Good morning! I hope you all enjoyed the three-day weekend. Since we’ve got a short week this week, I’m not bothering with any sort of theme; I’m just grabbing cars that look interesting or fun to write about. Expect some weird matchups, like a race-prepped economy car versus a pickup with some cool factory graphics.
On Friday, we took a look at a couple of old, inexpensive RVs, and unsurprisingly, a lot of you noped out. Those of you who did vote preferred the extra room and better condition of the Fleetwood Bounder over the funky but faded Winnebago. And apparently, Breaking Bad had something to do with some people’s choices? Maybe I should try watching that show again. I couldn’t get into it the first time.
I don’t care if the Bounder is “nicer,” I want that Winnebago. It’s just as charming as all get-out. The Bounder has no personality; it’s just an old RV like you see parked alongside so many ranch houses, and it does nothing for me. The Winnebago looks like it wants to go on an adventure.
You’d be surprised how hard it is to find cars for this column that “go together.” Often, I find one car that I really want to use, and then spend an hour or two scouring Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace looking for the perfect complement to it, before settling for something that kinda works. For this week, I’m not bothering with that; I’m just grabbing the first two things that speak to me, whatever they may be, whether or not they actually go together. Here’s the first pair.
1978 Honda Civic CVCC – $7,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Mountlake Terrace, WA
Odometer reading: 167,000 miles
Operational status: “Ran when parked,” but that was many years ago
We tend to think of Japanese tuner car culture as being a 1990s thing, but it actually started much earlier than that. This first-generation Honda Civic has been modified with parts from a company called Jackson Racing, which started modifying Hondas in 1979 and is still in business today. All of the modifications on this car were done in the early 1980s, and the seller has the original receipts to prove it.
The fiberglass widebody kit is the most obvious change, but this car has also had some engine modifications. The seller just says it has been “built,” which could mean a lot of things, but the gigantic Weber carburetor is a hint that it probably puts out more than the 60 horsepower or so that it came with. It also has a five-speed gearbox with a limited-slip differential, and some suspension tuning. It hasn’t run in years, so you’ll need to do some work to bring it back to life. Or, if 1980s tuner nostalgia isn’t your thing, any number of more modern Honda engines could be dropped into this car.
I don’t think this was a full-on race car, because there’s no roll cage, but the seller says it did see some track time. The interior has been partially gutted, though. The seats and door panels have been removed. The door panels are included, but the seats are not. You’ll have to find somewhere to sit on your own. What is still in there looks pretty good, so if you wanted to make it nice inside again, it wouldn’t be too hard.
The body kit is in rough shape, but another whole set of fenders and flares is included, so you can swap them out for good ones. The rest of the body looks good, though I’m sure there’s some rust somewhere. It is a ’78 Civic, after all. The turbine wheels look cool on it, but if for some reason you don’t like them, a set of BBS-style wheels is included too. It also comes with many other parts, shop manuals, literature, and more.
1988 Nissan D21 Hardbody Desert Runner – $6,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter OHC V6, five-speed manual, 4WD
Location: Anderson, SC
Odometer reading: 235,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Many “sporty” versions of pickup trucks are not much more than some stripes and maybe a cooler steering wheel, but once in a while, a sporty truck comes along that’s really something special. This is such a truck, the Nissan Desert Runner, a special version of the D21 “Hardbody” pickup built for one year only, in 1988. (The seller erroneously has this truck listed as a 1987 model.) Forget landscaping or construction gigs; this truck is built strictly for fun.
Power for the Desert Runner comes from Nissan’s VG30i V6, which drives all four wheels through a five-speed manual transmission and a dual-range transfer case. A limited-slip rear end is part of the package as well. This truck has a lot of miles on it, but the seller says it runs great. I believe it; we used to own a Nissan Pathfinder with this same engine and transmission that was still going strong 100,000 miles past where this one is. The biggest drawback to this drivetrain is fuel economy; I seem to remember 14 miles per gallon being typical.
