Familiar Friend, Or New Challenge? 1986 Chevy Corvette vs 1992 Mazda Miata

I’ve owned about 35 cars in my life, which I believe is on the low side around here, and never more than three at one time. Currently I’m back down to two, which has been the average number over the years. Whether or not I end up with a third again in the near future depends on a lot of factors, but given a space to put it, I can definitely see something else making it to my driveway.

But what would that third car be? That’s what I’m exploring this week: possibilities. I’m on a cruise ship, currently docked in Nassau, Bahamas as I write this. I never thought I’d be one of those people who works through a vacation, but honestly, I’m enjoying it. It keeps me grounded, gives me a little bit of my ordinary life on this giant surreal floating resort. I am the sort of person who likes to look at ads for old cars, so this job has never really been “work” anyway.

Out of all the cars I’ve had, I think I can safely say the one I enjoyed owning the most was a 1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Mine was red, the base model with no power steering or air conditioning, and it had a little over 200,000 miles on it when I bought it. I had it for eight years, using it as a daily driver for two of them, and while it wasn’t flawlessly reliable, it always made it home under its own power. I miss it more than I thought I would, especially seeing the prices that good ones command these days, so when a cheap running and driving example appears, my ears perk up.

But the world is full of cars I haven’t yet owned, like C4 Corvettes. They’re cheap right now, especially imperfect ones, but the vast majority you see for sale have an automatic transmission. I’ve driven two C4 Corvettes, one automatic and one with the Doug Nash 4+3 speed manual, and while the automatic was fine, it seems to me that if you’re going to go through the trouble of owning a Corvette, it should have the more interesting transmission option.

So today I present to you one cheap manual Corvette, and one cheap Miata, and you can tell me which one you would rather have. Here they are.

1986 Chevrolet Corvette – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 5.7-liter OHV V8, four-speed manual with overdrive, RWD

Location: Sacramento, CA

Odometer reading: 138,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and moves, but needs brakes

The Corvette timeline, in my mind, goes like this: Those ’50s Ones That Are Hard To Drive, Those ’60s Ones Only Baby Boomers Care About, C3, Ugly C3, C4, Ugly C4, C5, Some Boring Stuff, That New One Which Is Also Kinda Boring. The C4 appeared when I was ten, and I still think of it as “the new Corvette.” My neighbor had one, and so did a high-school girlfriend’s dad, and I coveted both of them. I know they’re not exactly great cars, but I feel like owning one, even briefly, would scratch an itch.

Only one engine was available in the early C4, a 350 small-block. In 1984, it used the twin-throttle-body “Cross-Fire Injection” setup carried over from the C3, but a year later it got a tuned-port injection system and a bump up to a respectable 230 horsepower. Not a ton by today’s standards, especially for a Corvette, but we were all just excited to see a number that started with a 2, after the doldrums of the late ’70s. This one starts and runs just fine, but the car’s brakes are shot, so it will need to be trailered home. Luckily, it looks like brake parts are all still easily available, and not even expensive. Even an exotic Chevy is still a Chevy.

The main thing that would give me pause about owning a Corvette in my fifties is getting in and out of one. There is no graceful way to do it, even if you’re young and limber. I suspect that’s why so many Corvettes end up as garage queens: not because the owners wanted to preserve them, but because of that low, wide doorsill. This one looks well-preserved except for some wear on the steering wheel rim and a grubby shoulder harness.

I think I’m in the minority, but I vastly prefer the early C4 styling to the later facelift. This one looks sleek and trim; the bulbous rear end and elongated nose of the later cars looks too heavy. I do wish this one were some color other than white, but I guess I prefer white to red. Those stupid spinners added to the wheels need to go, obviously, and whoever put them on there should be forced to go sit in a corner and think about what they’ve done.

1992 Mazda MX-5 Miata – $2,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD

Location: Milpitas, CA

Odometer reading: 223,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

For a few glorious years, you could find cheap NA Miatas all over the place, especially the earlier 1.6-liter cars with less horsepower. It was during this time that I bought – and sold – my last one. These days, they’re either completely trashed or overpriced; there’s very little middle ground. You have to hope to find one that’s only kinda trashed, like this 1992 model, which has definitely seen some things, but is said to run and drive well.

The 1.6-liter engine has a potential Achilles heel: the nose of the crankshaft where the pulley bolts on can crack, and the only repair is tearing down the engine and replacing the crank – or better yet, replacing the engine with a 1.8-liter from a later car. The best indicator is to watch the crankshaft pulley while the engine is running: if it wobbles, walk away. The seller says this one runs and drives fine, with no issues, but it’s worth checking to make sure. Otherwise, these are mechanically stout cars, but at over 200,000 miles there is a list of things that are going to start needing replacement. The cheap price is just a starting point. But they’re easy cars to work on, and parts and technical advice are everywhere.

We don’t get any interior photos in this ad, which makes me fear the worst. I’m sure the seats are worn through on the sides of the bolsters, the instrument cluster hood has broken tabs (if you even think about removing the hood, the tabs break off), and the carpet is likely trashed. But all those things can be replaced; I replaced them on mine.

Outside, it’s beat-up, faded, and tired, but at least it isn’t freaking red. That’s the only thing I really didn’t like about mine, and I thought several times about painting it, but never got around to it. Replace the left front fender and the rear filler panel on this one, and you could paint it whatever color you want – as long as it isn’t red. I also suspect, due to the fact that no photos show it with the top up, that the top is toast and needs replacing. I had to do that, too. It’s a chore.

Either one of these would be a worthy project and wouldn’t cost a lot of money to bring back to a respectable standard. I would have a hard time choosing between them, actually. One I know and love, and the other I have loved from afar for years. But what about you? Which one would you rather fix up?