Welcome back to Shitbox Showdown! I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th. Today, I’ve got a couple of mid-80s station wagons that are in better shape than they have any right to be. But first, we should close the books on our V8s from Monday:
The truck wins, as I expected. I know it was a strange comparison; I just found those two cars and couldn’t find a worthy mate to either of them. Myself, given these two choices, I’d take the Corvette, but only because I already have a truck that I like better than this one.
For today, we’re back to cheap, old, and weird, with a pair of station wagons that somehow survived nearly four decades with only minor wear and tear to show for it. Hardly any miles, either. Why would someone preserve such ordinary workaday cars in such excellent condition? I have no idea. But I’m glad they did, because I love seeing stuff like this for sale. Let’s check them out.
1985 Dodge Colt Vista – $1,450
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Romulus, MI
Odometer reading: 32,000 miles
Runs/drives? Turns over but won’t start
Now, we need to get one thing straight about this car before we start: I know there is a large “Never Mopar” contingent out there, but if you’re one of them, I really think you need to give this car a fair shake, because the only thing Dodge about it is the badges. What this actually is is a first-generation Mitsubishi Chariot. Chrysler never made any bones about the Colt’s provenance; the cars actually had a badge on the back that said “Imported For Dodge.” So leave your Chrysler prejudices at the door, because this ain’t one.
Now, with that said, this car doesn’t exactly run, as such. It turns over, but won’t fire. I get the feeling it has been parked for a long time, and we all know how much they hate sitting around not running. My guess is that someone with some mechanical aptitude and sympathy could get it going again without much difficulty. It’s a carbureted engine with a standard distributor; nothing fancy. If it’s got air, fuel, spark, and compression, it’ll run. Find out which one of those is lacking (my guess is fuel), and replenish its supply.
The rest of it is in good shape, as you’d expect for so few miles. It never had a chance to wear out. The seller does note some rust; it’s a mid-80s Japanese car in a Great Lakes state. There’s no way it wouldn’t have some rust somewhere, even with only 32,000 miles. But if you can nip it in the bud and keep it from getting any worse, and don’t drive it in the winter, it should be all right.
The biggest fault I can find with this particular Colt Vista is that not enough of its wheels are driven. Push-button four wheel drive was available on these, and from what I’ve heard, like the contemporary 4WD Toyota Tercel wagons, they were unstoppable in inclement weather, and pretty good on muddy fields as well. I mean, it’s a cool boxy little ’80s wagon/van thingy, but wouldn’t it be even better with 4WD?
1986 Volkswagen Quantum wagon – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2 liter overhead cam inline 5, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Caldwell, ID
Odometer reading: 93,000 miles
Runs/drives? Runs well and driven regularly
Speaking of cars that are better with 4WD, in 1986 Volkswagen introduced a version of their Quantum wagon (B2 Passat in the rest of the world) with Syncro all-wheel-drive. This system was exactly the same as the first-generation Audi Quattro system, with remote locking on the center and rear diffs to gain traction in slippery conditions, and was only available with a five-speed manual. Sounds cool, right? Well, then I hate to be the one to disappoint you, but this car isn’t one of those.
It has the legendary Audi five-cylinder engine, but only driving the front wheels, and through a three-speed automatic. Having spent quite a bit of time behind the wheel of a couple of Audi sedans equipped with this combination, I can tell you it’s exactly as lethargic and soul-sucking as you would imagine. It’s a nice smooth engine, and the transmission does its thing without complaint, but it just feels like the transmission is holding it back. The same car with a five-speed stick, Quattro or no, still isn’t fast, but it it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to accelerate through a swimming pool full of syrup.
Despite that sluggishness, this car will hum along at eighty miles an hour all day long if you ask it to. It’s still a German car, and sustained high-speed highway driving is kind of what they’re known for. The seller says this one runs like a top, drives just fine, and makes weekly freeway trips of an hour or so to keep it in shape. It has had a bunch of recent work done, though the seller doesn’t elaborate on exactly what.
There’s so much nostalgia in this photo for someone who grew up in and around VW/Audi products of this era: the squared-off Eurostile font on the gauges, the LCD clock with the bank of indicator lights above it, the rocker switches for the hazard lights and rear defroster, even that silver owner’s manual cover. It all feels very much like home to me, and while I wouldn’t relish the lack of response from the automatic, I think I’d like driving this car very much.
