Good morning! It is currently 15 degrees Fahrenheit where I am (that’s about nine below for the rest of the world), so I’m trying to think warm thoughts. To that end, I decided to look for cheap convertibles for today’s Showdown, and stumbled into a really silly idea for the week, which I’ll explain later.
We finished up Friday with a couple of old ’80s-90s classics with deep red interiors. Many of you preferred the interior in the Plymouth Voyager, but its mechanical needs put you off, and the ready-to-go Ford Taurus cruised to an easy win.
I serviced a bazillion of both of these when I worked at the garage, and it’s probably a toss-up between them, mechanically. The van is a little easier to work on, but the Taurus will probably need less tinkering to keep it happy. I think I’d take the van, despite the woodgrain. Installing all the new parts that the seller is including would be satisfying, I think, and ’80s Chrysler seats are way more comfortable than they have a right to be.
Oh, and just a quick note: The headers for each car are links to the ad for that car. Always have been. They just don’t look like links. I apologize for any confusion this has caused. But yeah, just click on the header, and it will take you to the ad in a new tab.
Now then, for this week’s silly theme: In my search for cheap convertibles, I stumbled upon a car for sale in San Diego that has been listed for three weeks, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. It’s cheap, it appears to be in good mechanical condition, and it doesn’t even look that bad. But it’s a car I know a lot of you dislike. The question for this week is: How much do you dislike it? I’m going to put the same car up against a bunch of challengers this week, some serious, some ridiculous, and see how it fares.
1987 Cadillac Allante – $1,300
Engine/drivetrain: 4.1-liter OHV V8, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Hollister, CA
Odometer reading: 155,000 miles
Operational status: Runs rough, won’t pass smog, but technically drivable
Did you ever want a two-seat Cadillac convertible? How about a car that was built half in Italy and half in Detroit, with a long airplane ride in between? Do you like lots of buttons to push in your car’s interior? Then have I got the car for you: a first-year Cadillac Allante, available now for less than two and a half percent of its original purchase price.
There must be a catch, you’re thinking. There is – in fact, there are several. Chief among them is that the “High Technology” 4100 V8 engine runs like crap, and there’s a giant red light on the dash that says “ENGINE CONTROL SYSTEM FAULT.” That can’t be good. Obviously, a clean California smog certificate is a pipe dream for a car like this, though the seller seems to indicate you could limp it home, at least. And hey, it’s too old to have a Northstar, so you won’t have any head gasket issues. Except the HT4100 had those too. Never mind.
The Allante’s interior was pretty cool in its day, with a digital dash and push-button controls for everything. I think that’s why cars today don’t have buttons for any of the controls; GM cars used them all up in the 1980s and ’90s and created a shortage. At thirty-nine years old, there’s no telling how many of those buttons still work. I guess you’d have to push them all to find out.
This car appears to have been parked out in the sun for a long, long time. It’s so bleached and chalky that I bet if you rested your hand on it, you’d leave a handprint and your palm would come away reddish. It looks straight, though, and all the trim is there. The seller says the soft top won’t latch in place, and the removable hardtop is nowhere to be seen.
2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT Convertible – $1,000
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.4-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: San Diego, CA
Odometer reading: 221,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
By now, you have probably figured out that a faded, poor-running Cadillac is not my idea of a perfect cheap used car. This, however, is a mid-run Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible, in turbocharged GT trim. It has a salvage title, which almost certainly has something to do with its slightly mismatched body panels. But it’s also only a grand.
The GT version of the Cruiser has a bit more power under its hood than other versions, even other turbocharged examples. It features the same 215-horsepower engine as the Dodge Neon SRT4, along with bigger brakes, wheels, and tires, and a lower, tighter suspension. Either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic was available; this one has the automatic, unfortunately. The seller doesn’t say explicitly how well it runs, but they do say the air conditioning works well, which pretty much requires a good-running engine. And a photo of the dash with the engine idling shows no warning lights.
It has the early interior with the color-matched dash inserts, which is cool, and a big rip in the driver’s seat, which is less so. But a seat cover will take care of that. All the power stuff works, including the top, and it has a new aftermarket stereo with Bluetooth.
