Good morning! On this Friday edition of Shitbox Showdown, I’m going to make you feel old. We’re looking at two cars from 1995, which was like fifteen years ago, right? Not quite. Whether the cars have aged better or worse than we have, I’ll leave up to you to decide.
Yesterday we looked a couple of scruffy little trucks, and the vote was pretty close. In the end, the Courier won by a small margin, despite being a little more expensive. I think the non-drivable aspect of the Datsun scared off some of you. I have to agree; the Courier looks almost like my beloved and sorely missed Mazda B2000 Sundowner.
None of you gave the correct answer for this one, however. The correct answer is to buy both, swap the Datsun’s turbine wheels over to the Courier, then trailer the Datsun to the Midwest and sell it for enough to probably recoup the cost of both. The stripes on the Courier and the wheels on the Datsun go together like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and pinot noir (trust me), and they deserve to exist on the same truck.
1995 was not a great year for me. I had dropped out of college a couple years earlier, and was working at a mom-and-pop gas station/service station in St. Paul, Minnesota. I drove a string of absolute garbage beaters, bought for anywhere from $175 to $600, and spent my days taking care of other people’s much newer cars. These two were common sights. It’s strange to think that they’re not only the cheap beaters now, but are much older, and much nicer, than any of my crappy old rides back then. Let’s check them out.
1995 Toyota Camry – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Yacolt, WA
Odometer reading: 273,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
A lot of us complain about how much we miss base models, but it’s easy to forget just how basic a car with no options used to be. Witness this XV10-chassis Toyota Camry, which has the lowest level of equipment I have ever seen on one of these.
It’s powered by the standard 2.2-liter 5S-FE four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission, which isn’t all that uncommon, but it’s what isn’t attached to that engine that makes this car unusual. It has neither air conditioning nor power steering. At first I thought the seller meant the power steering just didn’t work, but I know where the fluid reservoir is on these, and – yep – it ain’t there. I guess I’m not surprised to find out that power steering was an option as late as 1995, but to actually find a car that doesn’t have it is wild. It runs and drives fine, as you’d expect, and there is a long list of recent maintenance in the ad if you care to peruse it.
It doesn’t have a stereo either, just a big gaping hole in the dash. That’s not a hard problem to solve, though. It looks surprisingly nice inside for the mileage; in fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d think there was a ’95 Camry brochure in an attic somewhere aging in its place. It does have one minor issue: the previous owner popped the ignition cylinder lock out, so you have to start it with a screwdriver. Don’t worry – it does come with keys so you can lock it.
Outside, it’s Default Toyota Beige, but clean, and it doesn’t even have a Camry Dent, though there is a small blemish on the rear bumper. All four original hubcaps are in place, too. Someone took good care of this car, or at least didn’t abuse it.
1995 Dodge Neon Sport – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Redmond, WA
Odometer reading: 192,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, but runs hot in traffic
My first exposure to the Dodge Neon was witnessing its infamous leaking head gasket issue first-hand. Someone brought one in for its very first oil change, and oil was simply pouring out of the head gasket around the number 4 cylinder. Not a great first impression, but about a year after that, I got a chance to drive one, and I was immediately smitten. These are incredibly fun cars to drive, and Chrysler did eventually fix the head gasket problems.
This is the drivetrain you want, too: the 150 horsepower twin-cam engine and the five-speed manual gearbox. This one has obviously had the head gasket problem fixed, or it wouldn’t be closing in on 200,000 miles. It runs and drives well, and has had a few suspension upgrades to improve its handling even further, but it does need a little work. It tends to get hot in traffic, but it’s fine on the open road, which points to an issue with the electric fans.
We don’t get a great look at the interior, but what we can see looks all right. I had a Neon similar to this (but sadly an automatic) a decade or so ago, and I remember the seats being reasonably comfortable, but road noise being pretty bad. A Lincoln Town Car, this isn’t. But that’s not really the point of it.
The paint is pretty faded and sun-scorched, but we’re used to seeing that on cars this old. It’s not rusty, and it doesn’t look like it has ever been hit, so for fifteen hundred bucks, some faded paint isn’t really a big deal. I never did like the weird-shaped spoiler on the back of the Sport models, though. They’re not as ugly as Ford Escort ZX2 spoilers, but they’re pretty bad.
I’m really enjoying getting back to basics around here, and looking at some nice cheap beaters again. In fact, I think next week will be a return to the old format: four pairs of cars, and a runoff vote on Friday. I’ll try to find some fun stuff for you to check out, but it will all be nice and cheap. For now, your choice is between the most basic of base-model Toyotas, and the best configuration of Dodge Neon ever made.
These crapcans are a total joke. I respect the Camry owner’s positive outlook on life, but “The previous owner did a really cool mod where you fire it up with a flathead screwdriver” is one of the more ridiculous lines I have ever read. I’m not saying this car was ever stolen, but between the absent ignition lock and radio, it is doing a damn fine job of cosplaying a stolen car. The Neon isn’t any better. “Runs hot in traffic” is glass half full for “this car is broken.”