Cars like this exist in a sort of bubble: they’re too old and simplistic to be something you’d want to commute in, almost too nice to cut up and modify into something else, but not valuable as they are. But what they could be are fantastic weekend runabouts, and great conversation-starters at automotive gatherings. You’d have to be in a financial position to have a second car around, and probably be of a certain age to remember them at all. Assuming any of those criteria apply to you, which one are you taking?
(Image credits: Colt – Facebook seller; Quantum – Craigslist seller)
NO WAY the Vista can win over that sweet VW. Pack up the Coleman cooler, a sleeping bag and some cold snacks and point it towards Whiteface Mountain for a week end of car camping. Fold down that rear seat and you have yourself an ’86 camper that always makes it back home.
Agreed…and it looks better!
All US Colt Vistas of this generation (84-91) had the 2.0L SOHC G63B, which changed names to the 4G63 along the product cycle. It got injection in 1989. These were about 2500lbs (or a little under 2900lbs with 4WD). We had a 2WD ’84 with the twin-stick. I learned to drive manual with it. It had perfectly acceptable performance for the time, and got 35mpg on the highway with AC. It was extremely versatile, too. It could seat 7. It’s seats could fold into a bed (I’m 6’6″ and slept in it on a few camping trips), or they could fold down (or remove) for cargo.
I usually pick the running car over the non-running one, the autotragic doesn’t seem enough for me to deviate from my formula.
Colt. You’ll never see one again because they didn’t survive being in the ownership of teenagers in the late ’90s.
I was a teenage passenger in a 4WD Colt Vista wagon that took some dirt roads in the desert that I thought only a Jeep could navigate. It was terrifying but that thing made it through!
I had the similar Tercel 4wd. Glacially slow even by the standards of the day, but unstoppable in the Smoky Mountains snow. Probably not a bad thing for a young fella to have.
My first job out of college was delivering for a microfilm company. I would pick up boxes of documents from companies and drop them back off with everything shot on microfilm (this was before digital storage). My delivery vehicle and office was a 1989 Colt Vista Wagon and I still remember how comfortable it was to drive around the Denver area in (I’m 6′ 1″). I could do an 8 hour shift and not have aches and pains at the end of the day. Plus, when it wasn’t loaded down with boxes of documents, it was very peppy. If I was closer, that Vista would be in my driveway.
“Very peppy” in Denver means it must have had some zip to it. I remember having a rental car in Denver one time, and I stupidly forgot where I was when I floored it to merge onto the highway, and…nothing happened. I mean the revs went up, but the car just continued moving along without increasing its acceleration. Then I remembered that a car doesn’t behave the same in Denver as it does 5000′ feet lower in Los Angeles.
Eh, 5000ft isn’t that high. That’s costing you less than 10% horsepower, that rental car was just a slow car.
All I know is Ive never noticed my cars being slower at 8000+ ft than they are at 2500 at home.
My car has a 3.0l V6, so not huge but it performs well in LA. Fully loaded with 2 adults, 2 kids, and luggage, I can go 0-60 in around 8 seconds.
In Santa Fe, with the same load, we’re talking maybe 11-12 seconds. Elevation is ~7500. I visit there regularly, so I’ve experienced the same performance difference in every car I’ve owned.
As a Denver native and having not lived anywhere else at the time, very peppy to me was likely not so much to someone used to lower elevations. It wasn’t until I moved to LA a few years later that I learned the difference. (I’ve since moved back and now see the difference when I drive up into the mountains, which I try to do as much as I can.)
Mopar dealers here in northern New England sold a good number of those Vistas to people who came in looking at T115 minivans not just because they had an AWD option but because the 2nd row rear door windows opened while those in a Caravan/Voyager were fixed, an important consideration in a time and place when air conditioning was an expensive option useful only a couple months of the year.
The Colt was a crossover way way ahead of its time. Very under appreciated in its day.
Vista. I really like VWs, but the automatic kills the buzz totally.
I would imagine a long weekend — or less — of wrenching would get the Colt running, and if disuse has had a bad effect on other bits (like the brakes), you’d still be out of the woods with only a few days’ labor. And for less money than the price of the V–Dub.
If Mark had dug up a manual Quantum for this round, it would have been a much harder choice.
Those autos are unsurprisingly time bombs
How much time? 37 years so far……
Wow that Colt is clean, but… so small on today’s roads. I’d feel like I was walking around a construction site as Terex scrapers dance around me.
