Hey, do you know what a float bowl is? How about an accelerator pump? Mixture screw? If you think I’m just throwing words together, there’s a chance you’ve never had to work on a car with a carburetor before. If that’s the case, in some ways, you should count yourself lucky, because these old mechanical fuel-delivery contraptions are often a real pain in the ass when something goes wrong. But if you’re going to dabble in older cars, at some point you’re going to come across one.
It will come as no surprise that the little island-blue Plymouth Neon beat the snot out of its Saturn competiton yesterday. The combination of a stickshift, a great color, and that fun seat fabric was just too much for the dowdy but competent Saturn to overcome. A manual Saturn SL2 might have changed the discussion, but I had limited time to search for cars and had to take what I found quickly. Maybe we’ll do a rematch someday.
You know I’m all about the Neon. I love those cars. I even liked the SOHC automatic one I owned, until some jackass in a WRX with no insurance rear-ended me. (No, I’m not still bitter about it, why do you ask?) I will probably go looking for another small, manual car for fun at some point, and a Neon (if I can find one) would definitely be on the short list.
The last carbureted car sold in the US was, if I remember right, an Isuzu pickup truck, sometime in the mid-1990s. Even ten years earlier, however, lots of cars still had carbs, especially at the low end of the market. Fuel injection was special enough to warrant its own badge: my 1989 Chevy truck has a prominent “EFI” sticker on the tailgate, proudly declaring the absence of a carburetor under its hood. Fuel injection was a wonderful advancement, but we covered bazillions of miles in carb-equipped cars, and still do today. Kits exist to convert older cars from carbs to fuel injection, and lots of people install them, but there’s no reason you have to. A carburetor will work just fine, and if you find a car with a new carb on it, like these two, you probably won’t even need to mess with it at all. Let’s take a look.
1985 Toyota Tercel – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Tacoma, WA
Odometer reading: 74,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
There is possibly no better example of car-as-appliance than the Toyota Tercel. You could make an argument for the Prius today, I suppose, but it’s just an extrapolation of the same idea: a sturdy, no-nonsense vehicle built to be reliable, efficient, and practical – at the expense of anything even resembling fun. Most Tercels were driven into the ground ages ago, but once in a while a survivor pops up, like this little beige number.
This generation of Tercel only came with one engine in the US: a 1.5-liter four making just 63 horsepower. It does the job, but that’s about it. The transmission is a five-speed manual, driving the front wheels through a final drive mounted below the engine. It’s a weird arrangement, but it worked well. This one has just 74,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs well. It does have a new Weber DGV carb on it in place of the stock carb. I doubt the Weber carb adds any power, but it probably helps with drivability and ease of tuning. It probably also won’t pass a smog test, if you live in a place that requires such things.
You wouldn’t expect a basic transportation car like this to have much in the way of creature comforts, so you won’t be disappointed when I tell you it does not. It doesn’t have a tachometer, or air conditioning, or power steering. I don’t even see a radio in the dash. It does have a right-side rearview mirror, so it isn’t the absolute cheapest Tercel available in 1985, but it’s close. It’s in good condition, which isn’t surprising considering the low mileage.
These boxy little hatchbacks, regardless of make or model, were everywhere in the ’80s and ’90s. Everybody bought them, but nobody thought of them as anything special. They’re still not anything special, but with a few decades in their rearview mirrors, they have a certain charm. This one is in particularly nice condition, and I bet it’s exactly like the one that someone’s mom had, and they’ll snap it up in a heartbeat, purely out of nostalgia.
1987 Dodge Ram 50 – $4,200
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Odometer reading: 95,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
All three of the Big Three automakers imported a small truck and put their name on it at some point, but Chrysler started later than Ford or GM, and kept their captive import truck longer. The Dodge D50, as it was known originally, didn’t appear until 1979, but it stayed in showrooms all the way through 1993. This is the first year of the second generation, and it appears to be a fairly basic model.