Whatever happened to cause the dinged title happened to the right front corner, and it looks like it was fixed with junkyard parts and a rattle-can. It doesn’t look terrible, especially for the price, but it isn’t going to win any trophies at a car show anytime soon.
You might get sick of seeing that blue PT Cruiser. You might already be sick of it. But I’m curious to see what it can beat, and what it can’t. For today, however, it’s either Chrysler’s cheapest retro-mobile or Cadillac’s faded flagship. What will it be?
Boy, I hope that Allante has a good personality, because it sure isn’t very pretty.
I voted for the worn-out PT Cruiser. For a thousand bucks, that’ll be a fun little car to run around the neighborhood in warm weather.
I was all ready to vote for the Allante, and then I read the blurb.
I think I’ll ride my bike, thanks.
Apologies to Kelly Bundy; my PT vote is more against that particular Allante than for the PT Cruiser.
I’ve always had a thing for the Allante for some strange reason, and I despise the PT Cruiser, so it’s a fairly easy call for me. That Allante is pretty goddamn crispy though.
The PT is the easy pick here. The Allante and its engine was a complete POS compared to the PT
Dunno why, but I’ve had weird thoughts about a hotrod Allante recently… They’re not good/logical/realistic thoughts, but I keep wondering if a transverse awd drivetrain out of something semi-spicy could be boogered into the space of that v8. 3000gt vr4?
Assuming you don’t need to get it emissions like a large part of not most of the country by at least area. Allante. The PT if I had to daily it or semi daily it. Allante is and has been a weekend car only for some time that one especially.
I was at a junkyard once back when Cadillac was putting that 4.1l V8 in everything and there was a veritable mountain of those engines setting behind one of the buildings; must have been a couple hundred there. They were all from warranty replacements because the head gaskets blew and ruined them. Right then I decided I probably shouldn’t ever get a car with one of those motors.
PT for me.
That PT GT is getting a spot in my mental garage.
That Allante is basically if Necco wafers were a car.
At least the price is right for a PT with a salvage title, it is actually sort of presentable and does have the less reliable, but still more fun Turbsky 4.
I would probably hate passing up the Allante here as I feel like it just needs a few things to be brought back. but I watched others try to bring these back and the end result is not worth the hassle to track parts and try to fix super early OBD1 Fuel injection systems.
I would walk vs own a PT Cruiser. 🙂
And you’d be doing a lot of walking if you owned the Allante!
But then I wouldn’t have to turn in my man card. 🙂
The Allante is a much better looking car then the Cruiser, but given that I live in California, a car that won’t pass smog here isn’t worth $130, much less $1300. PT it be.
Agreed (I’m in CA too). Plus Allante parts aren’t exactly common. Though it kills me that the PT is a convertible… the regular one seems practical for collector/hoarders like me.
Tear out the back seats and make it a mini hauler I suppose. Mini Trucks are making a come back.
Yah, but the regular PT has that huge hatch opening, and the cargo area is nice and tall.
Drop the top and you can go as high as you want. lol
That’s not a bad idea. I’d be the only one on my block with one of those.
I’ve gotten the PT’s back on several occasions, and that’s just based on having rented a bog-standard PoS as a 5-mile-to-jobsite people-hauler rental I’d driven for a few weeks in the Michigan snow years ago.
I’ll get it again. Put a cover on the seat, a cover on the car for the winter (pretty sure I still have one tucked away that’d fit), and take it out when it gets warm again.
Seems like it’d be cheap at twice the price.
(I do not get why, if the “Convertible top [is] in excellent condition with no leaks”, the owner didn’t include any pictures. That seems like something worth showing off and verifying, especially since it’s the first bulleted item in his description.)
The Cadillac would be the wise choice if you’re putting any money into it. But at this price, the PT Cruiser is worth the use before you ditch it.
Nope, because you’re going to have to put all the money into it.
Talk about burying the lede.
Fucks sake. You made me vote for a PT cruiser. And, AND, you’ve done it before, and are clearly intending to try and make it happen again.
