In the 1970s, Subaru desperately wanted a pickup in the U.S. market to compete with compact trucks from Ford and Chevrolet, but there was a problem: Foreign-built pickups were subject to punishing tariffs, which would have made a Subaru pickup uncompetitive. Their solution: Put a couple of seats in the bed and call it a passenger vehicle. The seats weren’t comfortable, useful, or terribly safe, but they did what they needed to do to avoid the tax. Thus the Brat was born. It stood for “Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter,” with the Bi-drive being a four-wheel drive system that could be turned on and off with the flip of a switch. It was sold in the U.S. from 1978 to 1987. Famous owners included President Ronald Reagan, who used one on his California ranch but kept it hidden from the press so he wouldn’t be seen driving a foreign car. Sourse - cars.usnews.com