As such, I’m guessing it has the smaller 2.0-liter engine instead of the 2.6 liter. Most little import trucks like this you see have manual transmissions, but this one has a four-speed automatic. All is not lost, though; the automatic comes with a column-mounted shifter, as all automatics should. It has low miles, and the seller says it was a “barn find.” They’ve done some work to bring it back to life, including installing a refurbished carb. It runs and drives great, and currently needs nothing except a belt for the AC compressor. Belts are easy to install, but the question is: why was it removed?
To go along with the column shifter, it has a good old fashioned bench seat. It looks like it’s in good shape, but it’s vinyl, so you might want to get that air conditioner fixed. This one is pretty well devoid of options too, apart from the air conditioner, but I do see an old-school two-knob tape deck in the dash.
The outside is in really good condition too. These small trucks lead hard lives when they aren’t stuck in a barn for an undisclosed length of time, so maybe this one lucked out. It does have a couple of dents, like a proper truck should, but the paint is shiny and it doesn’t have any rust.
If you have taken a shine to either of these, but the carbureted engines give you pause, don’t let them. These are both good, reliable cars, and by all accounts, they run fine. Fuel injection is a wonderful thing, but it isn’t strictly necessary, and if you limit yourself to nothing but fuel-injected engines, you’ll be missing out on a lot of interesting old cars. Which one of these do you find more interesting?
The little truck would be far more useful to me and is cheaper to boot!
It’s gonna be 106 today in Texas with a heat index over 110, so I’ll take the Dodge with a chance of having AC.
Today is a both day but since that isn’t an option I choose the one that will let me do truck things
On full size trucks, I don’t really care about having a manual. But I much prefer a 5 spd on these little trucks. Despite the slushy, I’ll take the hostage Mitsubishi Mighty Max. It can handle pretty much any Home Depot run I make.
$4k+ for either of these? Weird times we are living in
Both of these are excellent templates for what should be offered now, albeit with modern drivetrains and safety features. The practical size of the pickup in particular.
I wanted to vote for the Dodge but no 2.6 and 5speed kinda ruins it for me.
I kind of wonder if no 2.6 is why it’s still on the road and running though
The 2.0 is the same engine platform, and plenty of both are still running around. I’m still happy to have the later 4G64 in mine, though.
The Ram is kinda cool, slushbox and all. The Tercel looks like a hot penalty box. Would be curious to drive it approximately 1 mile to see how the manual drivetrain does but that’s about all.
Very recently had the opportunity to purchase a PRISTINE 1982 Plymouth Arrow with only 32K miles… was beat out by $2000… I would love to have this little Mighty Max in our stable.
AC, passing smog… plus it’s a little truck. Aren’t we all complaining about how big trucks got? Here’s a little one.
The odds of the AC working after putting a new belt on it are slim to none I’d think.
….. for the price of a Ford Ranger from the 2000’s.
The Tercel is charming, but I don’t know if it’s worth $4,500 for a stripper. The “Ram” offers a bit more capability and would be perfectly suited for the kind of truck things I’d likely do with it (apart from driving it during winter, which would inevitably make it turn to rusty dust).
I’d prefer the truck for the utility, but being a slushbox it’s a no go. So its the Turdcel with a manual. It will only do be driven on roads with a posted speed limit of 25mph or less or until I find a dirt track to go fling it around till the engine seizes.
Broken or not, A/C is a necessity so I’m voting truck
Sorry. There is no Tercel in the world worth 4500$. A golf cart will destroy it in a collision. Even with the 5 speed, 35 mph roads might be too much for it. The little truck might not be much better but it can at least be useful until it gets crushed.
A golf cart will destroy it in a drag race.
Had a friend with one back in the day. I can attest that it will in fact get to 60 mph, with the AC on, carrying 600 lbs of passengers. It will take a long time to do it, though.
A small cheap truck is always handy, even with a slush.
Also, I don’t need or want to impersonate Ned Flanders, thank you.
Okely dokely! Wait didn’t he drive a Geo Metro or something like that?
