mickey Thompson's kid pass me and this seemed like as good a time as any to to try the jump. Only I didn't bother to slow down or turn because I wanted to make sure the thing got launched. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver The first thing I noticed when I crested the hill was that suddenly there was no ground when I looked out the windows . . . only a really good view of the sky. Then it dawned on me that I was in over my head, but what were my alternatives? Flying the Subaru at the apogee of its trajectory was an odd combination of fun and panic. Do you remember the feeling you get sitting in the back of an airliner when it hits a really good "air pocket?" That sensation tipped me off to the fact that the downward portion of our flight had begun, which would soon be closely followed by the loud/painful/awful landing. The realization that the tail end of the BRAT was considerably higher than the nose led me to ponder the possibility that the thing might wedge its snout into the sand and come to an abrupt halt. Or perhaps it would even go "endo," as we used to call end-over-end flips at the drag races. I manfully refused to panic, remembering the destroyer captain and the need for true craziness. The area I selected to set the BRAT down in was just sand and pucker bushes, since the road had long since turned left. Because the downward slope of the hill somewhat matched the nose-heavy attitude of the BRAT, the thing just crashed down on all four wheels and everything was wonderful. No pain, just thunk-clang-thunk. The fact that it survived the Cook Death Leap convinced me that it was, if not a taxable mini-truck, at least one fine piece for having off-road fun with, and as we hobbled back to the Subaru compound to check out, I had only one problem with the whole affair. As far as I can tell, I didn't manage to get into any true craziness. View Photos Al Satterwhite | Car and Driver Specifications Specifications 1978 Subaru BRAT Vehicle Type: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger pickup PRICE Base/As Tested: $4209 ENGINE flat-4, aluminum block and heads Displacement: 97 in3, 1595 cm3 Power: 65 hp @ 5200 rpm Torque: 80 lb-ft @ 2400 rpm TRANSMISSION 4-speed manual CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: struts/semi-trailing arms Brakes, F/R: 9.0-in disc/7.1-in drum DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 96.5 in Length: 164.8 in Width: 61.0 in Height: 56.7 in Curb Weight: 2145 lb
Car and Driver
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Car and Driver
View Photos of the 1978 Subaru BRAT
Read the full review For the launch of the BRAT in 1978, Subaru invited the press to play in the sand outside Palm Springs.
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Charli XCX picks up another huge award at prestigious music event
The Ivors celebrated the best in music and songwriting with a glittering event in London Charli XCX continued her phenomenal year by scooping the over the coveted songwriting gong at The Ivors. The 32-year-old star, who didn't attend the glittering affair, was celebrated for her groundbreaking work on 2024 album BRAT, which became a cultural phenomenon seeing the term 'brat' even named the Collins Dictionary Word of the Year. Rockers U2 were inducted into Fellowship of the Academy. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. become the first-ever Irish songwriters that the Academy has inducted into Fellowship during its 81-year history. Robbie Williams, 51, picked up the PRS for Music Icon Award. His fifth Ivor Novello Award, it was in recognition of a songwriting career that has touched millions and defined a generation, from the heartfelt power of Angels to the swagger of Let Me Entertain You. Brandon Flowers, 43, presented with the Special International Award for his music as the frontman of The Killers and a solo artist. This year's Visionary Award with Amazon Music went to Self Esteem, in recognition of her fearless, genre-defying songwriting. From her bold solo debut Compliments Please to the Mercury-nominated Prioritise Pleasure and her latest work A Complicated Woman. Exciting talent Lola Young, 24, was the latest under-25 songwriter to be awarded the Rising Star Award. She's been making waves after viral hit Messy. Berwyn won Best Album for Who Am I, his first Ivor Novello Award. Myles Smith was also recognised for his hit Stargazing. The winners of The Ivors with Amazon Music were revealed at the annual awards ceremony held at Grosvenor House, London, recognising and celebrating exceptional achievements in songwriting and screen composing. In the 70 th year of The Ivors, 22 songwriters and composers collected Ivor Novello Awards across 14 categories, with 73% of all winners and award recipients receiving recognition for the first time. Established in 1956, The Ivors is presented by The Ivors Academy, the leading organisation representing songwriters and composers, and is the most prestigious awards ceremony celebrating songwriting and screen composition. Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy, said: 'Congratulations to every Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter and composer. On behalf of The Ivors Academy, it is a privilege to recognise their craft and achievements. Their lyrics and melodies are the most important foundations of music and there is no greater recognition than an Ivor Novello Award, judged by fellow songwriters and composers.' The 2025 winners join a roll of songwriting and composing greats who have received an Ivor Novello Award over the past seven decades, including Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Adele, RAYE, Stormzy, Cathy Dennis, Bruce Springsteen, Annie Lennox, Amy Winehouse, Dave, Sting and Joan Armatrading.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Subaru Is the Latest Carmaker To Hike Prices in Response to Tariffs
