Manual transmissions aren’t even an option on most cars these days, but once upon a time, you could choose from more than one. Spend more money, get more gears. Three was the standard number of forward gears for decades, but by the time today’s competitors were built, the three-speeds were gone, and even four-speeds were on the way out. But that’s what these two have to offer.
On Friday, we looked at two old Fords more than four decades apart. The old ’51 took home an easy win, as I suspected it might, but the little purple Escort had its fans too. But I think the rarity of the old Custom worked in its favor, as did the rumble of its flathead V8.
Back in 1999, when I was shopping for a car, I test-drove two Ford Escorts. One was almost exactly like Friday’s entrant, except it was fuchsia instead of purple. The other was a bright blue four-door with an automatic. I was young and insecure and couldn’t bring myself to buy a “pink” car, so I got the blue automatic. Now, older and wiser, and not giving a shit what anyone thinks, I’d happily take this little purple hatchback. The old ’51 is interesting, but not something I’d actually want to own.
When I was a kid, if your car had a five-speed manual transmission, everyone knew it. A little chrome badge on the back of the car let them know. Our cars never had that badge; my dad always bought manuals, but never spent extra to get that overdrive gear. His first five-speed was an ’85 VW Golf – because the five-speed came standard. He would have appreciated these two, as basic and no-frills as they are. Let’s check them out.
1984 Dodge Rampage – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed manual, FWD
Location: Hagerstown, MD
Odometer reading: 96,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, but needs brake work
Small pickups were all the rage in the early 1980s, but I would like to have been a fly on the wall when someone at Chrysler proposed turning the L-body Omni 024 into a ute. Ford’s Ranchero was gone, Chevy’s El Camino was barely limping along, and all eyes were on the traditional body-on-frame small trucks from Japan. But for just three years, Dodge offered this little ute, with the front half of an 024/Charger and a just-barely-half-ton truck bed. It’s possible, now that I think about it, that they were just copying VW’s homework again; the Rabbit pickup had appeared just a couple of years earlier.
The only engine available in the Rampage was Chrysler’s 2.2-liter K-car engine, equipped with a two-barrel carburetor. Since it was a truck, it was spared the indignity of the 1.7-liter VW and 1.6-liter Simca engines that base-model Omnis and Horizons were stuck with. I once had a K-car with the 2.2 and a four-speed manual; if this is the same setup as that, which I suspect it is, then fourth gear is really tall, possibly a bit of an overdrive. This one runs well and is drivable, but the front brake calipers are sticking, so you don’t want to go too far before taking care of that.
Inside, it’s a little grubby, and it could use a few items from the Dorman “Help!” section of an auto parts store. It could also use a junkyard steering wheel that’s in better shape. Almost anything should fit; Chrysler seemingly mixed and matched steering wheels in the ’80s based on whim, or what they had on hand. If those vinyl bucket seats won’t clean up, I guess you could just throw some covers over them – unless you got lucky and found a wrecked Daytona from which you could steal the Recaros and the aluminum-spoke steering wheel.
I don’t know if the outside has been repainted or is just really well taken care of, but it’s nice and shiny. Rampages tended to get used as trucks, and most of them were beaten to death before Bush Sr left office. There weren’t many of them to begin with, and there are very few left now. This looks like about the nicest example you’re likely to find.
1990 Honda Civic – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed manual, FWD
Location: San Jacinto, CA
Odometer reading: 117,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
“We Make It Simple” was Honda’s slogan in the ’80s, and when it came to the most basic model of the Civic, they really took it to heart. This isn’t even a Civic DX; it’s a step below that. It has no rear wiper, no power anything (except brakes), vinyl seats, and plain steel wheels. It has a right-hand outside mirror, but if memory serves, that was an option on this car.
Power comes from a 1.5-liter four making all of 70 horsepower, and a four-speed manual transmission. The good news is that it’s fuel-injected; Honda ditched carbs after the previous generation of the Civic. It’s shocking how empty the engine bay of this car looks; fourth-generation Civic engine components are usually packed in like sardines. But without an air conditioner, or power steering, there’s plenty of room to work. Not that this one needs any work at the moment; the seller says it runs and drives great.
This thing is so plain-Jane on the inside that it doesn’t even have a center console; it’s literally a “four on the floor.” The instrument panel is nothing but a speedometer, a fuel gauge, a temperature gauge, and a bank of idiot lights. The seats are, as previously mentioned, cheap vinyl, and they’re not holding up all that well. Probably sticky as hell in the summer, too. You can, and should, find some better seats for this thing, at least.
Since this is a California car, it has avoided the most serious old Honda problem with its exterior: rust. It is missing a piece of trim on the passenger’s side, but otherwise it doesn’t look beat-up at all. The bumpers, once black, are faded to that streaky gray that those of us of a certain age remember well. It’s rare to see a Civic hatchback of this generation still completely stock; far too many of them are slammed to the ground, with gaudy aftermarket wheels and obnoxiously large tailpipes.
I think a little bit of my dad’s frugality rubbed off on me, because I have always appreciated base-model cars like these. Strip a vehicle down to its essentials, get rid of the bullshit, and just give me what I need. And technically speaking, you don’t need a fifth gear. Or power steering. Or cloth seats. What are you, a Rockefeller? Let’s just keep it simple. Which one of these are you going for?
