With enough time, money, and patience, you could make just about anything quick. However, if it’s gobs of meaty, reliable horsepower that you’re after, the tried-and-true LS swap is the way to go. As such, this 1985 Subaru Brat is now rocking an LS3 V8 under the hood and a Chevy Corvette chassis under the skin, providing owner Travis Pastrana with a daily dose of rear-wheel drive fun. Now, we’re checking out this LS-swapped Subaru Brat in the following brief feature video.
Captured at the recent Holley LS Fest East event in Bowling Green, Kentucky, this Scooby delivers on its promise of tire-smoking fun. For those who may not be aware, Travis Pastrana’s resumé includes a long list of motorsport experience and successes, including multiple championship wins in motocross and rally racing, as well as stints in NASCAR and even powerboat racing. These days, you’re likely to find Pastrana wheeling something with a Subaru badge on it, which could make the choice to go with a Chevy LS V8 seem a bit odd.
“I went to my good buddy Josh, and I said, ‘look, I want 500-plus horsepower, I want a drivable car, I want something where my kids can go in the back seat, something that’s safe, something that’s fun, something that’s super reliable,’ and it came back to me with an LS swap,” Pastrana says.
According to Pastrana, the builder saw an LS as the best option in making a reliable 500-plus horsepower daily driver, so out came the flat-four, and in went the V8. Underneath the upgraded Subaru Brat body, the builder installed a C5 Corvette chassis, while the LS3 was built into a 418 stroker with a Texas Speed cam and rectangular port heads, plus a stainless steel exhaust to make the happy V8 noises. Naturally, the Subaru Brat’s rear rumble seats were retained.
Check out the full feature below:
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Comments
Works for mee.
” I want a drivable car, I want something where my kids can go in the back seat,
something that’s safe,
something that’s fun, something that’s super reliable,”
Yeah….., safety and the rear seats of Brats, didn’t go hand and hand.
Doesn’t take much to fling you out of the low sided bed…., especially with 500 horses
” Riding in the bed became illegal, and this effectively illegalized the BRAT or, at least, took away its signature selling point.
It was dropped after the 1987 model year.”