The Subaru Brat was first built in the late 1970s and the model was created until the early 1990s. Brat is an acronym that stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, and that description is really a good indicator of the vehicle itself.

The Brat was created to be a coupe utility version of the Leone model and it was first developed due to the US President's request in 1977. The Leone station wagon was the base for the design of the Brat, including the four-wheel drive aspects and it was officially introduced to the market in 1978 with the same concepts as the Ford Ranchero and the Chevy El Camino.

American versions of the Subaru Brat featured carpeting and jump seats that faced the rear available in the cargo area. These features were partially designed to fight the Chicken tax since the Brat could easily be called a truck. The welded plastic seats that sat in the cargo area allowed the Brat to be classified as a passenger car instead of a truck, therefore passing over the extra taxes. The downside to this, however, was that there was very little cargo space left over in the Brat and the passenger seats in the cargo area were not particularly safe. Today, seats are available for purchase for that area, but they are much safer with the inclusion of five-point seat belt harnesses. Due to the passenger car designation, these vehicles were taxed at 2.5% when they entered the United States instead of the 25% they would have been taxed had they been deemed light trucks.

The Brat was redesigned in the early 1980s, and the jump seats disappeared completely in the middle of the 80s. When small trucks rose in popularity, the Brat become more popular as well and production increased and continued until the early 1990s. The cars were no longer imported to the U.S. as of 1987, however, but imports to other areas of the world including European countries, New Zealand and Australian continued until 1994. The Subaru Brat was never sold in its home country of Japan because it was created just for the various export markets.

The Brat is a four-wheel drive vehicle with a Subaru EA engine. The first models had a 1.6L EJ-61 and the later models were upgraded to 1.8L EJ-81 engines. A few of the early 80s models even had options for turbocharged engines. The manual transmission option was standard, but all of the models had automatic transmission options as well.

Many notable people owned the Subaru Brat over the years including President Ronald Reagan, who drove the vehicle from 1978-1998. The vehicle has been restored over the years and it now sits at his ranch in California for visitors to view and enjoy.