Beat-Up Six-Speeds: 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT vs 2015 Ford Fiesta ST

Good morning! Continuing with what might as well become a theme for the week, we have two visually-compromised but good-running cars for your consideration today. They’re both six-speed manuals, and they both have a patchwork of different-colored replacement body panels. But hey, beauty, or lack of it, is only skin-deep, right?

Yesterday I gave you the choice between a murdered-out Land Rover and a ute-ified Volvo. I was afraid the Swedish pickup was going to be too bork-bork-borked to win, but the idea of a 160,000-mile British car was even scarier, and the 740-minus-two-doors-and-a-trunk came out on top.

I’ve always like El Caminos and Rancheros, and the Smyth ute kits are just the coolest things ever, but I’m not entirely sure I trust a home-brewed job like that, at least not for that price. But an old Land Rover that runs well for three grand? I could have fun with that, as long as I don’t have to rely on it. It’s not often I choose Disco, but this is one of those times.

Cheap fast cars tend to live hard lives, especially at the hands of second or third owners. These two have obviously suffered some trauma, based on front clips that don’t match the rest of the car. One even has a rebuilt title. But they both run and drive well, and neither one has all that many miles on it. Let’s check them out.

2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT – $3,750

Engine/drivetrain: 3.8-liter overhead cam V6, six-speed manual, FWD

Location: Panama City, FL

Odometer reading: 126,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Mitsubishi’s Eclipse was once the darling of the tuner and street racer crowd, mostly due to its available turbocharged engine and all-wheel-drive system. But when the third-generation Eclipse debuted with front-wheel-drive only, and a V6 engine in place of the turbo four, the tuners all but disavowed it. Their loss; the later Eclipses may be heavy and soft compared to the earlier ones, but they’re much nicer and more comfortable for everyday use. The Eclipse grew up, and when you grow up, you realize that speed isn’t everything.

This fourth-generation Eclipse GT is a two-door 2+2 hatchback coupe. Under the hood is a 3.8-liter version of Mitsubishi’s V6. It drives the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. It’s no slouch, with 263 horsepower on tap. This one has only 126,000 miles on its odometer, and the seller says it runs and drives well. It’s for sale by a dealer (an RV dealer, no less) so any information beyond that is going to be hard to come by.

It looks all right inside, just a little worn and scruffy around the edges. The GT version included a big stereo, power windows and locks, and air conditioning. Sadly, the one thing that the seller says does not work is the AC, which I imagine is a deal-breaker in Florida. But sometimes, believe it or not, it actually is just something simple.

The exterior is where this car needs help. It has obviously been involved in a front-end collision, which resulted in the hood and nose being replaced by parts from a black car. The ad says the title is clean; I don’t have a Carfax account so I can’t verify that, though I’m beginning to think it’s not a bad idea for this job. The roof looks like a different color as well, but I think that’s just what this orange color looks like when the clearcoat is gone. The left front fender has a huge dent in it as well, but there’s a replacement fender in the trunk, in silver. Oh well.

2015 Ford Fiesta ST – $3,995

Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 1.6-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, FWD

Location: Charleston, SC

Odometer reading: 108,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Ford did American small car enthusiasts dirty when it came to the Fiesta. We got the first generation, but only until the Escort came along, and never the cool XR2 version. When the Fiesta returned to the US after a thirty-year drought, we didn’t get the three-door hatch, only the five-door and a stupid-looking four-door sedan version, most of which were hobbled by the appalling PowerShift transmission. At least we did get a version of the Fiesta ST, complete with the turbocharged engine and proper six-speed manual.

The 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine in the Fiesta puts out 180 horsepower normally, but can bump that up to 197 for short bursts. Since all that power goes to the front wheels, it has a fancy electronically-controlled differential and electronic stability control. The stability control has an “off” setting, which I think might be why this ST ended up the way it is. It obviously hit something, and hard enough to brand the title, which means the airbags probably went off. How well it was put back together, we have no way of knowing. The seller, a dealership, does invite prospective buyers to get a third-party inspection, and I highly recommend it.

The ST comes with cool Recaro seats to hold you in place around corners. They look like they’re in decent shape, just grubby. The airbag warning light is on, which I assume is related to the wreck, but it also brings into question the quality of the repairs. This is definitely one of the cheapest running Fiesta STs you’ll find, but there are a lot of questions that need answering.

For instance, how did the hood and both front fenders end up damaged. but not the bumper? Or did they find a replacement red bumper, but have to settle for black for the other parts? Or are those cheap aftermarket replacement panels that are just primed in black? And what, exactly, happened to this car, both in the wreck and afterwards?

Banged-up cars like these can sometimes be good deals, and sometimes nightmares waiting to happen. And it’s hard to tell which from a few pictures on the internet. But sometimes you can get a gut feeling about a car. What is your gut telling you about these two?