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

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

Sbsd 12 23 2024
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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.

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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?

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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.

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1989 Subaru Justy DL – $1,500

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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

Location: Ventura, CA

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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(Image credits: sellers)

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Timothy Swanson
Timothy Swanson
12 hours ago

If only that Mirage had a stick, and maybe a good color. But mostly a stick. I can see that CVT blowing up and costing more than the car to fix.

On the other hand, having learned to drive a manual on an 85 Sprint which my dad ran over 300k miles, I’m a bit concerned about getting an old, high mileage carburetor through smog here in CA. They aren’t the simple carbs of the 70s, and internal parts, even in the late 90s, were unobtanium. You tried to find a wrecked one and prayed it worked. As a ranch vehicle though? That Justy kicks ass.

FuzzyPlushroom
FuzzyPlushroom
15 hours ago

I already have a fairly-modern hatchback with the wrong transmission, and mine doesn’t have any of the stick-on crap that suggests this Mirage has been one of those left-lane Mirages all its life.

I’ll take the Justy, to give my left leg something to do again, and potentially to teach others how to drive manual as well.

Last edited 15 hours ago by FuzzyPlushroom
1978fiatspyderfan
1978fiatspyderfan
16 hours ago

Subaru Justy and Lemons it until it explodes. Keep the basics taken care of but balls to the walls all the time.

PaysOutAllNight
PaysOutAllNight
17 hours ago

I’d take the Justy for a Gambler 500 or a LeMons race.

Every other use points to the Mitsubishi.

YeahNo
YeahNo
18 hours ago

Mirage is vanishingly better, nor as difficult to Justyfy.

Last edited 18 hours ago by YeahNo
Bill C
Bill C
19 hours ago

I like my airbags these days so Mirage. I once saw a young lady driving the h*ll out of one. She was taking a big, long swooping double-lane ramp 2x the speed I was and those skinny tires just held on. She was maneuvering that thing like a boss. I had a 82 Civic and I know all about keeping speed up and not braking for curves if you can help it.

Forbestheweirdo
Forbestheweirdo
19 hours ago

Oh dang. It was a complete tie before I voted. I went justy simply because manual and cheaper. There’s no winning here

MaximillianMeen
MaximillianMeen
19 hours ago

Hell, $1500 is less than most garden tractors at Home Depot or Lowes, and those things are typically 2-cylinders with 20-30 HP. I’ll take the Justy and a DR tow-behind mower (damn the mower is twice the Justy’s price!).

67 Oldsmobile
67 Oldsmobile
20 hours ago

If I am going to get a cheap crap car,it better be really crappy and really cheap. And definitely a manual.
Subaru it is.

Andreas8088
Andreas8088
20 hours ago

Even beat to hell, I’ll take the cheaper of the two shitboxes. The manual just pushes it over the edge.

Freelivin2713
Freelivin2713
21 hours ago

Wow, both of these cars suck…3-cyl junk? Coulda had a V8! Might as well have bowling balls for wheels. I have to go Justy since it has the stick and is an old beater w/ a heater. New cars suck especially penalty boxes with such a stupid looking shifter…ON AN AUTOMATIC!!!
ND/Crackpipe

Baja_Engineer
Baja_Engineer
21 hours ago

If both cars are in running condition I’ll almost always lean towards the one with the manual.
However that Justy looks trashed and tired. It would also take more than twice the money to make it look as decent and ready to go as the Mirage, so the later it is.

Last edited 21 hours ago by Baja_Engineer
MikeF
MikeF
21 hours ago

My one really-nice-car, one beater reached its peak in 2000 when I had a pretty nice Lotus Esprit S4s and an ’89 (I think) FWD Justy with an AM/FM radio, no A/C, and barely sufficient compression from a bad overheat earlier in life. Ran that thing down to 60/90/120 compression and limped to the junkyard, where they paid me on weight.

Replaced it with an ’86 528e that drove a little crooked but the A/C worked and there was only one hole in the floor. I just stopped by the shop that did some work for me on the 528e and they were reliving the day I gave one of the shop guys a ride in the S4s all those years ago. “He came back WHITE! Said you were drifting it at 100mph.” Total exaggeration. No more than 60…

Spikedlemon
Spikedlemon
21 hours ago

Mirage.

I know just how thin the Justy’s doors are, so there’s a slim chance of survival in the Mirage should the worst happen.

That, and I can get parts for a reasonably modern car.

Tartpop
Tartpop
21 hours ago

Gotta go with the Mirage today. That Justy will disintegrate in my salty homeland in minutes

Amateur-Lapsed Member
Amateur-Lapsed Member
21 hours ago

Something I forgot to ask the assembled commentariat earlier: Did the shift “knob” in the Mirage remind anyone else of what once was referred to as a “marital aid”?

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
22 hours ago

Justy but only if that price comes WAAY down. Like I get paid $1500 to drag it away.

If its a deal its Gambler 500 time!

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
22 hours ago

I almost had a wreck the other day when I saw a really clean, white, 4wd Justy drive past. I whipped my head around and nearly went into the other lane.

I’ll take the Justy just for that. Well, that and the Car and Driver comparo where the Justy got a point for having a remote fuel door release because they could reach it from the driver’s seat without opening the door.

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
22 hours ago

Easy Justy vote from me. I experienced one much like this—fwd & carbureted. While it absolutely wouldn’t win at stoplight drags, it was a slow car fast blast on twisty backroads. Just keep the skinny pedal flat and stab the middle when needed. And my date’s son had turned the windshield washers around so they squirted an impressive distance forward: good fun in traffic.

They didn’t listen to me about the cvt ones, and the next Justy didn’t last long at all as most seemed to give out by 60k. <shrug>

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