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?
To quote Admiral Akbar with regard to this showdown, “It’s a trap!”
You’re claiming white and silver are better than an actual color?! That’s a hot take that I cannot get behind. Red is typically my least favorite actual color, but it’s an actual color which puts it miles ahead of anything greyscale
I beg to differ. For some reason these look really good in white.
That said, white, yellow, blue, and green are the colors I’d shop for.
That Miata is as close to shot as they get. Time to take the windshield off, put a blower on it and turn it into a hillclimber.
Take it out behind the barn and put it out of it’s misery. This is probably a parts car at this point – if it has any good parts anyway.
Hey now, there are kids here. The Miata is going to a great big farm where it’ll run with sheep and horses in the dewy meadow and take afternoon naps next to the babbling brook.
As a certified Miataphile and owner I feel I really should go that way today but I just can’t. That poor thing is beat and tired and ready to be parted out to save others in better condition. Let the poor thing rest. I suppose it would probably make a respectable track car with some work (maybe a lot of work) but that’s not my game and for a weekend cruiser it just needs too much work to justify.
The Vette looks very clean for the year and with a stick would be a fun weekend car. The color combo isn’t the best and the 4+3 tranny is… uh… something, but for $3500 it’s an easy yes for me.
I’m on my seventh Miata over 30 years and my first was a silver ’91 that I still miss. Yet I’m voting Corvette. That poor little NA is just used up and beat to death. Go for the clean C4 and live a little, even if you know it’ll make you hate it in the end.
I’m on my first Miata over 31 years and I bought it new.
I’ve got a Miata itch that really needs to be scratched. However, I’m afraid if I scratched it with that Miata I’d end up with tetanus. Corvette it is.
Mark, you’re on vacation!
You don’t need to trash C2s, C6-C8s, aftermarket wheels, and red Miatas today!
The answer is always Miata.
…except today.
This was the generation of Corvette that wrestled the Corvette brand out of an apparent death spiral of all-show, no-go, disco-stalking gold chains in a nest of chest hair skeeze and reputation – not the good kind of reputation.
This was a Corvette that had hit the gym and come out with, for a change, a dose of speed and athleticism to belie the unpretentious looks. This was a Corvette that undersold and overdelivered. 230 horsepower? Yeah – it doesn’t sound like much, especially compared to the claims of years past, but every horse shoes up with its track shoes on.
This has always been the only generation of Corvette I ever wanted. I’d absolutely take this one. This is borderline supercar performance for beater truck price. Parts are everywhere, the depth of owner knowledge is virtually endless. This beast will be sold by the end of the week, if not the end of the day.
Nothing borderline supercar about 0-60 in 6 seconds. A current Camry manages that and a Civic Type R managed 5 seconds.
(I’ll give you it was 1980’s supercar performance but that was a very sad era)
“Nothing borderline supercar about 0-60 in six seconds,” but in 1983 when the C4 was introduced, it was quick. The Corvette was a stoplight drag winner against almost everything else it was likely to meet except Ferraris and Lamborghinis, and unlike those high-strung exotics you can use the Corvette without worrying if its demanding specifications are going to break the mobility budget. With respectable top speed, frankly excellent roadholding and finally understated looks to distance itself from the gross reputation, the C4 Vette is heady performance that you can live with both financially and emotionally.
How does the saying go? “In a land of the blind a one eyed made is king?”
The Corvette was hot stuff in the mid-80’s. We aren’t considering buying it in the mid-80’s we are looking at buying it today.
If someone really wanted a Corvette in the 80’s and that is their dream car – hey have fun. But objectively a 80’s Corvette is slow.
Ooh, I don’t think you meant “objectively.” “Slow” is a subjective description to begin with; it requires context and judgment to frame its applicability, at which point objectivity is no longer part of the equation.
The average 0-60 time for vehicles currently available in the US is about 7.7 seconds. If you eliminate trucks that drops to something closer to about 6.0 seconds – making the Corvette not slow, but merely average. Naturally an entire horizon full of EVs leave it far, far behind, and every new performance car made in the last ten years waves it goodbye just as it’s crossing the starting line – these cars are achieving levels of performance formerly only within reach of people wearing Nomex.
