All right, class, settle down. Yes, I’m back. I have a note from Mr. Hardigree telling me that most of you behaved for him while I was gone, so thank you. (Billy – see me after class.) This week, because it’s a weird week again, we’re going to try something just a little bit different, and if you like it, maybe we’ll keep it up for a while, and if not, no harm done. I’ll explain in a minute.
Matt’s choices on Friday were both stickshifts, both front-wheel-drive, and both fun little cars to rip around in. The overall vibe seemed to favor the Vibe, however, because of its clean-as-a-whistle condition and its hatchback versatility, despite the second-gen Vibe being kind of forgettable. And when the votes were tallied, it was no contest: the little Pontiac-by-Toyota won easily.
I have to agree. It’s hard to beat a small hatchbacky-wagony-thing for usefulness. Besides, I personally have never really liked that generation of Honda Civic, nor any that came after it, if I’m honest. It got too big and too fancy, and the interior was just too fussy. I prefer the earlier, simpler Civics. Honda did give us the Fit, which was much more in the spirit of the Civics of old, but then took it away again. Jerks.
Now then, that new idea I referred to earlier: This week, and maybe next week as well, I’m going to alter our typical formula just a little bit. Instead of two new cars every day and then a four-way shootout at the end of the week, we’re going to try Jeopardy rules. Each day’s winner will advance to face a new challenger the next day, so if you all really like a car and keep voting for it, it will keep appearing. If you get sick of seeing it, or something better comes along, just vote for the other car. On Monday, we’ll check out two fresh cars, and the cycle starts over again.
My only concern with this is that, if a car keeps winning, I might get sick of writing about it by Friday. But on the other hand, I only have to find one car per day this way. We’ll try it, and see how it goes. Let’s meet our first two contestants.
1985 Nissan Stanza SE – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Warminster, PA
Odometer reading: 63,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, needs a few things
I feel bad for Nissan these days. Its reputation has been tarnished by Jatco transmissions, “big Altima energy,” and the ghost of Ghosn and his shenanigans. But even now, Nissan’s actual products are pretty damn good. A car doesn’t survive a couple hundred thousand miles of the sort of abuse heaped on most Altimas and Sentras without being designed well and bolted together with some degree of competence. Nissan had a better reputation back when this Stanza was built; the worst charge you could level at this car is that it’s boring. Does its advanced age make it any more interesting?
Under the hood of this very, very ’80s sedan is a two-liter four, with a single overhead camshaft and two spark plugs per cylinder. This engine received a major upgrade in 1984 in the form of electronic multi-port fuel injection, a welcome improvement in the days of feedback carburetors. Sadly, the transmission isn’t as advanced; it’s still a simple three-speed automatic, probably still vacuum-modulated – durable, but archaic. It runs and drives well, but the seller says it needs a new alternator belt. I assume it’s there, but just worn out.
The odometer on this time capsule reads a scant 63,000 miles, and it sure does look clean. I worry a bit about all those warning lights in the photo, though. The gas gauge doesn’t work, apparently; maybe there are some other electrical gremlins lurking in there. The rest of the interior looks great; I miss velour seats.
It’s incredibly clean outside, too; the seller says it’s rust free, but you know the old saying – trust, but verify. The champagne-gold color is not the most exciting hue, but those fantastic factory alloy wheels make up for it. By the way, those wheels are wrapped in brand-new tires, too.
1995 Mercury Sable GS wagon – $2,400
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0- or 3.8-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Cape Coral, FL
Odometer reading: 113,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
The Nissan Stanza is a great example of what nearly all cars looked like in 1985 – boxy, angular, and boring. But a new shape was on its way, heralded by a big Audi and a small Ford, with rounded edges and flush glass, and that new shape entered the mainstream with a bang in 1986 with the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. It took a couple of years for that new shape to stop looking weird, but by then they were everywhere, and they got, well, kind of boring.
Ford tried hard to counteract the weirdness of the Taurus and Sable’s shape by keeping the rest of it fairly conventional. The engine is a pushrod V6, though the seller doesn’t say which of the two V6s this one has. The interior features a split bench seat and a column-mounted shifter for the automatic transmission. The suspension is soft. It’s a typical American car; it just didn’t look like most of them did at the time. This one is a little scruffy around the edges, but the seller says it runs and drives great.
Station wagons were the kings of the road once upon a time, but by the time this Sable was built, minivans had taken their place. Whoever bought this wagon in 1995 really wanted a station wagon, and not the then-new Villager minivan. Wagons do have one trick up their sleeves that minivans don’t: the fabled “way-back” rearward-facing jump seat. Not that that’s necessarily enough of a reason to choose it, but it’s a perk.
Most of it looks pretty good, but the rear bumper needs to be replaced. There’s a crack in the front bumper too, but that can be ignored. Inside, it mostly needs a good cleaning.
So that’s our first matchup for this new idea. Remember, whichever one wins will go on to face a new challenger tomorrow (or Thursday? I need to find out if we’re on or off tomorrow) and so on throughout the week. So which one lives to fight another day: the boxy import, or the three-row domestic wagon?
(Image credits: sellers)
Add me to the Mercury people.
Lets park it on a lawn and take photos of us with our harpoons….
The wagon bonus points were enough to pull the Sable through for me. Even if it is missing a chunk of rear bumper/bodywork. The price on the Nissan is maybe a little high too.
Picked the Sable. Those things were everywhere then nowhere. Even though the V6 is meh and the transmission is made of glass. Nostalgia is a heck of a drug.
