Welcome back! I guess if we were continuing with the clever alliterative names for things I would call this Wagon Wednesday. Actually, you know what? Screw it; I am calling it that. Welcome to Shitbox Showdown’s Wagon Wednesday! Today we’ve got two cool old Japanese longroofs with manual transmissions. One of them is even four-wheel-drive!
Yesterday’s Mopars weren’t fair of me, I know. Neither one of those cars is likely a good deal. The van is close, but a lot would depend on the condition; I’ve seen Caravans with a lot fewer miles on them listed for the same amount. The Charger is, well, it’s a used Las Vegas taxi. You’re all probably right about the horrors that back seat has seen. But a couple of you suggested a solution to that – eliminate the back seat altogether.
Really, I just wanted to showcase that 416,000-mile Charger. As the owner of an LD-platform car that just crossed 70,000 miles, seeing one the same model year with nearly six times as many miles is encouraging. But yeah, please don’t anybody pay four grand for that car.
All right; let’s take a look at some little wagons. The prices on these feel really high to me, but I think that’s just because I’m still thinking of them as cheap old cars rather than the up-and-coming classics they are. Yeah, I said classics – the world of “classic cars” is a big tent, and getting bigger all the time, and while neither of these is a showpiece, they’re both good-running examples of unusual old cars that you can enjoy, and get some compliments on. Let’s take a look.
1982 Subaru GL wagon – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter overhead valve flat 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Bend, OR
Odometer reading: 183,000 miles
Runs/drives? “Like a top”
Subaru has made a name for itself for its all-wheel-drive systems, but there was a time when most Subarus weren’t so equipped. AWD didn’t become standard on Subarus until 1996, and for a long time, only part-time 4WD was offered. The 4WD models were popular in snowy regions, for obvious reasons, but a lot of other markets did fine with the simpler, more efficient front-wheel-drive models.
The flat-four engine configuration has been around for a long while as well, though back in 1982 when this wagon was built it was a simpler overhead valve pushrod design, like a Volkswagen engine, but Subarus were always water-cooled, not air-cooled. This one displaces 1.8 liters and is backed by a five-speed stick, driving only the front wheels. It is said to run flawlessly, and comes with a stack of service and repair records going all the way back.
Cosmetically, I think the term that best applies is “nice survivor.” It has a few tiny rust spots outside, and some grubby upholstery inside, but generally speaking, it looks quite nice. The white 8-spoke wheels are a trademark of this era of Subaru, but they’re more often seen on the 4WD models. I’m not generally a Subaru fan, but this era I quite like.
The lack of 4WD may discourage some of you, but it’s not like you’re going to be driving a 40 year old Subaru in the snow anyway, and 4WD Subarus of this era were never really off-roaders, despite a few cool features like adjustable ride height and a dual-range transfer case. 2WD is fine for getting to Cars & Coffee, and it is still a wagon, so it’s perfectly capable of earning its keep on weekend chores.
1991 Honda Civic Wagovan – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, AWD
Location: Taos, NM
Odometer reading: 152,000 miles
Runs/drives? “Great”
Honda’s fourth generation Civic was a cool little car. It had good looks, great handling thanks to a double-wishbone suspension setup, and fantastic visibility thanks to a low beltline and huge windows. It’s the first generation of Civic discovered by tuners, and it enjoyed massive aftermarket support. But two special versions of the fourth-generation Civic stood out: the second-generation of Honda’s delightful CRX, and the Wagovan, available with Honda’s “Real Time” 4WD system, and a six-speed manual gearbox with a “granny” low gear next to first.
Powering this clever drivetrain is a 1.6 liter 105-horsepower four cylinder. Lots of Civics ended up with hotter engines swapped in, but there’s no need for that here. You’re not going to race anyone with a 4WD Wagovan – unless, of course, you want to race them in the snow, which might be funny. This Civic runs great, according to the seller, and has just been tuned up.
The seller says this car has “perfect New Mexico sun patina,” which is a nice way of saying it’s faded all to hell. The paint is more or less gone from the hood, and probably the roof too, although we don’t get a good look from the photos. It’s banged up and rusty here and there too. But somehow it all kinda works, and what should be a crusty nasty mess actually comes across as patina.
Inside, things look intact and functional, and it has that perfect ’80s/’90s Honda ergonomic design: not flashy, not fancy, but sturdy and logical. It’s pretty sun-bleached in there, and who knows what’s under those front seat covers, but at least it comes with a cool wool blanket in the back.
It is strange to think of cars this age as “classics,” especially since I was in college by the time one of them was built. If it’s a classic, what does that make me? Wait – don’t answer that. Just choose one.
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
“…I was in college by the time one of them was built. If it’s a classic, what does that make me?”
I was in grad school by then, so I… oh.
Civic. The Subaru isn’t bad, but I had friends with the Wagovan and I’ve developed a personal affinity for them.
My heart says Civic, but the interior of the Subie looks pretty good for its age.
I think that half the teachers in my high school drove Subarus like that. That’s enough for me.
Half the teachers in my HS drove those Wagovans!