A brand new top-spec Corvette hits 60 in 2.2 seconds. No one is going to say that’s slow…but what about in 20 years? Will a then-new Corvette accelerate at 3 G and someone on the Autopian complains that the 2025 Vette is dragging its heels?
I maintain that a 0-60 time of 6 seconds is quick, regardless of what the current state of the technology can achieve. That the rest of the market has improved enough to catch up doesn’t make the Corvette slow, but simply points up that the rest of the automotive world has reaped the benefits of the many improvements that performance cars like the Corvette revealed and tested and made viable in the marketplace. That the rest of the marketplace has caught up to that doesn’t make the Corvette slow, it only points up what a path it and every other car has beaten for the ones that came afterward.
Yes, I’m a pedantic pain in the ass. No, I’m not fun at parties. But I absolutely rule at Trivial Pursuit.
Aren’t the 1.6 short-nose crank issues limited to early-production 1990 cars? This 1992 should be in the clear.
I believe 1990 and into early 1991 (maybe 1991 model years that were manufactured in late 1990? I can’t quite recall). Either way, yes, this one should be fine.
Yup, 1990 and early 1991. It’s really easy to identify a “short nose” visually, and they’re not a guaranteed failure. 1992? Same crank design as the recommended 1.8.
Hell yes,manual Corvette. White is not the best color though.
I almost chose the Miata without reading the article. Even after readings and seeing photos, I still chose The Answer. (I bought a 90 cheap in 2020 and still miss it.)
I do not think I could buy a white corvette with red interior. My MIL’s boyfriend has an 84? in that combo with an automatic. Sorry NOPE on the vette.
How is this miata only “kind of trashed”? It’s dented and broken and as dirty on the inside as the outside, probably because the top is trash. If someone treats the visible part of their car like that, you have to believe the invisible (i.e. mechanical) parts are in the same shape. At 223K miles, this thing probably needs a new motor as well as suspension and all the other bits and bobs. Not saying it can’t be restored, but by the time you do, you’d have probably been better off to get an overpriced one.
I was ready to select the Miata before clicking the article till I saw the pictures, geez. Someone rescue that baby !
Well this is odd.
I was about to click Miata – but….
….meanwhile the Corvette is in a great color combo, and reminds me of a certain Captain I reported to when I was stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento many moons ago and now remember fondly.
(It appears to be photographed at the old Mather AFB where my Dad was stationed when I was a wee lad. It couldn’t be the same car, could it???)
So to celebrate Veteran’s Day with our compatriots who served with me – I clicked Corvette.
Thank you for all who served.
I will literally fall into the ‘Vette. (Then struggle to get out)
Like a cheap leather couch! (Yes, I had one. It looked comfy, but it made you feel trapped after a short while.)
Exactly.
Earlier this year I had both a C3 Corvette 4 speed with 54k miles, that I got for what I thought was a great deal, and a 1.6 Miata with 180k miles, The Vette was beautiful but every time I drove it something broke. It was sold as soon as it got sorted. The Miata will never be sold.
I miss my NC. It was my daily for 4 years and only went away because the florida brodozers kept trying to kill me. Just moved to the NC mountains so another is in the near future.
I was always a fan of a friend who had a big block side piped manual C2 that I could hear start up from my house 2 miles away, but if I was going to go the cliched retirement corvette it would be the most corvette of them all: chrome bumper C3. Not this one.
How much of a horrendous piece of shit does an NA need to be to be that cheap?
I was all set to click the Miata, but sorry. That rear end, and no interior pics? I value life too much.
I’d only get a late C4, largely on the recommendation of a friend. It’s so much better in every way. Miat by default.
In this case the Vette is the more honest car, and will probably require less tog et on the road in a reasonable shape. I too was of a certain age when these came out and used them in a BUNCH of model cars as part upgrades to build my own “Restomods” before that was even a thing. The seats, digital dash, wheels and tires all seemed to be ahead of their time. I’m already fat, so tempting hair loss is worth it.
Corvette all the way. A very capable chassis. You can bolt on power and performance with the click of a mouse if you so choose.
Call me a sick dog, because I need that Vette.
I just feel the need to give that Miate some love and respect and bring it back to being the beautiful little car it can be. Plus, I hate the idea of owning a Corvette. I firmly believe that Corvette ownership would make me fat and bald.
I’m fat and bald and I haver never been in a Corvette. The baldness is hereditary and the fat is “success ballast”.