Both of these cars are a ripoff at $1,500. They have obvious flaws, and presumably have less obvious flaws as well. Out of curiosity I searched my local Craigslist and found ads for three cars for $1,500 or less that, per the ad, run well and have AC, power windows, and other features that work.
Today is obviously a neither day for me, but if these were literally the only two cars on Earth, I would go with the Camry since it appears mechanically functional. If I were seriously shopping for cars and had $1,500, I would get a job at my local McDonalds, work three weeks, and buy a far better car for $3,000.
To me the first-gen Neon always looked goofy as a 2-door.
Hot damn. That was my exact car!!! I will take that neon in a heartbeat if it was on the east coast
A/C was an option and you can just see the button blank at the top of the shifter photo, but it seems more likely they ripped the power steering out of the Camry, because power steering had long been standard by then. With all the work they did fixing it up I could see it if it was a leaking pump, just yank out the parts especially if they were spending more miles on the highway.
Without those two features, I think Neon for me. A manual Camry is uncommon, but so is a decent-spec Neon by now.
Genuinely did not know a Camry could be bought new in the 90s w/o a/c.
100 percent I’d take the the Camry and likely add a/c, a radio and fix the ignition.
And typical maintenance for any new to me used car… check/replace all fluids, check all systems and see what else needs to be replaced
Check all other systems that may need replacing shocks/struts/springs/brakes/mounts/bushings/tie-rods/wheel bearings
And drive and be happy
The Neon has been a regular sight for me around Redmond for the past few years. I briefly chatted with the owner once; he loved it! If it doesn’t stay local, I’ll miss it!
When I first saw that it was between a Camry and a Neon, my immediate thought was Camry all day. Until I found out it had no air conditioning or power steering. I can deal with crank windows and I can add a stereo pretty cheaply and easily, but the other two things I can’t do without on a car that would presumably be a daily. This is probably the only time I’d pick a Chrysler product over a Toyota.
Neon for me. I’ll enjoy using those “terrible” CDs that JT was complaining about last week.
Same here. Been a while since I listened to that Fastball album!
Neon for the fun. Also, power steering isn’t optional, sorry.
Neither is a bad choice, but I feel like the Camry has a few more miles left than the Neon. But it’s a close choice for me today. I probably could have flipped a coin.
The neon needs some functional hood louvers to help the overheating issue. it is old enough to cut holes in the hood.
Armstrong steering? Not on a car that I have to drive. I’ve also dealt with Armstrong steering on farm equipment, and it’s just no fun. Especially on a John Deere with the narrow front.
I do not miss armstrong steering my old jeeps when off roading or the old tractors from back in the day.
Those Deere tractors with the narrow front could leave you with a broken wrist if you hit a groundhog hole in the field when cutting (or raking) hay.
I did orchard work with small fords and a wide front international. The orchard was a no rollbars on tractors place so I tried to be careful.
I like the Neons, the happy circle headlights are such a refreshing contrast to the angry eyes and/or incongruous polygons of today’s cars. But a Camry with a 5-speed is so cool. Gotta go Camry today
Oh, this is definitely a both day. The Neon to rallycross, and the Camry to DD.
Just like yesterday, today I voted for fun. Yesterday fun meant stripes. Today it means rallycrossing a Neon.
The spoiler on my ’03 zx2 looked much nicer than the ironing board strapped to this Neon. I’m still voting for it though.
My very first car was a 97 Neon, with upholstery that looked like the opening credits to “Saved By The Bell”. I took it to college and as my first taste of car ownership, I just sort of assumed part of being a car owner was that once or twice a year your car would take a gigantic dump and you’d have to get it towed and miss work. Camry.
Don’t need 4 doors, and that Neon made it to 192,000 miles. I’d rather keep that going, damn if it gets hot or not.
Neon all day, every day, and twice on Sunday’s.
I have a soft spot for Neons, so I’ll go two-doors to-day.
if i needed a lemons car, the neon would be it. as it stands, that camry is only about 2/3rds of the way to its likely demise, but i wouldn’t be surprised if its still rolling when the terminators come.
The Neon would be just so much more fun to drive. Even the autotrans one I had briefly as I repaired and flipped it in college made me smile.
That beige Camry is automotive camouflage. If you say the word “car” a mid 90 beige Camry will be the image to pop in people’s heads. You’re invisible on the road in that thing. I will probably run like a cockroach to the end of time.
That is a massive, and potentially car-killing, assumption.
No matter, the poverty spec Camry is the far better choice regardless.
I had a 95 Neon and it didn’t live to see 125K miles while my stepdad had a 95 Camry that got traded in with 300K+ miles on it. That Camry probably lived as many miles beyond 300K as my Neon did in total.
I’ll take the Camry.
As someone with an XV10 Camry parked outside, with almost 400,000 miles, I believe it belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of Best Cars Ever Built. The Bubble Era was real, and it was spectacular.
Even with an automatic, I’d take it over that disaster from Belvidere.
If the Camry had been an automatic I still would have voted for it over the Neon. Always liked Neons, but they didn’t age well. The Camry being a stick cemented the choice for me.
I think it aged great with the exception of the spoiler and the plastic interior. I always prefer a four door, but darn if that isn’t a happy little car.