Good morning! We have a short week due to the holiday yesterday, so we’re going to keep things simple. We’ll do three pairs of cars, and then on Friday we’ll play “track, daily, burn” with the winners. Haven’t done that in a while. And since both of today’s cars are green, I’ll make the other two pairs match, too.
On Friday, beauty was in the eye of the beholder when we looked at two ugly, rusty old trucks that I thought looked perfect the way they are. It’s not often that I’m surprised by the outcome of a vote, but this is one of those times. I thought for sure the old Dodge pickup was going to win it. But the 4×4 International beat it, and by a pretty good margin.
I’d be happy with either, but I don’t need two Forest Service Green pickups, so I guess the Travelall would make more sense. I really like that old Dodge, though. Argh – I should have given you a “both” option. It’s only pretend money, right?
I feel like I’ve been neglecting the middle of the country a little bit, so this week I’m going to stay off the coasts and pick cars from “flyover states,” even though I hate that term. I’m an Illinois native myself, and I still love the Midwest. Today’s choices hail from Missouri and Nebraska. They’re the same price, and the same color, but that’s about all they have in common. Let’s check them out.
2010 Chevrolet Camaro LT – $2,600
Engine/drivetrain: 3.6-liter dual overhead cam V6, six-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Raytown, MO
Odometer reading: 156,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The fourth-generation Camaro went out of production in 2002, not with a bang, nor a whimper, but sort of an overweight wheezy groan, like an aging rock star hobbling through yet another “farewell tour.” I know the fourth gen has its fans, but I’ve never been one of them, personally. It looked like someone overinflated a third-generation Camaro, and then went out of their way to make it hard to access the engine. In 2009, however, photos of an all-new Camaro began circulating: a retro-inspired design that could not be mistaken for anything else. The “small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs” was back.
Like most cars of this type, the fast V8 versions got all the press, but the tamer models made up the bulk of production. This Camaro is powered by the base engine, GM’s 3.6-liter “High Feature” V6, driving the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic. Even though it’s the slowest 2010 Camaro, with 312 horsepower on tap it could still blow the doors off that ’79 Rally Sport with the 305 that your buddy in high school was so proud of. Some of these engines did have some timing chain issues, but this one has reached 156,000 miles, which means it has already been repaired, or it’s one of the good ones.
The fifth-generation and later Camaros look cool, but they all suffer from the same problem: the interior is a cave. Take almost any other sporty coupe, and black out the top and bottom thirds of the windows; that’s a pretty good approximation of the outward visibility. And they all seem to be black inside like this one. The photos in this ad are terrible, but it looks like the interior is in decent shape at least.
It sure does have some curb appeal, though, with its acid-green paint and black stripes. I could do without the tinted windows, which of course, make it even darker inside. As good as it looks, though, you’d be wise to look underneath and make sure it isn’t rusty. Camaros are kind of useless in the snow, but a car like this one was probably somebody’s only car, so I’m sure it has seen some road salt.
2011 Mazda Mazda2 – $2,600
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Lincoln, NE
Odometer reading: 148,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I swear, there are about a hundred people in the US who really like small hatchbacks – and none of us ever buy new cars. We long for cars like the Honda City and Ford Ka, but then when an automaker actually gives us a little hatchback, nobody buys it, and after a few years the auto execs go “See? Nobody in America wants a small car.” Mazda offered its Demio hatchback here for a few years as the Mazda2, and the sedan version was available for a while from Scion and Toyota dealers, but nobody seemed to care. This little green Mazda2 is a rarity anywhere, but I imagine especially so in Nebraska.
The Mazda2 is powered by a 1.5-liter version of Mazda’s MZR four-cylinder, making only about a hundred horsepower, which would be plenty for a little hatchback like this with a manual, but nobody in the US buys those anymore either. This one has a four-speed automatic, which probably means its color is a whole lot more exciting than its driving experience. It does run and drive well, according to the seller, and gets good fuel economy, which is really the point of a car like this anyway.
The inside looks nice; Mazda has always done a good job with interior design. It’s in good condition, too. That seat fabric looks interesting, which is another thing I always liked about small cars. From Toyota’s plaid Tercel seats to the Hyundai Accent’s “Funfetti” upholstery, small cars have often made good interior choices. This one looks more like a wetsuit, or maybe Batman’s armor, but it’s still cool.
Outside, it’s pretty banged up – it has a salvage title from hail damage, but hail isn’t the only thing that has hit this car. The left rear door has a sizeable wrinkle in it, and there’s a crack in the front bumper. I imagine the hood is a replacement that just never got painted. Stick some big driving lights on the front and pretend it’s a rally car, I guess.
