1997 Subaru Sambar

Japanese mini-trucks, known as kei trucks are very popular in Seattle. I'm seriously thinking of getting one someday.

Subaru, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Daihatsu all made kei trucks, and from a distance they all look exactly the same. But the Subaru is the best one.
* The Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Daihatsu all have the engine under the cab, making for terrible weight distribution, not to mention a hot, loud ride.
* The Subaru has the engine behind the rear axle, for very easy access. The Honda has the engine in front of the rear axle. But the cab on the Honda is so small that a big person has a bit of a hard time driving it.
* The Subaru has push-button 4-wheel drive.
* It has a 4-cylinder engine while all other kei trucks are 3-cylinder.

And of course these trucks are all right-hand drive, and virtually all have manual transmissions. Not a problem for me, I'm left-handed.

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1981 Subaru BRAT. Take That, Chicken Tax!

When I was a kid, I remember seeing this truck with its bizarre plastic jump seats in the bed, and thinking, "They've got to be kidding." Yeah, they actually were kidding. Subaru's expectation was not that Americans were clamoring to ride in hard plastic seats in the back of pickup trucks.

Those seats are back there to beat the Chicken Tax. As we discussed in my post about Volkswagen Type 2 trucks, in 1964 in response to a European tariff on American poultry the US introduced retaliatory tariffs including a 25% tariff on light trucks. By bolting seats in the bed, Subaru was able to classify the BRAT as a passenger car.  By the way, BRAT is an acronym for, "Bi-drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1994 Subaru Domingo Van

Right-hand-drive vehicles made for Japan are popular in Seattle. Note the Domingo is not built to Japanese minicar "kei car" specs. Kei cars are limited to engines of 660 cc. The Domingo's engine is 1.2 litres. That's 2/3rds as big as the engine in a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide.

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1985 Subaru BRAT. Take That, Chicken Tax!

When I was a kid, I remember seeing this truck with its bizarre plastic jump seats in the bed, and thinking, "They've got to be kidding." Yeah, they actually were kidding. Subaru's expectation was not that Americans were clamoring to ride in hard plastic seats in the back of pickup trucks.

Those seats are back there to beat the Chicken Tax. As we discussed in my post about Volkswagen Type 2 trucks, in 1964 in response to a European tariff on American poultry the US introduced retaliatory tariffs including a 25% tariff on light trucks. By bolting seats in the bed, Subaru was able to classify the BRAT as a passenger car.  By the way, BRAT is an acronym for, "Bi-drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter."

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