Have you ever heard someone get all excited over a car they found, and just… not get what they see in it? Yeah, I know – sixty percent of what I post on here, right? Well, yesterday morning, it happened to me, and got me thinking: What would I buy instead? Could I do better for the price, or close to it? I think I did, but I’ll let you all decide. But first, let’s see which project you dragged home yesterday:
Well, hear ye, hear ye–the Heralds take an easy win. I agree; I don’t think it would be much fun to drive that rusty Chevrolet. And I always liked the Herald, especially in convertible form.
Today’s challenge was inspired by a thread on Opposite Lock. User “flatisflat” posted a link to a Toyota Camry wagon on Facebook Marketplace, singing its praises, and several people went nuts over it. As a recent former owner of a Toyota with a bazillion miles on it, I couldn’t see the appeal. Yeah, it’s a wagon, which is more useful than the sedan version, and it’s a manual, which is a welcome sight on any Camry, but it’s still dull as dishwater. But it’s a running, driving car for nine hundred bucks. Could I really do better? I headed for my preferred hunting grounds – Craigslist – and set the search terms for $1000 or less, and manual transmission. How did I do? Let’s take a look.
1989 Toyota Camry DX wagon – $900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Redmond, OR
Odometer reading: 313,000 miles (or more)
Runs/drives? “Drives okay”
It’s easy to forget, because nearly all of the early ones are gone, but the Toyota Camry nameplate is now forty years old. Introduced in 1983 as a modern front-wheel-drive replacement for the Corona, the Camry really hit its stride in 1987 with this second generation, and then proceeded to take over the world. Everybody has some connection to a Toyota Camry somewhere in their past or present. It’s like that Kevin Bacon game, only with a car. You can’t escape it.
It’s no wonder, then, that these ubiquitous suburban ferries spark some warm fuzzy nostalgia. But nostalgia, as a wise man once said, ain’t what it used to be. Your first girlfriend’s mom may have had a Camry wagon just like this, and seeing it makes you think of her, but that doesn’t mean the car itself is necessarily worthy of your adoration. Toyotas famously “run forever,” but to quote another wise man I may have already quoted here once, that’s a mighty long time. Stuff wears out, even if it still works, and a Toyota with three hundred thousand miles is not a nice car. Besides, it has those motorized seat belts, and nobody is nostalgic about those. They’re like the Windows Me of the automotive world.
It is, however, still a pretty reliable car, especially with a stickshift. The Toyota 3S-FE four is one of those engines that just runs and runs; feed it a fresh timing belt once in a while, fix a few oil leaks, and it’ll happily keep spinning. Likewise, barring abuse from an overzealous young driver, the five-speed gearbox should last essentially forever with an occasional new clutch, and a fluid drain and fill if you think of it. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the mileage may be considerably higher than listed: the speedometer cable is broken, so the odometer is no longer keeping track.
So what we have here is a dirt-cheap beater that should get you back and forth to work for a while yet. That is a good and noble thing, and I would never disparage it. But it’s certainly not something I’m going to get all excited about.
1979 Datsun 510 wagon – $1,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Bellingham, WA
Odometer reading: 218,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep!
Now this, I could get excited about. This is a Datsun 510 wagon, not the cool late ’60s/early ’70s 510, but the later 510, an Americanized version of the Nissan Violet. It’s still a neat little car, still driven by the correct pair of wheels, and still with a slick little overhead cam engine under the hood. This one, like the Camry above, is also a wagon, and also requires you to select your own gear ratio.
This 510’s L20B engine runs great, but it also includes a spare engine and five-speed gearbox out of another wrecked car, and an extra cylinder head, as well as boxes and boxes of other parts. It also includes an extra full set of nice chrome wheels with tires; the rusty steelies on it now wear winter tires. This is a reliable, durable car to begin with, but with all the extra goodies, you could keep it on the road for a good long time. Or you could try your hand at some modifications: Ever wanted to try porting and polishing a head? Have at it. Want to see what it’s like with a welded diff? Try it, realize that it sucks, and replace it with the un-altered extra diff.
This car was originally yellow, but now wears mostly primer gray. The seller says that the only significant rust is on the right rear door, which should be reasonably easy to patch up. Once that has been attended to, this looks like the perfect candidate for that Rust-Oleum and foam roller paint job I’ve been hearing about for years – yellow again, of course.