Those Civics were ubiquitous for a while, and now I haven’t seen one in years. I saw a clean CRX the other day and it almost made me miss my bus for staring. This car is another sterling example of Jason’s Honda extinction theory: they were such good cars they were just driven into the ground and disappeared without fanfare. And such confident styling: “I’m a box, so what?”
Blerg. Civic is a better car, Subie is in better shape and is better Radwood/C&C fodder. For some weird reason, I really love the cutout on the Subie’s air cleaner to clear the spare tire so I’m going Subaru today, FWD be damned!
Both are over priced, neither are daily drivers. Subbie is in better shape for Cars and Coffee.
IMO, both are over priced. I’ll take the Honda with no horizontal paint
A friend had one of those Civics in the UK where it was badged Civic Shuttle.
We called it “The Shittle”. It was fun, in the way cheap cars that won’t die are always fun.
Hooo boy. This is a legitimately tough choice. I like both of these vehicles a lot, but I think I’d have to go with the Subaru. Love early 80s stick shifts, and I’m scared of what’s under the seat covers in that Honda.
Man, I really wanted one of those 4WD Subies when I was in college, the perfect “does everything” car. Instead I test drove a Honda just like this one. I don’t remember the reason I didn’t get it, but I think it was maybe just a little too expensive and bought a Jetta instead. It took nearly a decade to recover financially from making that mistake, the Jetta took every cent of savings and credit I had. What would my life would have been had I just bought the Honda!
Subaru for me, I already have a Honda Fit as a daily and the Subaru is a turnkey classic car. I’m in Vermont so 2wd only is no problem because they all dissolved on contact with road salt so it’d have to be a summer-only car for its’ continued survival.
Fun fact; this car being 2wd has the beefed-up Federal bumpers, the 4wds of this generation and the previous one had the international bumpers in the US because anything 4wd was classed a “light truck” by NHTSA (which used a different definition than Customs) thus exempt from the bumper rule.
A wag of the tail for the Wagovan. Plus, I’ve got refrigerator box lying around that would make a great garage for it.
The Subie’s overall aesthetic is perfect, but we’ll take the Civic for the number of driven wheels and its overall Honda-ness.
However, someone beat me to it; ad is gone. 🙁
Regardless of driven wheels, Honda is always better than Subaru, so the Civic wins by default. I voted for the zeroth gen CR-V.
The pushrod design means it’s narrower and actually fits under the hood of the Subaru. Too bad Subaru stopped using pushrods. They could consider going back to OHV. That would actually make it possible to replace the spark plugs, for example.
An ’83 Subaru GL was good enough to be Pastrana’s Family Huckster, its good enough for me
We had a little gold GL coupe of similar vintage, and it was a great car! The driver’s seat would occasionally flop into full recline, but with the low belt line, it wasn’t really dangerous. Just surprising. More of a feature than a bug.
The Honda is probably a better car in nearly every way, but I voted Subie anyway out of pure nostalgia.
My ‘76 Capri had a similar random recline feature in it. However, it was the passenger seat that would occasionally lay flat without provocation. My girlfriend was a little dubious about the “feature”. But she’s been my wife for over 35 years now, so I guess she got past those doubts.
Subaru! My first car was a silver 1984 GL wagon. I definitely didn’t appreciate it back then and if I saw one now and had the cash I would totally snag it. They looked great. They were slow and they rusted, plus most GL’s have been cannibalized for BRAT parts so now it’s pretty rare to find one. My vote goes Subie, but I am biased.
EFI. EFI! That Subaru is carbureted, I’m sure of it, and that’s a headache easily avoided.
Also – the 9 years between 1982 and 1991 contained a hell of a lot more car development than 2014-2023, for example.
The Civic is flat out just a better, newer car.
I like the look of the Subaru better, but your argument has swayed me. I am not a carbs fan.
Civic simply because parts availability is going to be leaps and bounds better, as is, I suspect, reliability and overall enjoyment
Usually I’d go for the Subie, but the Civic wagon, (or the Corolla Alltrak of this era if you wish) win for me. The old Subaru is a fine survivor but those Civic wagons are probably my favorite Civics.
Now if this was an ’88 GL (Loyale?) wagon we were talking about in this sort of condition, I would opt for that just for nostalgia’s sake (we had one for a few years when I was a kid).
we had a 1988 All-Trak wagon – a great vehicle at a great size and price. WTH do we need bulked up SUVs to do the same job?
My aunt had an All-Track when I was a kid. She used to joke that she’d give it to me if it still ran by the time I got my license.
It nearly made it, but died in 2003 with 320k on it (a year before I got my license). And it lived nearly it’s entire life in the ADKs. Really amazing car.
Yeah, over-priced for both. I’ll pass on this vote.
If you didn’t vote for the Civic, you are a buffoon because those things are awesome and $4k for a running example is (shockingly) a pretty good deal. The 4WD system in those is stout and formed the basis of many high-powered AWD Honda drag cars. The patina on this one would make for a pretty cool rat rod sleeper.
What Mad Max’s niece would drive: I’ll take the Civic.
The pop culture tie in for the Honda is Jessie Pinkman ( Breaking Bad). Heck, its even in New Mexico!
Civic for me. My parents had Hondas of that era and they were all great cars. Plus, every car I’ve chosen has been red and I’d like to keep that streak alive.