Gymkhana is back: meet the 670bhp, 9,500rpm ‘Brataroo’ that can FLY

“This BRAT’s completely unhinged, in the best way possible,” said noted motoring enthusiast Travis Pastrana. “It’s got the soul of a vintage Subaru with the tech to do things no Gymkhana car has ever done.”

Yes, Gymkhana car. So, a warm, smoky and distinctively ute-y welcome back to everyone’s favourite internet car-film franchise. Gymkhana will return with a new film called Aussie Shred, with Pastrana at the helm of this modified 1978 Subaru Brat.

And rather unsurprisingly given you’ve just read the name, he’ll be really very helming it in Australia.

Hence why the car’s nicknamed ‘Brataroo’. Bit on the nose there, fellas. And speaking of noses, this 1978 Subaru Brat – built by Vermont SportsCar – gets a “highly pressurised” 2.0-litre four-pot in its beak, crikeying out a mammoth 670 horsepowers and 680 torques.

It also revs to 9,500rpm, which… still won’t be a match for Australian wildlife, but there you go. It’s the highest-revving Gymkhana car ever built, channelling those furious Japanese horsies through a six-speed sequential gearbox to all four wheels via motorsport spec diffs.

So, it’ll be pointy. And drifty. And, as you can see, fighty. VSC has constructed the Brataroo’s body entirely out of carbon fibre and bolted it over a roll cage and VSC-engineered chassis built to WRC standards. Hoonigan and Subaru also drafted in the services of one Mr Khyzyl Saleem to reimagine the Brat into a ‘radical’ widebody, with a retro livery featuring kangaroos. Sure, why not.

Unusually for a Gymkhana car, there’s active aero at play here. Like a pair of interchangeable rear wings – one for high speed, one for high jinx – and movable front arch louvres, which can pivot forwards or backwards “to fine-tune the car’s airborne attitude during high-flying manoeuvres”. Fighty and flighty, then, because this baby can FLY.

When on the ground, it rolls on a set of forged monoblocks that apparently pay tribute to 1970s rallying, and inside there’s a carbon fibre dash with wood grain accents.

“Every part of it is designed to take abuse, fly big, and come back for more,” added Pastrana. “It’s hands down the craziest Gymkhana car we’ve ever built.”

It’s coming to a mobile phone screen near you – possibly upside down, because Australia – in early December, right after it’s finished wowing everyone at this year’s SEMA show.