Subaru’s legendary BRAT (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter) has quite a following and these early Subaru 4x4s do, in general. This beautiful looking 1986 Subaru BRAT can be found here on craigslist in Thornton, Colorado with an asking price of $5,000.

Frankly, I’m surprised at the somewhat low price listed for this BRAT. I don’t really see any flaws in it other than one tiny ding in the body and that’s it. There are no underside photos and no mention of rust which would be the biggest worry for me. I got in touch with the seller who is a heck of a nice guy and they said that there’s some surface rust on the bottoms of the doors and surface rust on the rockers but that’s about it. This is a great looking car for the money, there is no question about it.

There is no Cyclops passing-light on this one, it’s too late in the model run for that. And, it’s one year past the infamous jump seats for the bed, even though the seller says that it comes with a set. From what I’ve read, some insurance companies make BRAT owners sign a waiver that they will never allow anyone to sit on those jump seats while the car is on a public road. This car looks much nicer than the $5,000 price tag would have you think.

This is a manual transmission which was standard, no pun intended. All BRATs had Subaru’s 4WD system and other than a couple of cracks on the top of the dash I don’t see any flaws inside. I would really like to have a small car-based pickup like a BRAT or a Subaru Baja, it’s too bad that there aren’t any new vehicles like this anymore, at least in the U.S. Do we all really need a giant 4×4 four-door pickup? I don’t.

The engine even looks like new on this car, amazing. I don’t see any flaws or even any surface rust in the engine bay. My old ’88 Subaru RX Turbo had an incredibly clean and nice engine compartment so I guess it’s possible. The engine is Subaru’s tried and true EA-81, 1.8L boxer-four which had around 75 hp. The seller says that it runs excellent and passes emissions tests and this car even has new front brakes, new u-joints, and wheel alignment. It also comes with another set of wheels. This is one of the nicest BRATs that I’ve ever seen and the best deal on one that I have ever seen. It will not last long at this price.