Three In A Row Make Them Go: 1989 Subaru Justy vs 2018 Mitsubishi Mirage

Good morning! Since we’ve got a weird week with a big Santa-shaped hole right in the middle of it, we’re going to do a grab-bag of silly themes and just see where they go. Today, for your consideration, I have the oldest and newest cars I could find, in a reasonable amount of time, that both feature three-cylinder engines.

On Friday, we looked back at last week’s winners to decide which one would be best suited for picking up an in-law from the airport, and I couldn’t be more proud of you all for the results. Obviously, the Voyager minivan was the most logical choice, but most of you told logic to get bent and voted for the big black Lincoln, which is, of course, the correct choice.

Seeing that car in the context of holiday travel reminds me of a Thanksgiving long ago, when I met an old girlfriend’s parents, and her dad drove the whole family to Thanksgiving dinner in his ’75 Chrysler New Yorker coupe. Her little brother rode shotgun, and her mom sat between us in the back seat, while we went exactly 55 miles an hour in total silence. He wouldn’t allow music in the car, and didn’t much like talking, either. It was weird. Not that that has anything to do with this Lincoln, of course, but since when has that stopped me from relating some anecdote or other?

Before the rise of the hybrid powertrain, and the implementation of today’s strict crash standards, the most surefire way for automakers to crank up their corporate average fuel economy numbers was to offer a really small car, with a really small engine. Many of these made do with only three cylinders, like the Subaru Justy. As hybrid technology took over, larger cars could hit the same mileage numbers, even with larger four-cylinder engines, and the idea of a tiny inline three fell out of favor – except in cheap, loss-leader cars like the Mitsubishi Mirage. I found a Justy for sale, and went looking for the newest Mirage for sale in our price range, just for the sake of comparison. Let’s check them out.

1989 Subaru Justy DL – $1,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.2-liter overhead cam inline 3, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Blackfoot, ID

Odometer reading: 65,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Subaru made its name in the US selling small, tough cars that were up for anything. The original 360 was a little too small, and not nearly tough enough, but the Leone, sold here without a model name, created a legacy – and led to the Legacy. But when the Leone grew and moved upmarket in the mid-80s, an opening was created in Subaru’s lineup for something smaller. Enter the Justy, which hit US shores with a clever marketing campaign to make sure everyone knew it was up to the task.

In contrast to Subaru’s traditional aluminum flat-four mounted longitudinally, the Justy features an inline 3 with a cast-iron block and a more small-car-typical transverse layout. This car is one year shy of the conversion to electronic fuel injection, so it still uses a carburetor. Some Justys have four-wheel-drive, but this one sends power to the front wheels only through a five-speed manual gearbox. It runs and drives well, according to the dealership selling it. The odometer reads 65,000, but it has only five digits, so there’s a good chance it has rolled over.

It’s typical ’80s small-car Spartan on the inside, with vinyl seats, minimal features, and lots of exposed painted steel on the door panels. It looks a little beat-up and dirty, but it’s all there, and the beauty of an interior this simple is that there’s not much to break.

Little hatchbacks like these all kind of look the same, especially from this era. It’s honest, if nothing else. This one looks like it has seen better days, but it’s still holding together. The big brush guard is an interesting choice; it makes me wonder if this car was used as a runabout on a ranch or something.

2018 Mitsubishi Mirage – $3,950

Engine/drivetrain: 1.2-liter dual overhead cam inline 3, CVT automatic, FWD

Location: Ventura, CA

Odometer reading: 150,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The little Mitsubishi Mirage has been the butt of near-constant jokes since it re-emerged in its current form in 2014, mainly for being cheap. That has always bothered me, and I know I’m not the only one, because being inexpensive and basic should not be seen as a negative. And as far as I’ve been able to tell, the Mirage is actually a really good little car. I saw quite a few of them on the Interstate during my cross-country drives this summer, and every time I saw one, it was hauling ass in the left lane. People thrash the hell out of these little cars, and they seem to keep coming back for more.

Like the Justy, the Mirage uses an inline three-cylinder engine, but with thirty years of improvements. It’s a twin-cam design with variable valve timing, putting out a whopping 78 horsepower to the front wheels. You could get a Mirage with a five-speed stick, and of course that’s the transmission I think most of us would choose, but this one comes with a CVT, which was such a commonly-ordered option that Mitsubishi dropped the manual a couple of years ago. We don’t get much information about its condition, but the ad does say that it runs great and passed a smog test.

Reviewers and renters alike have complained about the Mirage’s plain-Jane interior, but compared to that old Justy, this thing is downright opulent. It has power windows and locks, air conditioning, and a touch-screen infotainment system, stuff not even available in economy cars back when that Justy was built. You’d have to step up to a Buick Riviera to get a car that well-equipped in 1989. This one is in good shape, if you can look past the silly shift knob.

The Mirage is another one of those cars that has a really great color palette available, but the original owner of this one chose plain white. Someone added racing stripes to the hood, but they’re subtle and don’t do much. Speaking of not doing much, I think I see those stick-on air diffuser thingies on the roof as well.

Looking at these two side-by-side, you can see how much small cars have changed in thirty years – and how much they haven’t. The fact that these two are so close in specification shows that the formula works; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But they also show that the market has placed certain demands on cars that have made it difficult for cheap simple cars like these to succeed. There’s no way you could market a car as plain and simple as that Justy these days; the Mirage is the bare minimum that most buyers demand, and even it is a dying breed. There is a huge price and condition gap here, I know, but I think the cars themselves can be compared pretty directly. So what’ll it be – old-school simplicity, or modern convenience?

(Image credits: sellers)