Came here to say the same thing!
I don’t think I’ve ever voted for a PT Cruiser, but this one (other than the seat) is the best I’ve seen in a while. I’m not really a convertible guy or a PT Cruiser guy but this one almost actually works for me visually. I could see how that could be a fun way to putt around Pacific Beach, La Jolla and Del Mar.
And the listing for the Allante starts off with “project/parts” in its headline. No thanks.
I highly dislike both options, but PT Cruiser it is. I have no real justification for it besides the Allante just looks more disgusting.
i’d rock an allante, but man this example is insane
Allante. It’s one of the dumbest cars ever made and therefore I love it. The fact that the (probably coke addled given the time period) brain trust at GM thought it was a good idea to woo European car buyers by half assembling it Italy then importing it to finish in Detroit is one of my favorite 80s car tidbits. It’s just so patently absurd that if you didn’t know it was factual you’d assume it’s a joke.
Add in the fact that it’s front wheel drive (because that was a good idea, I guess?!?!) with a transverse V8 that’s notoriously temperamental and has an interior that gives high end cyberpunk strip club vibes and it’s quite frankly a damn near perfect car. I can’t believe you people are voting against in droves, but then again all the hipsters have been trying to give the PT Cruiser an undeserved redemption arc for years so this is red meat to that crowd.
But for me? Absolutely not. I’m gonna do a line of blow and front wheel drive burnout away in the Allante blasting Kraftwerk. Enjoy your sad little PT Cruiser, nerds.
If you ask me in general “would you rather have an Allante or a PT Cruiser?” the answer would be Allante all day, every day. However, if I’m going to bother to buy something like the Allante I’m going to buy the best example I can afford because it’s not worth the effort of a project car. In today’s case buying the Allante is just lighting money on fire, while the PT would be a useful, functioning car.
‘High end cyberpunk strip club vibes’ is such a mot juste, I don’t know how one could surpass it. Bravo.
If you can afford blow, you can afford a better Allante.
If you’re at the point of only being able to afford a $1300 roached Allante, you cannot afford cocaine, my friend.
Cocainecrushed Adderall pills bought off schoolkids.I was thinking more like ‘meth’, but yours works too.
this is assuming it does not need just a tune up and fresh gas to get it running. The 4.1 parts are getting tough to find, bespoke Alante things like fuel tanks and fuel pumps, even worse. Anyways, good luck with your NEWWWWW ALLANTE!
There are way too many things wrong with both these cars to touch them although maybe you could make some money parting them out? Maybe? Either way salvage titles scare the crap out of me, so I’ll take the faded Allante and see if I can make it a bit more whole.
i remember watching an episode of junkyard gold with steve magnante and he was going over the ins and outs of the cadillac alante. its all i needed to see to run away. the pt cruiser wins today hands down.
Anyone ever stuffed a FWD 5.3L or a 3800 SC into an Allante?
Both would be fine choices, but outside of a few folks endeared to the little fellers (some dude in Florida) I don’t think anyone cared enough for them to attempt the money pit.
Allantes are cheap and actually somewhat plentiful. You can find a decent one for only a couple grand, without all the faults that this one has. Good ones pop up on my marketplace regularly for 2-5k, you’ll easily exceed that money (even if you do all your own work) with the one posted here.
TBH as a parts car I don’t even see too many salvagable parts from the Allante either, maybe some electronics that aren’t cooked. The main stuff — engine (probably), top, seats/interior are all beyond salvage. Not worth anyone’s time, effort or money. This one’s headed for the scrapyard.
I wasn’t thinking about it that way. You might get your money back parting out the PT Cruiser.
As the former owner of an ’05 PT GT ‘vert, these are pretty fun to drive, even with the auto. Handling is pretty good (on summer tires) and they’re quick in a straight line as well. The factory soft top is extremely nice (Hartz cloth, lined, glass rear window) and its condition should probably be the basis for deciding any purchase. I bought mine in ’07 with 18k and sold it on in ’14 with 97k and in that time it only needed motor mounts (okay, three times, but still) and an HVAC line replaced.