New cars from Japanese automaker Subaru will reportedly increase in price by several hundred dollars in the coming weeks—and tariffs are the likely culprit. Officially, Subaru of America says it has "adjusted its pricing in response to current market conditions." That's what the company said in a statement to Reuters, which first reported on the price hikes. The biggest change to the market for imported cars, of course, is the 25 percent tariff that the Trump administration announced in March. At the time, the White House said the tariffs would incentivize domestic automobile manufacturing and reduce "American reliance on imports of foreign automobiles." The auto industry responded by pointing out that global supply chains are essential even for vehicles that are made in the United States and warning that the tariffs would likely increase sticker prices for consumers. That's what seems to be happening. Subaru is set to hike prices on its vehicles by between $750 and $2,000 each, depending on the model and trim line, Reuters reported. The news service cited a notice that was sent to Subaru dealers. Subaru is the second automaker to announce higher prices in response to the tariffs. Last month, Ford Motor Company announced that it would raise prices on three of its models by $2,000 apiece—just days after the company said tariffs would reduce its annual earnings by $1.5 billion, as Reason's Joe Lancaster reported at the time. Americans imported nearly 8 million cars in 2024, and the biggest sources of imported cars were Mexico, Japan, and South Korea. When asked in March if his plans for higher tariffs on cars would increase prices for American consumers, President Donald Trump said he "couldn't care less" if that was the outcome. Keep in mind that higher prices are just the most visible consequence of higher tariffs. There are other, unseen consequences, like the people who might have bought a new car this year, who will instead put off that purchase due to the higher prices. They will continue to drive an older, potentially less safe, less fuel-efficient, or simply less fun car instead. The car dealerships will make fewer sales. Ultimately, car manufacturers may see less demand for their products. In March, Cox Automotive predicted that there would be 700,000 fewer cars sold in America this year, a 4.3 percent decline from last year's total, as Americans pull back on spending due to the higher prices created by tariffs. This isn't Subaru's first tangle with high tariffs on vehicles imported to the United States. One of the most famous examples of so-called tariff engineering—that is, a legal way of dodging tariff costs by physically altering an imported product—involves a small pickup truck that Subaru used to manufacture. The Subaru Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, or BRAT, was imported to the U.S. with seats installed in the pickup truck's bed, which allowed it to be classified as a passenger vehicle (tariffed at a rate of 2.5 percent in those pre-Trump days), rather than a small cargo truck (subject to a 25 percent tariff that dates back to the 1960s). Alas, with Trump's higher tariffs on all cars, there's likely no similarly easy and hilarious way for Subaru to dodge these taxes. Instead, they'll be passed along to buyers. The post Subaru Is the Latest Carmaker To Hike Prices in Response to Tariffs appeared first on
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Charli XCX confuses fans with dismissive Cannes Film Festival party entrance
Charli XCX had many fans confused as she made her highly-anticipated entrance into the Cannes Film Festival Magnum party, but failed to crack a smile to waiting guests. Charli XCX put on a stern display as she arrived to the Cannes Film Festival Magnum party on Thursday, placing her head down and ensuring she was shielded by security when walking through the invite-only bash. Fans had gathered around the event's entrance to await the entrance of Charli, but the BRAT singer, 32 - who was a standout at this year's BRIT Awards - didn't appear best pleased when she eventually made her arrival around midnight, three hours after the party began. The bash, which was held at Magnum Beach on the famous La Croisette, saw stars such as Georgia May Jagger, Jerry Hall, MAFS' Evelyn Ellis and several models and influencers in attendance. Model Georgia, whose dad is rocker Mick Jagger, appeared to be in high spirits for the bash as she enjoyed making her own Magnum ice cream and posed for snaps with her famous mum. But many, including the sprawling crowds outside of the party and TikTok famous stars such as Max Balegde, were gathered to see Charli - who has teamed up with Magnum for this year's festival, with the party even offering BRAT themed ice creams. Despite the crowd hoping to catch Charli's eye with a smile, a wave, or even a selfie, the pop-star entered the bash with a stern face and kept her sunglasses on as she appeared to ignore cheers. Charli even shook her head when a security guard offered her two Magnum ice creams to hold on her way in and skipped past the red carpet. With many underwhelmed at the fleeting entrance after waiting eagerly by the door, it seemed that Charli perked up later in the party as she went on to enjoy a dance - and picked up a milk chocolate Magnum. The singer, who was joined by a posse of close friends for the bash, donned a fitted white corset and a mini skirt for the evening and kept her eyes shielded by black sunglasses. It's possible that her frosty entrance was due to the chaotic crowds outside of the party, with the invite-only affair circled with hopeful fans attempting to get themselves into the event or catch a glimpse of the guests. Inside, there was a dipping bar where guests could create their own Magnum - dipped in chocolate, covered in three toppings and drizzled with a sweet sauce of their choice. While ice creams were also being handed out on trays, with plenty of free drinks flowing through the soiree. Magnum, who throw the party annually during Cannes Film Festival, have taken over the JW Marriott beach club Palais Stephanie Beach for this year's edition of the two-week event.