I love utes, I really wanna vote for the ute, but not this ute. My dad traded a Goldwing for a Horizon TC3 back in the day and I was convinced TC3 stood for Total Crap x3 as that thing was a turd in every measurable way. I’d rather have the Honda without AC before another Omni derivative.
I want to like the Rampage, and every time I see one it reminds me of the (I Think) Car and Driver article where they turboed one. Sadly my driving is either me solo, or me and my two teenagers, and I’m not putting one in the bed like we did back in the 80s, so I went with the Civic, plus adding a third to the fleet seems like a prudent decision. I always really liked this generation in hatchback form.
That Civic price is a bad joke. I’m going with the Rampage just because they aren’t trying to take me for a ride.
Please go find another 1990 Civic hatchback with those miles and a manual in rust-free condition and let me know how long it took you.
Oh, it’s a rare one, for sure. But it’s still a barebones model that is 36 years old. I don’t want think it’s worth $4500 internet dollars to me. Someone else is likely to, but not me.
With just a little bit of work, that Civic will clean up quite nicely. Would only daily that in the cooler months given the lack of AC.
Rampage. The world will hate me for using it as a junk hauler rather than babying a survivor like that. But that’s what I’m doing and you can’t stop me.
I would do the same. It wasn’t worth saving in the first place, so use it as was intended.
Like both but I want the Rampage.
Had an ‘82 Rampage and loved it. Mine was a bit upmarket from this example having two-tone cloth buckets and console, but I was still stuck with a 4-speed as the five didn’t arrive until 1983. Would’ve liked another gear. Still, it was a pleasant, even lively, driver and comfortably transported me and all my gear on two cross country road trips.
I will someday do a deep dive into passenger side mirrors and see when they stopped being optional and became standard on all cars. I think it was sometime in the 1990s.
rrrrRRRRAMPAAAAGE!!
There is no way that car has been in MD for very long. Not if it’s THAT clean.
Came for this. Not disappointed.
Both are pretty cool on their own ways. I voted for the rampage though because they are very rare to see nowadays.
Rampage all the way.I know the Civic will probably run forever but the Rampage is pretty reliable and are spotted in the wild as much as Sasquatch is.
When that Civic was new, they were all still selling for at least MSRP – usually over.
Because they drove far better than the old Omni.
That’s the one I’d get.
Definitely the Civic, even though I’m appalled that anything in 1990 was sold without overdrive. The Rampage always makes me thing of this Onion article: https://theonion.com/new-anger-powered-cars-may-revolutionize-the-way-we-dri-1819567241/
The dealership where I worked in the early 1990s used a Rampage as a parts runner. I logged many miles on it, sometimes hauling surprising amounts of stuff in its cute little bed. They were rare when new, so I wouldn’t be able to pass up this relatively decent example.
All that Rampage really needs is a caliper and a non-airbag steering wheel?!
That ALL day! I’ll figure out how to deal and live with a carb for that!
The Honda is a pretty nice specimen, but at the price, the Rampage is more interesting.
Civic all day long. Rallycross, winter beater, and can carry a bit of cargo? Yes please.
And the passenger mirror was indeed an option, my friend in the Navy had an 84-85 CRX bought new and his dad sprung for the mirror and a neat set of Japanese writing decals along the bottom of the doors.
Brakes on the Rampage are a Saturday job. Since it’s a tad on the “wierd” side I’ll take it and fix up the brakes.
The Civic is absolutely the better choice, so I picked the Rampage.
Interesting that someone bothered to paint the Rampage (no way that is original) and it is clearly sitting in an automotive shop of some kind, but fixing those sticking brakes is a step too far?
Anyway, still Rampage for me. I have no use for a near 40 year old Civic without a/c but I’d use that Rampage for Home Depot runs. Try finding a rust free pickup truck for $3800.
My same thought – umm, it’s already up on jack stands.
Absolutely the Civic. The refinement gap between these two is larger than the distance to the moon.
The Civic is just a masterpiece. Everything has been fussed over
Who is buying a ~$4k well used vehicle vehicle, and then picking it over something else because of “refinement”? The gap in refinement between these two is absolutely minuscule compared to the gap in refinement to them and any (yes, I literally mean any) new vehicle.
It’s like saying Busch Light is the fanciest, of the light beers.
Seriously – the Dodge is like a big lawn tractor. The Civic of that generation had the refinement baked in.
And Miller High Life. It’s the CHAMPAGNE of beers, and its logo and design elements go back to Brooks Stevens.
Indeed. It was the Civics and Accords from this generation that firmly staked its claim in the American zeitgeist that Honda was a quality player in the game.
This is a hard one. The Rampage is weird cool and looks to be a survivor. I do hate 80’s carburetors. The Civic is simple Fuel injected but expensive for what it is. Lets do the Rampage and let some old mechanic keep it running for me as a self powered utility trailer.
The Rampage, dressed up with Dooge hubcaps from whatever has replaced JC Whitney.
Psst: JCWhitney = carparts.com
Thanks.
As a 5th-gen El Camino owner, I would gladly add that little Rampage to my garage.
…would a Rampage be fun? Maybe. Do I want one over a clean, simple, Civic that kinda reminds me of my ’88 Nova in its simple charms? Not really. Civic for me.
Both. Right?