Inside, it’s scruffy, but functional. The seller has added an aftermarket tach, and it’s probably on its fifth stereo, but other than that it’s ready to party like it’s 1979. Someone tried to steal it a while back, and popped the ignition, so it’s bypassed, but among the many spare parts are two replacement ignition cylinders including keys.
It’s all a matter of opinion, of course, but presented with these two, no way am I bothering with the Camry. I’ll take the rear-wheel-drive option, with plenty of opportunity for tinkering. But what say you, Autopians? Which dirt-cheap wagon are you driving home?
(Image credits: Facebook/Craigslist sellers)
I really like and would happy take either one. Hell they are cheap enough to get both and always have one running car to go get parts for the other one. If they were local I’d seriously consider picking one up. This is act first think (and ask for forgiveness later) money.
I hate to say this, but the Datsun is actually really good project car for someone who is weirdly into Station wagons and manual transmissions. I would have to go with that vehicle…well ok they are both wagons and manuals, but one is running pretty well and has a boat load of useful repair parts. those alone are probably worth more than the car itself.
That datsun was the first car I ever had, back in college, but mine had a slushbox. It was terrible but great
Camry. That body style wagonized SO well, it looks great. Power isn’t huge but be real – it’s a family wagon, you just need to get there in one piece. This Camry will see to that.
Fix the interior, shine up the bumpers, get a new cable on the speedo. Done. Drive it until you can’t stand it anymore.
I’ll take the Camry – such a wagon has been on my mind since I recently noticed one seemingly identical to this one near me that seems to be left to sink into the earth by the homeowner, with their trash cans trying to shield it from view.
With these Datsuns I always think of a house around the corner in the mid/late 90s that had a blue Datsun wagon with a brown door and fender; the guy’s wife had a dark green 5th gen Accord EX – quite a contrast in designs. The Datsun looked much older than ~15-20 years old to my child eyes, so now it’s strange again to think that that Camry is twice as old now as that Datsun was when I was a kid. Last time I rode through that neighborhood, maybe a year ago, that Datsun was still parked out front and obviously moved around, so he’s kept it going all these years.
Holy crap, this is my childhood! My grandmother had a maroon-brown Camry wagon while my mom drove a yellow ’78 510 wagon. I’ll take both!
“ Want to see what it’s like with a welded diff? Try it, realize that it sucks, and replace it with the un-altered extra diff.”
I daily drove cars with welded diffs for about ten years. I’d have one right now if my other half hadn’t vetoed it because it would destroy our new driveway.
Do they suck? The understeer is terrible in the wet, but that’s easily fixed with predictable oversteer and smooth transitions. Tyre wear is higher, but that’s the price of fun.
The shuddering during tight turns is a bit grating, but no more so than the very similar feeling you get parking a car with low Ackerman (like my BMW).
Welded diffs add character, something a Datsun dog carrier definitely needs more of. Plus they make tight turns in the wet a glorious gamble, and who doesn’t want more excitement during their commute?
Open diffs are boring, and you only know you’ve got an LSD when you’re sideways, but a welded diff is a near constant companion.
That said, other than the smooth transitions (which I’d like to think all other road users are too sensible to be enjoying) they do make cars objectively worse. I bet they really screw up the electronic nannies on a modern car too.
So yeah I guess they kinda suck. That’s not the conclusion I thought I was working towards.
That was quite the journey!
For me too.
I couldn’t vote fast enough. My second car was this Camry in sedan form… same year, same engine, same transmission. It was indestructible until someone ran me off the road at 60mph. Only thing that would have made it better was if it were a wagon. If it wasn’t on the other coast I would probably be driving to haul this one home right now.
And, really, the motorized mice are not that bad to live with. You really do get used to them.
Yes!!! I had the sedan too and yeah, after a while you don’t even notice the belts (Also in the 91 Accord family car we had)
This depends entirely on the use case. Need to get to work? Camry. Need a project? 510.
For me, I went project, but the Camry is a great option.
While I like the 510, for $100 less I will take the better looking Camry
I much prefer the 510’s RWD layout, though, I’m kinda in the market for a winter beater and the Camry might just fit the bill (with a set of snow tires).
Tough choice, for the money I am happily taking BOTH…
If I was a broke college kid that needed wheels right now, I am taking the Cam.
If I am a nostalgic Gen X’er, I am taking the 510.