I love, immensely, 5-bangers on the highway. They just work so well, and on the highway is the only place where they live up to the “power of a 6, efficiency of a 4” marketing pitch. I bet those wool carpets smell like a Billy Idol video.
I’ll take a “leap” of faith on the Quantum.
I’m a sucker for nifty packaging so I’m going Colt Vista. Think I’d still do the same if it was equivalent transmission comparisons too.
On the VW ad –
I can’t tell if the air & radio line is a sneaky mention referring to the VW, or the Lexus. (which Lexus do we think that is btw?)
If that Colt Vista was local I would genuinely consider buying it. Incredible survivor condition and a price that isn’t bonkers just for being rare. It’d be a weird summer-only car to own though.
I’ve broken all my ‘rules’ with this one – a non-running chrysler product against a running ‘non-chrysler.’
But… Mitsubishi, brown, stick, wagon. And as much as the 4wd would be neat, I would bet you that the 4wd parts are rarer than hens teeth and highly model/year specific. The Fwd here is probably going to be much easier to source parts for.
Gosh dang, interior upholstery was so much nicer before everyone unilaterally went with those despicable Rayon “sport cloth” fabric seating surfaces.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a modern car with cloth upholstery that didn’t feel like punishment for not paying for the top trim leather option.
I miss patterns, colors other than black, and fabric that actually feels nice to touch. The ’89 Geo Prism had nicer cloth than the modern Forester my wife has.
Exactly. Even the “you made it, son” high falutin’ trim leather upholstery is garbage.
My mom had a red Vista that she carted us kids around in. Someone softly T-boned us while I was sitting in the cargo area, pushed us into a ditch. I’m sure it was harrowing for her, but for me as a young kid (7 or 8?) I was like “Whee!!”
So yeah, Vista for me…”Whee!!!”
Back at the ol’ full service island at gas station, there was a certain person who would pull in behind the wheel of one of these Colt wagons; Moms with glasses, very modestly dressed, shorter hair, and 2.5 kids in the back (possibly one in front…it was the 80’s).
I was one of those kids!! My mom didn’t have glasses, though…but the rest of the description is spot on! Oh, and 4 kids. Two of us in the back seat had seatbelts, but those of us in the cargo area were free to bounce around!
This one’s a 7-seater – did you have the regular Colt station wagon or just childhood defiance?
Honestly, it was too long ago to remember…I definitely know we weren’t in seat belts, but I can’t recall if it had the rear seats or not. I suspect it did, because we were a family of 6 and that would have made sense.
Wife had a Quantum (5MT sedan) when we were dating, so that gets my vote today. Even though it has an autotragic, it’s a runner and appears ready to go. It was a pretty fun car to drive with the stick shift.
That Colt Vista is just asking for an electric swap. If it were for sale in my town it would be in my driveway already.
Call me Mistah Vista.
This is a sweet little package, and cheap enough to think about a wheel/tire combo to have some fun with aesthetics.
Surprised to see a car in Caldwell, that’s the next town over from me. That VW is super sweet, I love five cylinders, but a three speed is a big thumbs down.
I’m almost tempted to go check it out, but I need to get rid of a vehicle before I buy another vehicle.
Story of my life. Also applies to guitars.
Yeah tell me about it.
One of my college roommates (hey, Charles!) had a Colt Vista, and it was incredibly good at holding all of his stuff when we moved out of our apartment. And in a crazy coincidence, his family also had a Quantum wagon.
Ultimately, I voted for the runner. The Vista’s a peach, but I’ve always loved this era of VW/Audi.
I put the Vista ahead! Had a girlfriend with one a million years ago. Don’t have pleasant memories of her, but the car was okay.
To keep the VW running you’re gonna need quantum mechanics.
I’m here all week folks…
Well, no, not really. During this time, Audi was a step below Merc and Bimmer, sort of an Oldsmobile to VW’s Chevrolet. It doesn’t have the kind of crazy-tech, special-tool, let’s-put-the-timing-belt-on-the-back-of-the-engine sort of nonsense that today’s Audis do.
Or a Quantum of Solace.
Dont let us keep you here. You gotts go? Go!
Vista vista vista. Never liked those old VW steering wheels.
I hate a million Dodges but the Vista ain’t one.
My parents had one of these little gems (the AWD version) and it’s a great little car. Eats up tons of cargo if needed and handles better than it should. Even this non-running version is better than an old VW with a slush box.
Awd=/=4wd
Lighten up, Francis.
Can I vote for the truck a second time?