From The ‘Where Are They Now?’ File: 1990 Honda Prelude vs 1991 Chevy Beretta

Good morning! It’s a new week full of crappy old cars, and today we’ve got a couple of coupes that used to be everywhere, but have all but vanished. But before we get into that unsolved mystery, let’s take a look at Friday’s results:

Toyota takes the win, even with three hundred thousand miles on the clock. Honestly, I could flip a coin on this one and not be unhappy with either outcome, but I lean slightly in favor of the MR2, mainly because owning a mid-engined sports car is still on my gearhead bucket list.

“Things fall apart,” the poet once said; “the center cannot hold.” This is no less true of automobiles than anything else. We lose cars all the time to rust, mechanical failures, accidents, or just being left to rot. But there are certain cars that are just gone, even though they were common in their day. And then, once in a while, one surfaces, like a prehistoric fish being caught in a fisherman’s net, and you can’t help but be impressed, even if it’s not a particularly impressive car. Today, for your consideration, I have a pair of such ancient creatures. Let’s check them out.

1990 Honda Prelude 2.0Si – $3,950

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Round Rock, TX

Odometer reading: 198,000 miles (but it’s broken)

Runs/drives? Yep

This is the car I think of when someone says “Honda Prelude,” the third-generation model. It’s the one I remember reading about in car magazines in high school, the one with four-wheel steering (though I don’t think this car has that option) and that great, open, airy cabin with those lovely slender roof pillars. It’s such a clean, simple design, and it has aged really well. It’s a shame it’s such a hard car to find these days.

This one, unfortunately, has an automatic transmission. The Prelude never really was a high-performance machine, but it is far more entertaining to drive with a manual gearbox. It ever-so-slightly makes up for the lack of a clutch pedal with its pistol-grip shift lever. It’s cool, but not as cool as a manual shifter in that spot would be. Powering this mild disappointment is a two-liter twincam B20A engine with electronic fuel injection.

This Prelude is up for sale after 22 years with the same owner. It runs and drives, but it needs a few things fixed: it idles rough and the check engine light is on, as is the ABS light. The air conditioning conked out. The valve cover gasket leaks, and pretty badly, based on the photo above. And large sections of the instrument panel don’t work, including the odometer; the actual mileage is estimated to be about 230,000.

So clearly, there is some work to be done. It’s a cool old car, even with the automatic, and it’s worth saving. Is it worth almost four grand for the buy-in? You tell me.

1991 Chevrolet Beretta – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 3.1 liter overhead valve V6, three-speed automatic, FWD

Location: outside Kyle, TX

Odometer reading: 23,000 miles

Runs/drives? Sure does

Chevy sold almost a million Berettas. When was the last time you saw one? These slightly nicer and a hair bigger than a Cavalier coupes sold like hotcakes for a couple of years, occupying a spot in the market somewhere between sports coupes and personal luxury coupes. It’s not sporty, and it’s certainly not luxurious, but it struck enough of a chord with buyers to stick around for nine model years. I always liked the looks of them, and my mom used to have a Beretta almost exactly like this that I drove quite a bit, and didn’t hate. (High praise, I know.)

The Beretta didn’t break any new technological ground under its flashy modern (for the late ’80s) sheetmetal. It’s standard-issue GM front wheel drive fare, sturdy but not exciting. It shared its engine choices with the J-body Cavalier: a 2.2 liter four, or GM’s corporate 60-degree V6, both nearly always paired with a TH125C three-speed automatic. Manual Berettas did exist, but strangely I’ve seen more stickshift examples of its four-door sister model, the Corsica.

This Beretta is damn near a time capsule, having covered only 23,000 miles in the past thirty-two years. And before you ask, yes, it’s a six-digit odometer; it hasn’t rolled over. It’s a base model, with manual windows and locks, but it does have the optional V6. As you’d expect from the mileage, it’s very clean, but it does show some signs of sun damage, making me wonder if it was parked outside or in a carport all these years. And of course, no mention is given of how the car came by those miles; was it a “little old lady who only drove to church and the drugstore” arrangement, or did it sit for decades?

The seller only says it “runs good” but “needs a little more loving.” I guess you’d have to inspect it to find out what exactly that means. All I know is that this is the nicest base-model Beretta I’ve seen in probably ten years or more. People save the GTs and GTUs, but a steel-wheel crank-window one? I get the feeling you’d be a hero at Radwood with this one.

Once again, neither of these cars is as cheap as I’d like, and I expect you all to feel the same. But cars are expensive right now, as we all keep hearing. If you are willing to accept the fact that what you got for $2,000 a few years ago will now set you back twice that, these prices seem… well, not reasonable, but more typical. With that in mind, which one of these strikes your fancy?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)