Good morning! I seem to have inadvertently turned this into a theme week. Today’s choices both have east-west-oriented V6 engines backed by five-speed manuals. In fact, they’re almost the same V6 engine, though the cars look nothing alike.
Yesterday’s choices had their pistons all in a line, like oily Rockettes. Six in a row may make them go, but not too quickly, with their automatic transmissions. I expected the BMW to put up more of a fight, but the pride of the Badger State simply ran away with the votes. It was the plaid interior, wasn’t it? Gets ’em every time.
I realize that the results could have been very different if the BMW were in better shape, but there actually was a point to putting these two cars together. For the same price, you could have a tired example of an overplayed classic, with both the wrong engine and wrong transmission, or you could have a left-field choice in far better shape, and lean into the unusualness of it. I’m glad the majority of you chose the Hornet.
Now let’s turn our attention to an engine you probably don’t think about too often. It’s never on any “Ten Best” lists, and you won’t hear anyone singing its praises, but for twenty years, it powered minivans, family sedans, luxury sedans, sports coupes, SUVs, and even pickups. It’s the Mitsubishi 6G72, and both of today’s cars are powered by different versions of it. They’re both five-speed manuals, both two-door liftbacks, and both the top of their respective model ranges. Let’s check them out.
1994 Dodge Shadow ES – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Ararat, NC
Odometer reading: 181,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
First off, I want to give credit where credit is due: Hat-tip to Opposite Lock user HFV_Junkyardin for bringing this car to my attention. The Dodge Shadow, and its twin the Plymouth Sundance, is a car with which I am quite familiar, but only in its base-model “America” trim, with Chrysler’s sturdy but low-powered 2.2 liter K engine. This top-of-the-line ES model has two more cylinders, forty more horsepower, and probably a lot more standard features.
The Mitsubishi V6 replaced Chrysler’s turbocharged four-cylinder starting in 1992. It’s down a little on both power and torque from the turbo, but it’s still plenty for the little Shadow. This one runs well, and has a new clutch and exhaust, but suffers from a few oil leaks, namely the camshaft seals and the rear main seal. The cam seals are easy; they’re just little rubber plugs at the ends of the valve covers, but the rear main seal is behind the flywheel, and that means the transmission has to come out. Actually, now that I think about it, they should have noticed the leak and replaced the rear main seal while replacing the clutch. Unless it started leaking afterwards? Curious.
The rest of the car looks like it’s in fine shape. The dash cover would be a red flag, if there were any other signs of trouble, but I don’t see any. Even the headliner looks all right. My guess is that the cover has been on there since 1994. This car does have one annoying feature inside: being a final-year ’94 model, it has an airbag for the driver, but a motorized seatbelt for the passenger. Apparently Chrysler was too cheap (or too broke) to engineer a passenger-side airbag for one model year, when the Shadow and Sundance were about to be replaced by the Neon anyway.
Outside, it’s nice and straight, and I don’t see any signs of rust. I’m not a huge fan of the monochromatic white look on these – the blue and silver ones look a lot better to me – but at least it still has all its paint, unlike a lot of white cars from the ’90s.
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Kirkland, WA
Odometer reading: 136,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Mitsubishi’s Eclipse was a performance bargain from day one. Sure, you could get a bare-bones base model with a 92 horsepower four, but that’s not the version anyone daydreamed about. For two generations, the top-dog Eclipse had all-wheel-drive, a peaky turbocharged engine, and sharp handling. But the third generation Eclipse grew up, and got bigger and softer, more of a grand tourer than a sports car. All-wheel-drive was out, and the turbo four gave way to a hopped-up 24-valve version of the 6G72 V6, making 210 horsepower in this GTS model.
Like the Shadow, the Eclipse is a liftback, even though it doesn’t look like one. I don’t know why this feature has disappeared from modern cars; my cynical side says it’s because automakers don’t want sporty coupes to be too practical, lest buyers realize that they don’t need a big SUV to haul stuff, but it probably has more to do with crash safety or structural integrity. Whatever the reason, a hatchback on a car this shape makes a hell of a lot more sense than a mail-slot trunk lid.
This Eclipse runs and drives well, and like the Shadow, has a new clutch. It also has two new tires, presumably on the front. The interior is in nice condition, and I really like the two-tone effect. The GTS package includes leather seats and a bunch of power stuff in addition to the horsepower bump.
Outside, things aren’t quite as pretty: the clearcoat is peeling, and it’s plastered with mildly worrying stickers. I hate to generalize and say that any car with more than one Hoonigan sticker has suffered at the hands of a ham-fisted Ken Block wannabe driving too fast, but cheap powerful cars do seem to attract trouble. I can’t see what the stickers on the rear quarter window are, but the other one on the front says “Cars Are Pain,” which makes me think the seller is, to some degree anyway, one of us.
A relatively big engine in a small car has been a recipe for cheap fun for a long time now. It used to mean midsize coupes with big V8s, but by the ’90s and 2000s it meant taking the engine from Mom’s minivan and sticking it in an economy car or small swoopy coupe. Throw in a five-speed stick, and you’ve got a practical, fun car for not much money. Which one of these fits that bill better?
(Image credits: Shadow – Facebook Marketplace seller; Eclipse – Craigslist seller)
I was leaning towards the Shadow until I read that the seller is working on the papers. The fudge you talking about, Willis? You don’t already have the papers for the car? I’ll go with the Eclipse and avoid the inevitable headaches from the seller wanting to get paid now and let the next owner sort out whatever needs to be unraveled with the car’s legal status.
“Clean title but in process of getting papers.” Yeah, I noticed that too. It’s either a clean title or not and you either have the title or you don’t, so?
