Which Four-Door Hatch Is For You? 1983 Nissan Stanza vs 1985 Toyota Camry

“All new cars look alike” is a common complaint. And they do – but so did all new cars twenty years ago, and so did all new cars forty years ago, too. For your consideration today, we have two hatchback versions of popular sedans from the days when Cheers was a hit show. The cars look an awful lot alike, and so do the ads, actually. Good thing they’re different colors so we can keep them straight.

We looked at two long-term-commitment sedans yesterday, and the final vote was pretty close. Enough of you preferred the modern amenities of the Camry to give it the win, but I was pleased to see the old diesel Mercedes still had plenty of fans. And just one quick note about the Mercedes: many of you thought it was naturally aspirated, but the VIN is visible in a photo in the ad, and I did run it, and it came back as a turbodiesel. You all may still be right, but I wanted you to know I did my due diligence.

The Camry would be fine, I guess, if you just needed a car and these were your only choices – but they’re just so joyless. The Mercedes has a lot more character, and I’d be much happier seeing it in the driveway every morning. I’d happily smooth out its rough spots and put up with the leisurely acceleration if it meant not driving a car that looks like the automotive equivalent of a middle manager.

Once in a while, I come across a pair of cars that are eerily similar, even though they come from different manufacturers. These two not only look similar, but they’re almost the same size in most dimensions, have the same drivetrain type and engine displacement, and come from the same country. Not only that, but the ads have similar photos and equally terse descriptions. And the asking prices are close. Is there a clear winner, though? We’re about to find out.

1983 Nissan Stanza XE – $4,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Odometer reading: 97,000 miles

Operational status: Ad doesn’t say

Nissan did business in the USA as Datsun until the early 1980s, when it finally decided to just use the same corporate name everywhere. A major automaker doesn’t just up and change its name overnight, however; it takes time. To facilitate the change, Nissan badged its cars with both names for a couple of years, including this one. In Japan, this would have been called a Nissan Violet, but here, it was the Datsun/Nissan Stanza.

The vast majority of the auto industry was switching over to front-wheel-drive in the early ’80s, and Nissan was no exception. Earlier generations of the Violet, which were sold as the Datsun 710 and 510 in the US, were rear-wheel-drive, but the Stanza had a transverse engine driving the front wheels. Unfortunately, despite the modern layout, the fuel delivery is strictly old-school; since this is a 1983 model, it still uses a carburetor. The seller doesn’t say anything about how well it runs, but this shot of the dash is encouraging. It’s idling, and all the gauge readings look fine.

It’s pretty much a time capsule inside; there are some faded plastics, and the carpet is a bit dirty, but for the most part, it looks just like it would have in 1983. It even has its original AM/FM radio. But there is one enormous catch: in one photo, the seller is visible in the rearview mirror, and he’s smoking. There’s a pack of cigarettes in a cubby in the dash, and one of those pine-tree air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror. I fear this car may be stinky inside. Cigarette smell can be gotten rid of, but it’s a lot of work.

It’s very clean outside; the only flaws I see are a small dent in the rear quarter panel and a missing hubcap. I get the feeling this was somebody’s elderly parents’ or grandparents’ car, and it sat in a garage most of the time. That’s good – it kept the salt off. Most Japanese cars this age on the East Coast have long since rusted away.

1985 Toyota Camry LE – $4,800

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Whitehouse Station, NJ

Odometer reading: 76,000 miles

Operational status: “Runs perfect”

While Nissan was busy changing its name, Toyota was beginning an era of cars that cemented its status as builders of some of the highest quality and most reliable cars the world has ever seen. The Camry, introduced in 1983, was a new direction for Toyota, its first front-wheel-drive model. Unlike GM’s first foray into FWD, the X-body, which was legendary for its failures, the Camry was, if anything, more reliable than its RWD predecessor.

The first-gen Camry is powered by a 2.0-liter engine with electronic fuel injection. It isn’t a powerhouse; it only makes 92 horsepower, but it was on par with pretty much everything else on the road then. This one has a four-speed automatic transmission. The seller says it “runs perfect,” and has a new radiator, brakes, and shocks. I think it’s funny that neither of these sellers included a photo of the engine bay, but both show the dash with the engine idling.

This one is nice and clean inside too, with no evidence of someone smoking in the car. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened at some point, of course. Everybody smoked in the ’80s. It’s an LE model, loaded with options including power windows and air conditioning, which the seller says works fine. This one has even fewer miles than the Nissan, and I suspect it led a similar life of luxuriating in a garage most of the time.

Outside, it’s that dirt-beige non-color that Toyota seems to love so much. Most of it looks really good, but there is a wrinkle in the rear quarter panel – an early form of the famous “Camry Dent,” I suppose – and there might be some rust on the bottom of the driver’s door.

It’s weird how well these two cars line up. They’re the same age, size, bodystyle, and condition, right down to having a dent in the same place (though the one on the Toyota is a little more serious). And they’re close enough geographically that you could cross-shop them without too much trouble. Which one of them seems like a better deal to you?