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Revisit the charms of the 1978 Subaru Brat

The Subaru Brat is the automotive equivalent of a teenager with a mullet: weird, a little reckless but brimming with enough self-confidence to make it cool.
The Brat came from Subaru's desire to compete in the burgeoning light pickup market of the late-1970s. To get around the so-called Chicken Tax that added a 25 percent tariff on imported pickup trucks, Subaru threw two seats in the bed, which technically allowed it to be classified it as a passenger car. The result was a great, weird combination of a complete lack of safety, with a low price and lots of driving fun.
In the video below, Motor Trend's Johnny Lieberman takes a 1978 Brat through the desert and shows just how much fun a little pickup can be.

Jalopnik and Consumer Reports see who can pull off the best snow drift

The weather throughout much of the United States is pretty awful at the moment with some combination of extremely low temperatures, inches of snow and maybe some ice underneath it all. The folks at Jalopnik and Consumer Reports are making the absolute best out of a difficult situation by heading to CR's snow-covered test track and attempting to make the longest drift in a quartet of very different performance vehicles. Jalopnik brought along a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S Wagon, a Subaru WRX STI, a BMW 228i and a 1973 Volkswagen Baja Bug (heck yeah!) for the challenge. Also, the track was perfect for this group, with a mix of packed snow in places and still a few inches of unsullied powder in spots too. Ostensibly the goal was to get the tail to step out through a particular corner, but in reality this was more about having hilarious fun in the snow with fast cars. The result just looks like the best time humanly possible in this weather.

Subaru WRX STI gets all gymkhana slidey in new European ad

A good partner makes sacrifices for a significant other. They aren't always fun, but sometimes chores have to be done. Subaru's European ad for its new WRX STI clearly understands that dynamic, as it shows what to what lengths a guy is willing to go in order to get his lady some bread in time for breakfast. Of course, running errands in a turbocharged, all-wheel-drive sports sedan down picturesque roads is hardly drudgery.
The wordless ad for the WRX STI says everything you could ever want to know about the winged blue Subaru. It expertly mixes some fantastic gravel rally footage with just a bit of inspiration from Ken Block's Gymkhana videos, as well. The automaker makes the right choice of actually letting the audience hear the growly exhaust and squealing tires over the music, too.
If this was your daily route to the bakery, you'd probably be prepared for a round of the World Rally Championship within a couple of months. Scroll down to watch the Subaru ad about a very polite WRX STI owner making sure breakfast is on the table.