Good morning, and welcome to another Shitbox Showdown! The old adage that “it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow” is getting a bit tired these days, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Slow cars are out of fashion in the new market, with 300 horsepower minivans and electric cars that go 0-60 faster than you can say “holy crap are you kidding?”, but plenty of us remember a time when both horsepower and 0-60 times were in the double digits, and we somehow made do. On the plus side, we had a sea of small two-door fastback coupe styles to choose from, which are conspicuously absent from showrooms today.
I’ve got a pair of them to show you, but first, let’s see how yesterday’s vote turned out. It was a bit of an odd pairing, I admit, and I don’t think too many people would cross-shop those two cars. But you made your preference clear: the Mini absolutely trounced that poor gray Hyundai.
And of course, I agree. I’ve only gotten to drive one new Mini Cooper, and it wasn’t an S, though it was a manual, and I had a blast. It’s a delightful little car to drive, but the ownership experience is a bit of a challenge. I think most people here are up to it, though, and it doesn’t surprise me at all that this isn’t a Hyundai Sonata crowd.
Which leads me to today’s choices: Both the base models of their respective lines, both five-speed sticks, both a bit challenged cosmetically. And you could have both of them for the price of one of yesterday’s cars. Sounds like a good cheap date with a twisty back road to me. Let’s check them out.
1991 Geo Storm – $1,900
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Hayward, CA
Odometer reading: 155,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
We all have “the one that got away,” the car we almost bought, but passed up for one reason or another, and never got another chance at. Mine is the Geo Storm. This badge-engineered version of the Isuzu Piazza was sold at Chevrolet dealerships under the Geo nameplate from 1990 to 1993, and a blue GSi model was for sale at a crummy buy-here-pay-here lot in Minneapolis in 1999. The salesman tried to give me the hard sell on their in-house financing, and I got fed up and left. I never did get another chance at one.
This one is tempting, but it’s not quite right. It’s not a GSi – which means it’s down one camshaft, four exhaust valves, and thirty-five horsepower from the car I almost bought – and it’s not electric-Smurf blue. Or teal, or yellow, or magenta, or any of the other cool colors these came in. The ’90s were the era of fun car colors, yet whoever bought this one new chose plain white. At least it’s straight and rust-free.
Inside, it’s not so pretty. These were cheap cars, like all Geos, and what money GM did spend on them it saved for the driving dynamics. The interior wasn’t great to begin with, and it clearly hasn’t held up too well. It’s still serviceable, but it’s beat. The seller says everything works, though.
This car has so many cool little styling details: the floating roof, the hidden door handles, the half-lidded headlight covers. It looks like no other little sporty economy car before or since, and I just love it. Oh, and those driving dynamics I mentioned? These things were the darlings of the autocross circuit in their day. They handle, to use another tired cliche, like go-karts.
1992 Honda Prelude – $1,999
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Concord, CA
Odometer reading: 333,000 miles
Runs/drives? Indeed
Honda’s Prelude, of course, was around long before the Geo Storm, and stuck around well after. And it seems like it’s coming back, and I am absolutely here for it. We need some more affordable coupes on the market – even if “affordable” is a relative term these days. Now, I just hope they offer it in purple, like this fourth-generation model.
Like the Storm, the Prelude was available with varying levels of horsepower. This is a basic S model, with a 133 horsepower single-overhead-cam four. That may not sound like much, but it’s enough, especially with a five-speed stick like this one has. And it has been enough to move this Prelude around for a long time: it has more than 300,000 miles on the odometer.
Somewhere along the line, it acquired a salvage title. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the damage to the left rear quarter panel, but it wouldn’t surprise me. At this age, it doesn’t take much for an insurance company to total a car. The ad says it’s a one-owner car, so you should be able to get the whole story, whatever it is. It runs and drives well, and has a current registration.
And it’s purple! I mean, come on. Just try to find a new car for sale in 2023 that comes in purple. Oh, I’m sure there are some expensive exotics you could order in this color, but a run-of-the-mill base-model sporty coupe? They’re rare enough in boring colors.
I know I’ve said it before, but man, do I miss cars like these. I’m so happy to see the new Prelude, even if it is just a concept so far. Same with Hyundai’s N Vision 74, though I really hope there’s a more basic model of that one in the works. In the meantime, we’ve got these two. Threadbare and banged-up as they may be, they’re still a lot of fun to drive, and you can’t deny the prices are right. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I fully expected to vote for the Storm, because I love the way they look, but man that interior is TRASHED. Plus, the Prelude is purple and the world needs more purple cars.
Actually, I think the correct answer here is probably both.
I voted for the Storm solely because my brother had one in college that he bought new off the lot. It slowly turned into a true shit box over the years. Last time I heard, he’d left it in the gravel pit where it died while jumping ramps.
The Prelude because…. OMG it had one of the 90’s coolest dashboards. I always wanted one
I don’t think I have EVER seen a dashboard that sun-fried and cracked. Honestly is kind of impressive.
Even though it’s the worst looking Prelude generation, I’m picking the Honda… even with 300k on the clock.
A decades ago coworker had the Isuzu version and it was a neat little car. He was 6’5″ and fit OK. I’m 6’4″ and drove it a few times and it was surprisingly decent inside. When I finished university it was a car I spent some time looking to get but by then most were used up and rotten from the southern Ontario salt. I also love that generation of Prelude. I learned to drive in a 1995 Accord and had a 1998 Accord at one point so I feel like I have a greater comfort level with that era of Honda than I would with the Geo. This one is the toughest showdown I’ve encountered but I voted Honda because you’ll actually be able to find parts for it down the road. And the dash isn’t made of poorly repaired bits.
