Whose Vision Of 1983 Do You Prefer? 1983 Honda Accord vs 1983 Mercury Lynx

Good morning! We’ve got a short week this week, so we’re already a day behind. I’ll keep this quick. We’re going to do three pairings, and then play “track, daily, burn” again on Friday. Sound like fun? Good; here we go.

Friday’s runoff elicited a rousing “meh” from a lot of you. Others welcomed the opportunity to vote on some decent cars for once. I figure if some of you are disappointed, but some of you are happy, it’s a wash, and I’m doing all right. The Volvo 850 won, but it doesn’t sound like anyone was super-enthusiastic about it.

Me, I’d take the Ford Escort, and check with junkyards in Canada for a set of non-motorized seat belts and corresponding interior trim for it. I really like those cars, except for those dumb passive restraints.

Lots of cool things came out in 1983: The Police’s Synchronicity, Return Of The Jedi, and the Tamiya Frog, to name a few. But it wasn’t a great year for cars. The bleak time of poor build quality and emissions-choked engines known as the “malaise era” was winding down, but not over yet. American automakers were playing catch-up with a group of modern front-wheel-drive imports that were taking over the streets, with mixed results. Today, we’re going to look at one of those imports, and one of the domestic challengers. Here they are.

1983 Honda Accord LX – $2,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter OHC inline-4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Portland, OR

Odometer reading: 500,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The farthest-traveled man-made object is the Voyager 1 space probe, which has covered about sixteen billion miles since 1977. No other object is likely to beat that mileage, especially not a car, but if one were going to, my money would be on a Mercedes-Benz W123, a Lexus LS 400, or a Honda Accord. This second-generation Accord has already been to the moon and back, and it’s still going strong.

The engine propelling this car to such heroic mileage is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder, which drives the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. It’s a one-owner car with a salvage title, and I imagine whatever happened to ding the title happened when it was fairly new. At this age, for this price, it hardly matters if there’s a brand on the title. It runs and drives well, and the seller says everything works as it should. Here’s a fun fact: I believe these engines have a timing belt change interval of 60,000 miles. If it has been changed regularly as it should have been, it should be on its ninth timing belt. Not many cars can say that.

Nothing lasts forever, though, and this car’s interior definitely shows its age. The driver’s seat is not original; I imagine it was replaced because the original seat simply wore out. Even this one is looking a little threadbare. But overall, considering its age and mileage, it’s remarkably well-preserved.

The Accord’s greatest natural enemy is rust, but this one seems to have escaped it. It’s in excellent shape outside, and there’s no sign of whatever damage caused the branded title. Someone really took care of this car, and I love to see it. I only hope the next owner keeps it up just as well.

1983 Mercury Lynx L – $6,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter OHC inline-4, three-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Odometer reading: 58,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

You know how sometimes when someone says that something is seven years old, and then they follow it up with “that’s like 49 in dog years?” I think there’s a similar thing going on here. At first glance, this early Mercury Lynx hatchback seems like it’s low-mileage, but in, say, Honda years, its 58,000 miles is a lot more. Maybe not half a million, but a lot. Let’s just say early ’80s Ford products age a whole lot faster than early ’80s Hondas.

The Lynx was Mercury’s version of the Ford Escort, which in the early days was powered (barely) by a carbureted 1.6-liter version of our buzzy little friend, the Ford CVH four-cylinder. The transmission in this one is Ford’s ATX three-speed automatic, giving this car a 0-60 time longer than the average Neil Peart drum solo.  The seller claims this one was only driven to church by an elderly woman, so depending on how far away that church was, it might not have even gone 60 very often. It runs and drives fine, and has had a lot of recent service work.

The Lynx was always a little fancier than the Escort, and this one actually looks pretty inviting inside. The seats are in great shape, and the only wear and tear I see is a few iffy spots in the carpet. It has air conditioning and cruise control, fancy stuff for an economy car in 1983. I have no idea whether the cruise control works, but the seller says the air conditioning is getting serviced next week.

Outside, it’s in better condition than any Escort or Lynx I’ve seen in years. I’m sure it was garage-kept. I’m pretty sure the wheels have been repainted, but they do look good. The seller says the tires are getting replaced next week too, which would make it a good time to paint the wheels. I’d check for rust underneath, just because of where it is, but I wouldn’t expect to find much. I get the feeling Granny didn’t drive in the snow.

As much of a champion as I am of US domestic vehicles, I freely acknowledge that there’s a reason the imports were beating the pants off them in the early ’80s. Still, it’s a rare treat to see a car like that Lynx in such good shape. I have a feeling I know the answer, but which one of them do you like better?