Guess what I am? I took the 510.
The Toyota Camry is about as exciting as a man wearing a kilt in New England. It’s exciting to see something outside the norm for like five seconds, then you ask your self why does this exist? Yes it’s reliable. But like a Ross Perot presidential campaign, there is no reason to excited. That 510 though, it’s a blank canvas. Everything has been done, with helpful guides. God’s motor (sr20) powering this thing, my god that will keep you up just thinking about it. Like a Nissan sponsored Taylor Swift song. At the end of day, a Camry can’t change its stripes, no matter how long it’s had to learn new tricks. The 510, there’s something there. Just you and 20-30k, and your making art!
See while the Datsun is undebatably the cooler car, it doesn’t make it the better car. I went Camry today just because I am thinking I will need a car soonish, my Cruze is dying and I will not miss it, and the Camry I would trust, the Datsun needs work and is never going to approach Camry levels of reliability.
Datsun all the way. Those little sewing machines are simply awesome. Always were.
Camry with no dented bumpers, my vote goes to Datsun then lol
It’s a tale of what does the buyer need? You can never go wrong with a Cam, but I hear ya that 300k plus miles is kind of a lot, and those auto shoulder belts are enraging. But if you need something super cheap, right now, I’m going boring. Also agree the Datsun is way more interesting and if I want a cheap project to mess around with that’s the one I’m picking. Over time it would probably become pretty sweet. I did this with my XJ and E46 before the prices of both of them went insane. Picked up to have fun and learn some skills and over time they actually became sort of respectable.
The Toyota is too easy, the Datsun it is!
It’s me, hi, I had those automatic seatbelts in my first 3 cars and absolutely loved them, would like to have them back today, I’m the guy nostalgic for them, it’s me.
Oh, and Windows ME really wasn’t the shitOS everyone remembers it to be, it’s really just Windows 98SE under the hood with a different skin. Windows Vista is the steaming turd in Microsoft’s bowl of hits followed by Windows 8.
I’m with you on the Datsun though, much cooler than the Camry, but I gotta admit that allllll those spare parts make me nervous.
Let’s agree that ME Vista and 8 were all not good updates. Of the three 8 bothered me the least and ME the most. That may be because I was so pissed about ME that it didn’t surprise me that Vista would suck and I very infrequently had to deal with 8.
I guess ME just didn’t bother me as much because at home I was already dual-booting 98SE and NT4 so when ME came out I was switching to Windows 2000 instead. And at work ME was essentially the same as 98SE, all the same hotkeys and commands worked just some of the context menus and wizards were changed.
I was similarly detached from Vista and 8 as I had been converted by the penguin by the time those were released.
If it weren’t for work I would have gone that way. I’m a bit lazy so didn’t try to adapt to the better OS.
The Datsun’s build date is only 10 years out from Woodstock. And it looks like it would fit right in stuck on The New York State Thruway with kids laying all over the roof and hood.
Grab a can of Krylon, paint some peace signs over the grey camouflage, and injoy three days of peace and music–even if it’s in your own driveway.
A good friend at an early job in the 80s had one of these 510 wagons. We transported people to lunch, books and videos to comic / scifi conventions, and I am pretty sure he and his girlfriend made good use of the fold-down rear seat capability. It was a lovely little unpretentious appliance.
In terms of life left, I’d say they’re pretty close. For awhile, I owned a V20 Camry and if you haven’t had the privilege to experience one, they’re a pretty nice place to be. I’d rather spend my time inside that Camry than the Datsun.
Toyota makes the best cars, and this one is in better condition, so I voted for the Camry
The Toyota I could daily as is, the Datsun would become a project to bring it back to it’s former glory. I chose the Camry.
The Camry got my vote — safer, front-drive (critical here in the snow belt) — but for the money, porque no los dos? I could see the Camry as a good urban daily, while hooning the crap out of the Datsun.
I’m with you! Plus, the Camry likely has AC, which the Datsun probably lacks.
Actually, I don’t think it does. I don’t see the accumulator in the underhood photo; if I remember right it should be over by the alternator on these. And it’s a DX, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t have AC.
It does have power windows though, so I’d think if it has that, it’s equipped with A/C – emphasis on equipped because who knows if it still works.
When the A/C clutch on my 1989 Camry seized and I was a broke college student, I just replaced the belt with one from a non A/C model and hand cranked those windows down.