I imagine there are car enthusiasts just about everywhere, but some places aren’t really known for it, like Ireland, for example. That’s a shame, because the Emerald Isle has some great driving roads. They’re best suited for something small, so today we’re going to look at a couple of nice simple little four-door hatchbacks for cheap.
We were in Germany yesterday, looking at a tiny Volkswagen and a hacked-up Opel. I guess I’m not surprised that the VW won easily; a backyard build like that Opel is a little sketchy no matter where you go. The majority of you went for the car that’s still in possession of all its sheetmetal.
The Polo is my choice as well. I’ve liked this style ever since I first saw a photo of one way back when, and I do like VWs of this era. It’s a tiny car, so there is a chance you could lose it in a parking lot, but the great thing is that you can find it again just by shouting “Marco!”
Many times when I visit someplace outside the US where I have to rent a car, I end up falling in love with the rental. It has happened in Curaçao with a Toyota Hilux diesel, in the UK with a Vauxhall Corsa, in Tahiti with a Peugeot 208, and in Ireland with a Renault Clio. None of those are particularly great cars, I realize, and a big part of it may just have been the scenery through the windshield, but I ended up wishing I could bring all of them home with me.
Which got me thinking – What if you could bring home your vacation car? Instead of renting something, if you’re shopping for a car to import anyway, go buy it in person, drive it around on its home turf for a bit, and then ship it home. Since a vacation abroad isn’t generally a cheap affair, and neither is shipping a car across the ocean, you’d want to stick with an inexpensive car. But it should also be something that would make an interesting souvenir. Let’s see which one of these you’d rather drive around Ireland and then bring home.
1997 Toyota Starlet 1.3 – €1,495
Engine/drivetrain: 1.3-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Odometer reading: 59,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Much like the Ford Fiesta, the Toyota Starlet was imported to the US early on, then disappeared from our market, but continued on in other places. This Starlet is three generations newer than the version sold in the US, and driven by a different pair of wheels. It is very similar to the Tercel and Paseo that we got here, and about the same size.
Power for the Starlet comes from a 1.3-liter twin-cam four and a five-speed manual. As you would expect from an economy-minded car, it’s not a powerhouse, but I bet it gets fantastic mileage. The seller says it runs and drives “perfect.” It doesn’t have very many miles on it, but then, Ireland isn’t a very big island.
It looks really good inside; someone took care of this car. And it has really fun fabric on the seats and door panels. I really wish automakers still understood that if a car is cheap, it should be cheerful too.
It’s a little rougher outside. The clearcoat is almost gone from the paint, and there’s some sort of poorly repaired damage above the right rear wheel. These are the only two exterior photos in the ad, and they’re both of the driver’s side, so we have no idea if there’s more damage on the other side.
1999 Peugeot 206 LX 1.4 – €1,195
Engine/drivetrain: 1.4-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Somewhere in Ireland; listing doesn’t specify
Odometer reading: 133,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
French cars seem to be really popular in Ireland; I saw a lot of Renaults and Peugeots on the road when I was there. But the 206 was popular everywhere; I think the North American market was the only place it wasn’t sold. Like its predecessor the 205, the 206 has a respectable pedigree as a rally car, which means even the ordinary ones like this should be reasonably fun to drive.
This 206 LX is powered by a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine that only makes 74 horsepower, so WRC glory probably isn’t in the cards for this car. But you can always pretend. It has a five-speed manual gearbox, of course; automatics in European economy cars probably aren’t quite so rare now, but they sure were when this one was built. It runs and drives great, according to the seller, and it was just serviced.
This is the only interior shot in the ad, and it doesn’t tell us much. There is some wear on the gearshift knob, and I would guess that the steering wheel cover is hiding some more wear. But for the equivalent of $1,400, who cares? It looks way nicer than most cars in the US for the price.
It looks sharp outside too, and I really like this shade of blue. I suppose this is kind of a nothing car in Europe, and five people here would even know what the hell it was, but I think it could be fun to own. A right-hand-drive French car from Ireland? You’d be the talk of Cars & Coffee.