Neither of these is the best of their respective breeds – the Camaro has the wrong engine and the Mazda the wrong transmission – but I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better color for either of them. It’s not just the lack of colors that make most cars so dull-looking; it’s the lack of bold colors, really vibrant hues that smack you in the face. This bright green does mean you’ll never be able to blend into traffic, but you’ll never lose your car in a parking lot, either. So what do you think? Which one wears it better?
Yes, yes, I see now that I didn’t scroll down far enough into the ad’s bullshit fine print. I deeply regret the error.
CL is so bad when it comes to this, between this and the tags to ensure some random 2005 Tahoe pops up when you’re searching for a “pre 1975 Toyota Celica”.. They should employ community notes, that get your scam ads shoved to the end of the results.
I bought a 2014 Fiesta with a five speed and loved it. Would have another new one, or similar small hatch with a stick, but cant do that when they have all been been pulled from the US Market. Would have loved the six speed manual Mazda cx-30, front or AWD offered by Mazda to the rest of the world, but not here. Is it the EPA regs requiring expensive duplicative testing of each drive train combination that has knocked out manual transmissions being offered on small or base level vehicles?
I wouldn’t be so quick to say “the Camaro has the wrong engine.” Speaking as someone who owns a 2014 SS Camaro (with the ‘right engine’) and someone who rented a 2012 Camaro with the 6-cylinder “wrong engine”, I was very pleased with the performance of the six. Yes, the V8 is a lot of fun, but The sixes aren’t slow cars by any means.
I have a “sunny melon” bright yellow Opel Adam with a black roof and black wheels. One would think that would stand out, right? Not necessarily.
Turns out it was quite a popular choice of colours. I have seen quite a few of them around, one actually lives pretty close to us. (Pity about the wrinkle in the driver-side door though.)
But then the Opel Adam came in a wide variety of colours and colour combinations. You hardly see any in boring colours.
As a proud 5th Gen camaro owner I have to vote for the Camaro. I’m not sure what kind of shape the car is in, but from the ads it looked really clean. Unless you need to haul lots of people around, the Camaro is a great and pretty practical car for 99% of the time.
Speaking of space, I fit a massive baby seat in back seat of mine last week and the gigantic stroller fits in the trunk. Additionally, my guitar in its hard case, guitar amp and effects pedal board fit in the trunk along with my cleaning/ detailing supplies. I doubt that Mazda could fit so much in the back.
And driving it, even a V6 auto, is pretty engaging. I do track days and drag racing quite often and it holds its own and with some mild mods fights even with the stock V8s in my club.
Finally, parts are plentiful and it’s really easy to work on. I have a youtube channel of me working on it, and I’m no master mechanic by any means.
That being said, prices are getting lower, but I’ve never seen a Camaro that cheap before, so there has are bound to be some underlying issues that need attention. Or gut it, V8 swap it and grow out your mullet.
The real problem with both ìs the slushbox. A V6 Camaro with a stick might be superior to the V8 for fun factor. Lighter and reasonably powered. And I dig the color. Same for the Mazda. Put a manual on it and it’s fun. Who gets green with an auto? That’s just absurd.
I’ve got a 2014 SS and I love it, but I did rent a 2012 Camaro with a V6. I was working out of town, so I had the car for almost 2 months. The 6 cylinder was quite peppy. Today’s 6 cylinder cars are more powerful than the V8s we drove in the 70s. Sure, a manual is better, but the auto was quite sporty.
There is something sus with that Camaro ad, the photos have been around the upload compression block a few times already based on the image artifacts.
I the Mazda was a stick and in nice shape, I’d have gone that direction.
If they were actually the same price, you would not see me pulling away in the Mazda.
I had a 2011 Camaro V6 stick, base, and it was a riot. Big stonkin’ Holden in a bowtie, decent interior despite what the wags will tell you, gobs of power, and a nice radio. It had a geometrically mysterious but excellent front suspension, independent rear, and danced much more adroitly than its curb weight would suggest. The autos didn’t get an LSD but otherwise didn’t seem to lose too much in translation (and the HFV6 was easy to stall anyway, always waiting for an opportunity to embarrass you at a light.) It was, in short, good clean fun. Plus that green. <3
Also, visibility wasn’t that big of a deal; I’ve driven worse. Besides, a Camaro isn’t for looking out of, it’s for being seen in.
Ah yes I thought that price was a little low for that Camero. CL destroyed their car section when they started to charge for it. All too many of those nonsense ads.
Captain Caveman chooses the Camaro with the right engine. Stripping off that dark tint will do wonders.
First of all, have you seen the size of hailstones these days?
As for “We long for cars like the Honda City and Ford Ka, but then when an automaker actually gives us a little hatchback, nobody buys it, and after a few years the auto execs go “See? Nobody in America wants a small car.”
There’s got to be a way for manufacturers to bring in lightly used CPO models from other markets and feed them to the hungry cheap hordes (hundreds of us!) here and make a few bucks.