Also, I love how he is “open” to a trade for a 240Z. Unless it’s been on fire, those are unobtanium at this price point. And it’s parked in front of an oil changers shop.
Yeah I laughed at that too. You’re not getting an “ok” 240Z for anywhere near $2500.
If you had the Shadow you would gladly trade it for a 240Z too. Can’t blame a guy for dreaming – even if it’s unrealistic.
Shadow, Eclipse…how come nobody came up with a pun about the lack of light here?
Both are examples of de-light.
I like it.
Both could bring you to The Dark Side of the Hoon.
I think that’s the title of the next Fast N Furious movie. After all, they did go to space in the previous one.
The Mitsu. Possibly hooned but hell of a lot more interesting to begin with. The K car variant? No, esp. knowing it’ll need the transmission out at some point to deal with what should have already been taken care of. It just screams Amway salesman. And I really hate motorized mouse belts so easy choice. Also, i could be wrong but the white paint looks like it could be a respray. The door gaps look a little off as well.
I always thought those Shadows were handsome, and that generation of Eclipse was fugly. Neither of these is a car I particularly want, but between them, the Shadow is the clear winner for me.
I never knew they made Shadows with V6s or manuals, and certainly not the combination of both. I actually like it. But would still pick the Eclipse.
Both cars have stories they can’t tell to their children. I’ll take the Eclipse for no other reason than it was originally better built than a 90s era Chrysler anything.
And a decade newer means less chance of age-related failures on top of that.
I would rather deal with Dodge K-car weirdos vs. Mitsubishi weirdos to keep cars like these in good condition. Change the wheel color on the Sundance, do whatever to get rid of that red dash cover and do a serious detailing, and enjoy Dodge ownership.
I just can’t make myself vote for a white car. They just appear so generic. It’s vanilla ice cream, and not even French vanilla with real vanilla beans. It’s mashed potatoes with no butter or gravy, it’s grits without butter or cheese, it’s just blah
Often times, beyond just the “does it work”, the condition of the interior makes my decision. The Dodge looks gross, so its out.
I’ll take the Shadow and just check the oil more often. That generation of the Eclipse just sucked.
My true dream is to find a nice clean Shadow like that but the convertible version. I’d also need a garage though so it’s probably remaining a dream.
We’ve been talking about that Shadow on the TriangleRAD FB group since it popped up last week. If I had the space I might be grabbing it myself.
Interestingly, it could be said that if you mash these cars together, you’d get Gossin’s $220 Dodge Stratus coupe, which is based on this generation Eclipse infused with some Dodge DNA.
Dang, another day, another car I would buy for a daily if it were just a little closer to home. That Shadow is the ticket for me. V6 and a stick? Absolutely.
That generation Eclipse is just an abomination. Hard pass.
Did Gossin pick these out?
I was torn, but the hood on the Eclipse tipped me toward the Shadow.
For a couple years a similar looking white one – maybe a Sundance, definitely a sportier spec 4-door, was always parked near the windows to the school cafeteria lunchroom. That was the most impression they had on me as I never personally knew any adults with one. This was well after the lineup had been cab-forwarded so at its absolute newest, the car would have been 3 or 4 years old at that point, but it still looked more modern and current to me than the other early-90s Chryslers. Probably because of the go-fast styling bits.
The motorized passenger belt was also odd since Chrysler moved quickly to put in driver’s airbags across the line just a few years before.
I think I’ve always held some irrational hatred of this gen Eclipse because it was such a let down compared to the one that preceded it.
It went from a sleek little turbo, AWD car to a larger FWD/V6 like it was some last ditch attempt at a personal luxury coupe. Better to compete against the Hyundai Tiburon of the day? I feel like this car was the beginning of the end of “cool Mitsubishi”.
The Shadow/Sundance/Duster of the day were always nice looking cars. Someone else mentioned the green paint, agree on that.
Tough choice, but the Shadow has nostalgia value. A good buddy had a turbo version (possibly a 5spd, but I can remember). The Eclipse screams buy here pay here used car dealership vibe.
Shadow for me. That generation Eclipse just doesn’t do it for me.
My brother in-law had one of the v6 eclipses back 15 or so years ago. It was a fairly nice place to be and pretty fun to drive with the stick. I expected much less out of it, but I ended up liking it.
While my general rule is no Chrysler I have a soft spot for the shadow and sundance. I knew a few people with them back in the 90’s and early 2000’s and they were pretty dependable vehicles. As someone else said it looks more comfortable too so that is a plus. Plus I haven’t seen one in decades around me and I’m sure that Mitsu has been driven hard and put away wet.
I always like those little Dodges. They looked good in Green.
On the other hand, I never liked this generation of the eclipse.
Easy choice, Dodge.
The eclipse seems like the nicer car but the shadow just looks like so much fun. It’s gotta be a good bit lighter right?
I’ve spent some time with both these models, and it’s tough, but I’ll take the Shadow.
Great shape for something like this, the big engine, perhaps the world’s most stealth liftback ever (seriously, they look just like a regular trunk), and high early ’90s matching color wheels that are a complete time capsule.
I’m old and that Shadow looks at least marginally more comfortable to sit in. I won’t do the “sit on the floor with my feet out in front of me” anymore.
Third gens are trash cars. Shadow all the way.
Same, as a previous owner of ’91 and ’97 AWD DSMs I still can’t get over the disappointment I felt when the 3G came out. I voted Shadow.
The lack of badging and decal work on that Shadow suggests it’s been repainted … which for me is a bigger red flag than the Hoonigan stickers. Plus, I had an Eclipse once upon a time and it was a blast. We’ll take the Mitsu.