Everybody always talks about importing a car from Japan, but I’d be a lot more interested in bringing something over from Europe. And I like the idea of going and getting it in person. It wouldn’t be a cheap vacation, but it would be a memorable one. Is it feasible? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about. Which one of these would you drive around Ireland and then ship home?
For me the Toyota feels more authentic. The milk across the border from us in the North was homogenised way before everyone else got it, it tasted amazing to me as a kid and the cartons were the same for years, NCF branding and a little green Toyota Starlet being given away, year after year.
The 206! I’ve absolutely flogged one of those all over Ireland for about a week and a half and it was a hoot. Wind it out in every gear every time, fling it into the corners, etc. I may or may not have returned it with a slightly damaged driver’s-side mirror that had a close encounter with a “white van man” somewhere on The Burren.
206! I’ll take the Peugeot since there are Toyotas everywhere here…plus I love that beautiful blue. It looks like it would be fun to cruise around in
My long missed ’71 Peugeot 504 was picked up in France by a UC Davis art professor and shipped to the states. I didn’t realize all that when I bought it used for $1,500 and tacked on 90,000 miles to its 60,000 original miles. A big Plymouth wagon plowed into its odd rear end and folded it up to the rear axle. The insurance settlement was $900. So, $600 of depreciation for 90K miles is the best I’ve ever done.
I rented a Peugeot 30-something in France more than 20 years ago and loved it. I think it was a 307?
I had a Tercel 4×4 wagon and it was fun, too. But this Starlet is not as quirky. So, the 206 gets my vote.
And Ireland is beautiful, but the secondary roads can be frighteningly narrow, especially when a big truck is coming in the opposite (and unfamiliar) lane.I understood all the broken left-hand side mirrors in the return lot when we picked up our Ford Focus rental at the airport.
You aren’t kidding about the secondary roads being frightening narrow! I clipped at least one mirror with a white van on The Burren. While returning the car I very carefully distracted the person doing the inspection and it skated right by them (sales skills FTW right there).
I went back and forth for a bit and may have made the wrong choice, but the heart wants what it wants.
I’m warier of the corrosion on the Peugeot. I know that, anecdotally, this 206 isn’t known for being quite as reliable as the Starlet, and that some locally-sourceable Tercel parts would probably fit that rather than almost everything having to be ordered. I do like a Toyota hatchback.
But when I visited Scotland, 206s stood out with their little fresh-air bonnet vents (along with C2s with that dipped beltline), and this shade of blue is fantastic.
If and when the novelty wore off, I imagine I might have an easier time finding a like-minded lunatic to buy the Peugeot, too.
I really like the Peugeot as well,but the Starlet reminds me of my 03 Corolla.
It had the same engine and while it was never fast,I could rev that thing to 7500 all day and basically floor it everyehere. The seats were not too bad either.
Is the glovebox on the Pug mouldy, or matched to the seat fabric? Assuming the second, it’s a weird way of adding cost.
Nope. I try to play by the rules, but I have my own rule – I’m not importing a right hand drive anything here (generously we’ll call them the “united states”) Maybe you could change my mind with something made in the stone age but not a modern shitbox on the road with modern brodozers.
Tacoma, WA (where I reside) seems to have a bit of a Kei car culture, so I see fair number of RHD vehicles. I don’t see them on the freeway. I putt around town on a scooter when it’s not raining, which is more often than many think. And around town, the brodozers don’t get too exuberant and it’s easy to avoid them on the scooter when they do.
This is a bit of a tough choice. The Peugeot would be way more unusual around here, so it gets points for that. On the other hand, there’s no photo of the seats which really makes me wonder just how nice they are, particularly given the wear on the gear shift knob. The Starlet is not as cool and is a bit dinged up on the outside, but the inside is nice enough that you could almost pretend it’s new. I guess I’ll gamble and go with the cool one. Now off to source a horizontally striped black and white long sleeved T-shirt, a beret, and a case of Gauloises…..
