Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Active Aero Is One Super Ute

Re:Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Activ... by munificent on Wednesday November 19, 2025 @02:55PM (#45984273)

Agreed, they aren't all huge, but they are all pretty big and the few that aren't huge sacrifice a lot of bed size.

I'm going through this now because I'm looking at upgrading from my ancient 2002 Tacoma Xtracab. Here's compared to 2025 models:

    Vehicle                       Length    Bed
    ----------------------------  --------  -----
    2002 Toyota Tacoma (Xtracab)  202.9"    74.5"
    2002 Toyota Tacoma (2Dr)      184.4"    74.5"

    2025 Maverick                 199.8"    54.4"
    2025 Honda Ridgeline          210.2"    64.0"
    2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz       195.7"    52.1"
    2025 Toyota Tacoma Xtracab    213.0"    73.5"

My Tacoma wasn't even the shortest you could buy back then and it's still shorter than half of the "small" trucks you can buy today. And unlike those, my truck has a full 6' bed. A Maverick is shorter than mine, but the bed is also nearly two feet shorter. I honestly don't see the point of a bed that's less than five feet long. At that point, it's just an SUV with a trunk that isn't weather-sealed.

Now, granted, it's not like you get nothing in return. These new vehicles (except the new Tacoma Xtracab) all have four doors and full-sized back seats. I can fit a kid in my jump seats but anyone older than that has a bad time. I'm sure they're safer for everyone in the truck too.

But if you really do want to prioritize bed size and still want a short vehicle, that option is just no longer well supported. I accept that my use case is probably a narrow one:

* Live in a dense city with a lot of parallel parking so don't want a long vehicle.

* Kayak fish a lot so want a long bed I can load a kayak in.

* Can get away with a two-seater because we can use my wife's car when there are passengers.

But it's definitely not as well served as it used to be. I'm probably going to end up with a short-bed Tacoma and rely on a bed extender to keep the kayak safe.

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Re:Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Activ... by amonks on Wednesday November 19, 2025 @03:53PM (#45985005)

For what it's worth (maybe not much from an internet stranger), I couldn't possibly overstate how much I love my Ridgeline. I love the trunk under the bed, I love how the back seats fold up for extra in-cab cargo space, and I love how the unibody structure and independent rear suspension make it drive like a car. It's comfortable enough that I can use it happily for longer road trips.

I love it so much that when it was stolen on a trip to Montreal a few years ago, I bought the exact same year and model again without even googling other options.

It is a bit longer than I'd prefer--I live in urban Chicago and occasionally do have to forgo a good parking space, but usually those are, like, Honda Civic spaces that a slightly smaller truck wouldn't fit into either.

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Re:Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Activ... by munificent on Wednesday November 19, 2025 @09:02PM (#45987946)

I didn't seriously consider the Ridgeline because it's, uh, kind of funny looking, but you are making me take another look. Thanks, I'll do some research.

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Re:Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Activ... by kjkjadksj on Wednesday November 19, 2025 @02:59PM (#45984329)

Why get rid of your perfectly fine truck? People would be lining up around the block for your truck. As you say they don’t make them like that anymore. Here in socal there are still 70s-80s era ford and chevy trucks in service. Those old f150s look tiny today. And in major demand even if they aren’t prestine.

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Re:Gymkhana's 1978 Subaru Brat with 9,500-RPM Redline, Activ... by munificent on Wednesday November 19, 2025 @09:01PM (#45987934)

The answer is sad. Last year, I destroyed my left ankle when I slipped in a puddle while biking to work. Even after three surgeries and tons of physical therapy, the joint is falling apart. I drive a stick and it hurts every single time I push the clutch pedal in, so I've accepted that I have to move to an automatic.

> People would be lining up around the block for your truck.

You're not lying. I'm the only owner and it's got barely over 100k miles on it. Every few years, I find a note on it from someone asking if I'm interested in selling.

The kids joke that I love that truck more than them.

It has been a really amazing vehicle and I've had a ton of fun in it. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that it would be nice to have, you know, anti-lock brakes and a back-up camera.

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