Picked the Sable for the nostalgia; though we had the Taurus. That tail-gunner seat was uncomfortable even as a kid, but being back there meant you didn’t have to share space with your siblings, just the luggage and pillows on a road trip. There was also one time we went to a restaurant and my parents forgot about me in the rear, so I had to climb over the seats and go find them inside. Mildly upsetting as an 8 yo. 😀
Those Sables ( Taurus ) are pieces of shit. A housemate of mine owned one. Only had 45,000 miles and it blew the head gasket. That and the rear brakes required a stupid special tool to work on.
As a small child, I had an inexplicable obsession with Mercury Sable wagons. Mor than any other car, except maybe Corvettes, I loved Sable wagons. I preferred them to the Taurus because of the distinctive front light bar, but beyond that, I suppose I just thought they looked cool? One of my prized possessions was a Matchbox Mercury Sable wagon which, even then, I felt was an odd choice of car for Matchbox to create a model of (not the Taurus?) and an interesting instance of the universe indulging my quirky fascinations.
Naturally, I chose the Sable.
It’s crazy to think the Nissan is collectible and worth that price. The Mercury isn’t bad, but it’s not a car I’d think of keeping around. Can’t wait to see the challenger tomorrow!
Love the Stanza, but not the slush box version, and not at that price with the high potential of rust. The Mercury wagon wins the day for me, even if it probably smells bad inside.
I voted for the blue car. Blue interior and a third seat is cool, even though the interior is cheap as shit.
The Stanza is a better car, and the red interior is awesome, but $4500 is a fucking crackhead price for that shit LOL
Most cars at my price point have disgusting interiors, so the Nissan gets my vote just for being clean. It reminds me of back when I was Happy Bob and could afford nice cars.
Going Sable. The Nissan is clean but probably the most forgettable of its segment for the time, whether that be good or bad reasons. The rarer hatch would be more interesting, and better looking – the sedan is IMO rather dorky looking, the next 2 gens were sort of dull yet handsome with a baby Maxima look.
And the dash lights – I figure, parking brake, seat belts, battery/charging (with the alternator), door open, maybe low fuel if it had that with the gas gauge being off…but that still doesn’t account for them all. The tach shows it’s running so it’s not just ignition on without the motor.
As beautifully clean as the Stanza is, I simply can’t get in the head of whoever bought it new having to walk past hatchback/manual options in the same carline to buy a boxy sedan with a 3-speed slushbox.
I can see the logic behind the Sable’s first owner’s choices even if opting Merc over Ford Division had to come down to the dealer.
Had the Stanza been the now-rare hatchback, it would have been no contest. But today, the correct question is “What is the Sable?”
There is no way a Nissan of that vintage that has spent ANY time in PA isn’t hiding at least SOME rot.
Gimme the Merc.
The Nissan is nice but the price compared to the wagon is too much of a difference. Wagon for me and would go looking at the local pick and pull for a Taurus/sable rear bumper.
Did you see that equalizer? I’ll have the Nissan and tailor the sound to my poor taste
I turned my first wrenches on a B210 Hatcback and a Sentra, those lights don’t scare me, everything is so simple even replacing every “sensor” will only take an afternoon. I’m usually a fan of the ford egg wagons, but the Stanza is too nice to pass up.
Went with the Mercury because it’s a wagon and because it’s the only way I’d ever be able to afford buying sable.
I spent a lot of time in the way-back seat of an ’89 Taurus, so that picture was very nostalgic.
However, that Stanza is just too clean to ignore. I can’t pass up a well-maintained every-car, even if it’s a boring-ass Stanza.
I grew up in a Taurus wagon in that color. No need to read the description beyond “runs and drives great”. Hell, I’d drive it today over the junky GMC Acadia we inherited.
You had me at wagon.
For a savings of $2100 on asking prices, and one that’s much, much closer to me, I’m going with the Sable wagon. Cape Coral is only two hours away, it’s a good thing I am not prone to silly whims. With only just over 60k miles, I tend to trust the Stanza is rust free, but if the Sable has lived in Florida all its life, it should definitely be rust free.
Possible rust vs Florida Man car?
Gimmie the rust today.
I gotta go Nissan. I had a $500 1981 Datsun 200SX with the 2 plugs per cyl setup and I went ripping around WOT everywhere I went and still got 40+MPG. Coincidentally it also had a loose alternator belt, which was actually the pulley eroding away so every few months the belt would be loose again and have to be tightened up. Also coincidentally my Datsun had a malfunctioning gauge though in my case it was the speedo vs the fuel gauge. Maybe these were common Datsun/Nissan issues in the early 80s…
I had the ’84 turbo. loved that car. The only work I put into it was a new alternator (not the cap, but the alternator itself)
Oh, and yes it also had the 2 plug setup. So in highschool I was telling people I had a V8 and most didn’t know enough to argue.
That 2plug setup really seemed to work well back then, I wonder why it never caught on with other makes. It was a nightmare getting the plugs back on in the right order if you pulled them off though.
Most used it.. for like one engine.
nice write up on dual ignition systems…
https://supertechauto.ca/what-is-dual-ignition-dual-spark-plug-ignition-systems-work-answered/#:~:text=Spatial%20efficiency&text=Placing%20only%20one%20spark%20plug,results%20in%20more%20even%20ignition.
yeah, my 720 truck also had 8 spark plugs. If I recall dual spark plugs were used to reduce emissions.
Ford also used a dual spark plug system on their Lima engine and most recently Chrysler did it too on the 4.7 H.O and all HEMI engines
I do love a good Nissan, but I am not fighting that Christmas tree dashboard for $4500.
The Merc is as simple as it gets, half the price, and has blemishes that I do not care about for that price.
Also, though it may not have spent all of its time in Florida, the Nissan has spent some of its time in PA. The spidey-sense rust check says take the Florida one