When I was a kid, my family inherited a 1981 Starlet from my grandfather. Though that Starlet and this Starlet share nothing in common other than the name, for that reason, and that reason alone, I chose the Toyota.
Owned a nice 80 or 81 Starlet 5 speed for a few years.
I’d still prefer it over the one offered up today.
Teacher – a question. It rains every day in IRE. Almost. When not. It s cloudy. RE Toyota- how d the paint get so sundestroyed?
As a former resident of Portland, Oregon for sixteen years, I can assure you that rain can do a number on clearcoat as well.
huh. color me puzzled
The number plate says C for County Cork, right down at the southern tip of the island, probably the sunniest part of the country.
Doesn’t the Peugeot odometer read 294681? I voted Toyota.
Kilometres, my man
Which equals 183,106 miles, not 133,000.
They put in the wrong photo, I think. That’s not the Peugeot’s instrument cluster. I had to look closely at the other photos before I figured that out.
From a different Peugeot “next scheduled service @ 308,000 kilometers?” I remain a wary Toyota buyer.
They are both tough soldiers. But at those prices, you can’t get hurt either way. If you lived out in the country where you could park them, both would not be a bad option.
But you’re right… the Toyota is probably the better purchase, at less than half the miles.
“I’ll take the Peugot” (words I never thought I’d type today). It’s a late 90’s model, so it’s delightfully foreign to people like me. The Toyota is a Toyota….nothing wrong with that at all, but it doesn’t have the same panache when you’re talking about wheeling around Ireland (and here).
I’ll take the Peugot” (words I never thought I’d type
todayever).Actually I’ve always liked later Peugot’s styling, I’d just never consider a USDM one.
Figure $1500-2000 for a slow boat to LA, and for $3500 you have a conversation piece and RHD that isn’t a Skyline.
Ahem, it’s spelled “Peugeot ” and I’d take it as well.
LOL – See how much I know?
You’ve spelled it how people pronounce it in the North, where people also drive Renn-alts and Sut-trins.
Is a Toyota always the smart answer? Probably. Is the Puegeot French? Oui! Sign me up. I’ve rented a couple of Peugeots and they were nice.
I was excited when I rented a car in Scotland, hoping for something like the Peugeot. I got a Nissan Juke.
So I’m picking the Peugeot today.
By the time the Juke arrived on the market, you were better off with it than a current Peugeot…
Even by non-american standards, that Peugeot is a good price.
Both seem OK to me. I just find it refreshing to see cars in real colours. We need more of that.
The headlights look on in broad daylight on the Pug. My dad has a salvage corolla that has a similar quirk. Every time the temp drops below freezing, you can’t turn the headlights off. You have to diconnect the battery after driving and it’s a pain in the butt to do it all winter. Not sure what’s going on with the pug, but I’d go with the toyota just in case.
I like the Peugeot better, but the Toyota is just too nice and low miles to ignore. Assuming I’m bringing this home and living with it, I expect a lot more (and easier-to-maintain) miles out of that Starlet.
at 75 HP, I do question why the AI thinks the Yota is a pocket rocket. but man, if I were to be driving around in a foreign country in a 30 ish year old micro car, I think the French option would be second on the list, not withstanding the higher miles, it would really just be to try to make sure I made it where I was going.
I picked the Peugeot mainly because I don’t really like Toyotas (other than the ’70s – ’80s generations of their mini-truck) and also because I really like that blue color. It reminds me of my old 1995 S-10 in Bahama Blue Metallic.
The Pug is such a cute little bug, and every Peugeot I’ve driven was nimble and economical. So even with the higher miles, that’s my choice.
Both seem in reasonable shape, and the prices look right to me.
If the Pug was a 205, I’d come back and vote twice. Make it a 205 GTI and I’ve be hitting the Peugeot Button repeatedly.
A 205 GTI would easily costs 10 times more… at least.
And be worth every penny!
The Peugeot is probably the right decision, but the interior on that Starlet won me over.
Same. There’s something about it that appeals to me.