On the other hand, the Isuzu community (while made up of weirdos) is very supportive. Not sure how easy it would be to get a new dash, though… Isuzu’s interiors were very much GM quality, or possibly even worse. I want a Stylus so bad, but many interior surfaces gives me that queasy feeling you always get when you touch certain GM plastics.
I’d pick the Prelude even if it was an auto and that Geo didn’t look 10 years past its end of life.
The Storm makes me fight the nostalgia feels in a big way. I had a yellow 91, not a GSi, just the base model, with a five speed. My kids called it “the screaming banana”. Not because it was actually fast, but because it FELT fast from the inside. Classic slow car fast vibes here. As much as I’d love to have another one….no. Just no. The parts are hard to find, and when you do, they’re expensive. This one “only” has 155k miles, while the Honda has 300k. Honestly I’m going to guess the Prelude has more miles left in it unless it’s just been beaten on relentlessly, which this one doesn’t look like it has been. Gotta go with the Honda.
I was a relatively poor recent college graduate when the Storm came out in late 89 for a 90 model year. I bought one in red with gray interior with the 5 speed. It was certainly a competent little car, and was a “little bit” more fun than I expected from an econobox, but just barely. It doesn’t make my list of cars I’ve owned that I regret selling. I cannot for the life of me remember selling it at all, I barely remember owning it, although I think I owned it for 3 years.
And this one? Oof, that interior, it has to smell like a can of baked beans left in the Georgia sun. Prelude, clearly
It’s 50/50 whether rodents or bees would swarm out of the Geo’s dash upon starting it. Or rodents with bees in their mouths, and when they squeak they shoot bees at you.
I’ll take the Honda.
Tougher decision than I thought. The Storm is a great car, even the lower spec one. My mom had an Iroc-blue one. Super fun car even if the rear headroom was crud even for a middle school shrimp. But I had to go Prelude. By the time this gen came out, there were a lot more autos than manuals so I’d love to take this for a rip.
It’s my least-favorite generation of Prelude, and the salvage title and Pep Boys rims are concerning, but the Honda is a better starting point than that roached-out Storm, even with twice the miles on the odo. We’ll take the Prelude and start looking for new wheels, stat.
I was all Geo because…… well, Geo, but man, that interior is NASTY.
Even if it was the seats just being ripped up, I’d have chosen it. But with THAT interior, and how “clean” the engine bay is on the Prelude, actually made me go Honda.
I too was prepared to vote for the Geo until I saw that interior. Yikes. I’ll take the Prelude instead.
Same here.
That Geo’s interior looks like someone lived and died in it. Maybe a person, maybe a family of opossums, it’s an automatic no go for me either way. The Prelude wins by default.
Isuzu is cool, but Honda is better. The Prelude is a cooler color, has a cooler dash, and has a sunroof too.
However, if the Storm was a wagon, I’d vote for that over the Prelude.
The Storm is the car that got GM sooooooooooo jealous and made the kill Isuzu!
Ooof, I at least have to give the Geo Storm owner credit for posting that pic of the interior. Better to be up front, since it’s almost as gross as the Autopian Mobile Bacteria Farm was after they left it sitting.
1 mile on an Isuzu is equal to 3 miles on a Honda, so Honda.
Probably worth mentioning that Honda’s initial foray into the SUV market – the Honda Passport – was in fact a badge-engineered Isuzu Rodeo, and its upmarket stablemate, the Acura SLX, was a badge-engineered Isuzu Trooper.
Isuzu excelled in the 90’s at making small cars that were accidentally interesting and somewhat dumbly reliable, with the Vehicross sorta being the epitome of weird-but-cool Isuzu.
Unlike, say, Mitsubishi or Fiat 1.0, Isuzu ceded the passenger car market in the US not out of reliability considerations, but because they quickly got surpassed in creature comforts as SUVs went upmarket.
My comment was more about Honda goodness than Isuzu badness
That Storm is begging to be RACECAR’d!
If the interior of the storm wasn’t as bad I would choose that
The Prelude is a better-built car, but the Storm is smaller/lighter/more engaging to drive. Both are falling apart at this point, so I chose the latter. A 3800 V6 w/supercharger swap would do it right, and if a RWD conversion were somehow done plus some aero streamlining, it would help make it into the car the base model 4th generation Camaro SHOULD have been.
In this price range I don’t care about mileage or title status. I am interested in condition and how it drives at the moment. Assuming they both run and drive well, I will take the Honda. This particular Prelude must have been treated well to last this long and still look presentable. It is the better option here.
I was about to just blindly vote Storm because they’re just neat and different, but the condition of that thing…. nope. Even with mileage and title, the Prelude at least seems like a solid package, and parts are far easier to source, and for 2k it’s BEGGING to be engine swapped, Prelude FTW
Not sure, but that Storm may hold the Shitbox Showdown record for dash cracks. And that’s what drives me to pick the Prelude – the Storm interior is just too grotty.
In fairness there have been enough cars shown with dash carpets that may have been worse, but we’ll never be able to prove it in a court of law.
Good point!
What a miserable set of choices today. A car that coulda been, but looks like a garbage bin on the inside, or a champ that has run the miles and salvage titled. Going for the Honda just for the cost/availability of replacement parts.
Half the miles, a hundo less, AND a clean title?
I believe I’ll be playing Riders On The Storm with my moolah.