On the first episodes he drives something that heavily resembles a Tercel of this gen.
Sort of a coin flip for me, but I went with the Tercel. Why? Not really sure. I wouldn’t dare drive either of these in the winter (why buy a 4500$ survivor only to immediately destroy it with salt?), so fair weather seasons only for these. And at that rate I guess I’d rather have the stick if I’m using this as a third car.
I’d take the truck just as it is. A manual would be better, but a nice little 2-door truck is right up my alley. And, since it’s 46ºF here this morning, I wouldn’t even bother getting a belt for the compressor.
I’d go with the truck but the last thing I want to deal with in the second to last week in July is having air conditioning that doesn’t work. It somehow seems worse than not having it in the first place. Also, I see stick I vote stick. Usually.
My first 2 cars had non-operative A/C. ‘Twas misery.
I guess the Tercel could be fun at Cars and Coffee. Until the temp hits 90F, but I’m usually leaving by 10am anyway.
If it weren’t for the manual transmission, that Tercel would probably be the most boring car ever sold in the history of the world. It’s even beige for cripes sake. The 5 speed helps a little but not much. I just can’t see the point in spending over 4 grand on this, even if it’s a ‘classic’ and the miles are low. It’s a stripped out, ancient econobox that’s not really interesting or fun to drive, with the added bonus of being a deathtrap when sharing the road with modern Tahoes and F150s. It’s too outdated to be a reasonable commuter and not interesting enough to be a collector or weekend car, so what’s the point? Is there someone out there really pining for their old stripper Tercel they had in highschool?
The little 50 isn’t exciting either, especially with an auto, and I sure wouldn’t want to daily it (although the hypothetical AC helps) but at least it’s useful for weekend projects.
I feel like it’s so exceptionally boring and basic that it’s almost exceptional in that regard. Want to experience the zenith of boring? Want to be immersed in retro-practical vibes? Want to inhale the fragrance of beige vinyls and plastics? This is the car for you.
I don’t know I’m grasping at straws here.
Remember the old saying, the zenith of boring is just the nadir of excitement.
I have actually never heard that saying before but it’s fantastic. Mental note to remember.
*applause*
There actually is a certain logic here in that they don’t really make ‘basic’ cars now since pretty much everything sold now has at minimum power windows, AC, Carplay, etc. (Slate notwithstanding as it’s still in the theoretical future) but, as the article says, basic cars back in the day were common and just appliances that got used up and thrown away so seeing one still alive and kicking and in relatively good shape is a novelty. But a $4500 novelty? Sorry, no.
You’re right but I already did all that a lot as a kid of the late 70’s early 80’s and it kind of sucked the first time. No need to do it again esp. for $4500.
I was 16 in 1985 and remember people car shopping wanted boring because boring ment reliable and good fuel economy. People were sick of the “exciting’ 8 mpg broken from the factory, constant maintenance garbage they had been dealing with for the last 15-20 years of total car garbage. Boring was a selling point in 1985.
For whatever reason, every junkyard in Texas still has at least two of these Rams in it. (And a bottomless supply of Isuzu Rodeos.)
Here in Austin, I see a Mitsubishi version of the D50 almost every morning on my commute, including this morning. So someone is probably visiting those junkyards.
Went for the truckling today. Maybe the A/C “just needs a belt and a charge”?
I’ll take at least the possibility of AC in the Mitsu. A stick would be nice, but it’s in triple digits here right now.
Today was a hard choice. The automatic on the truck made it less desirable. I did not know they made a 4 speed auto that long ago and rammed it into a little 2L truck.
Judging by the pic of the instrument cluster, it’s just a 3 speed auto.
yea I thought so but did not want to quibble or question. thanks.
Still suitable for my non-interstate highway home center runs.
Hey Mark, you got the description of the truck wrong 🙂
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD
Was going to be my choice until I discovered it was an auto.
Crap, my brain was on autopilot, I guess. Thanks for catching that. I’ll see if someone can edit it.