The inside is in decent shape, but it’s a shame about the aftermarket speakers in the doors. I’m sure all of us of a certain age have been guilty of hacking up door panels to install speakers on one car or another. I know I have done it. The seats and dash look good, though, and the seller says everything works, which is a plus.
The Desert Runner came with a lot of special touches on the outside, including a roll bar with lights, a bed-mounted spare tire, a rack to hold a cooler in the bed, and more. Some of that stuff is missing; my guess is that someone removed the spare tire carrier and cooler rack years ago so they could use the truck bed. It also has some hideous aftermarket taillights. The original graphics are pretty faded, but they’re still recognizable, and they still look cool. Nissan only built a thousand of these trucks, and they don’t come up for sale often. This might be the best you can do if you really want one.
The “normal” versions of either of these vehicles aren’t really anything special, except that they’re old and now rare. But these two jumped out at me. Are they worth the asking prices? Maybe not to everyone, but all it takes is one person who’s willing to pay it. Assuming you had seven grand lying around and were looking for something to play with, which one of these would it be?
I actually kinda dig the old Civic with the widebody look and would totally rock it around town but for the condition of this car the price is completely absurd.
Desert runner is overpriced as well for the miles but is less overpriced than the Civic so I’ll go that way today. In reality, I would never spend my own money on either at these prices.
I’m much more of a car guy than truck guy, but that hardbody is in much better shape
Both?
Both. Hardbody to run parts for the Civic.
Hardbody. I like those Civics, but that one is worth only a fraction of what the seller is asking. The hardbodies have been slowly increasing in value over the years, so while this one seems higher than it should be for the miles, it isn’t crazily overpriced.
Desert Runner. The whole world’s turning to desert, might as well have suitable ride.
Better make sure it can propely outrun a sandworm first. Ornithopters won’t be around for a while.
Not that it matters but the Civic is actually $6k without the extra set of wheels. Truck is still the winner here.
The Nissan for me. When I was a kid my grandpa had a hardbody as his farm truck, in an interesting shade of metallic orange. He swapped it out for a Mighty Max around 2000 and sold the Nissan, but I saw that orange truck out and about while in town visiting my grandparents, well into the 2010s. It survived many years of farm use and went on to spend a decade plus on the road after that.
Both are overpriced. Another neither day for me.
The Honda is crack smoking overpriced. The Nissan simply has no nostalgia for me so I would buy a 20 year newer and nicer truck, with the same miles, for the same price.
This. For the same price and gas mileage, you can get a much nicer truck.
So the Honda Civic Bubba Smith Edition or Nissan truck?
I had a 1995 Nissan Truck for 13 years so I that’s where I’m going.
Nice reference! I think Rosey Grier drove one in an episode of CHiPs too.
It was a 600. https://youtu.be/FeXBeL3A5ck?si=8WDmJwDhcUYhQhYB
This is a no-brainer. Hardbody all day every day. The Civic is in sad, sad shape, but the Nissan is a turnkey daily driver.
I’m a truck nerd so this is an easy choice. I’m going to be a few hours from where this truck is located later this week – I probably won’t have time to take a look at it, but maybe…. Unfortunately it looks like my nearest bank branch is five hours in the wrong direction, so I don’t think I could make this happen even if I have a few free hours. Too bad. It is exceptionally cool. Also, it ain’t cheap for what it is, but where are you going to find another one? I only looked for a few minutes, but I can’t find another one for sale.
This would be more of a competition if the Civic were complete/ran. I first thought this was going to be a “both” day, but this I’m not interested in a non-running Civic with no seats for anywhere near this price.
tough call, my first car was a civic of that era, I can tell you from experience, there is no amount of tunning on that engine that will ever make it able to cash the check those fenders are writing.
Gotta go hardbody
+1 if you have ever watched that sweet piece of late 90s TX history, Hands on a Hardbody.
I couldn’t smash the button to vote for the Hardbody hard enough.
I mean, the truck is the obvious choice here, but am I the only one wondering about the pricing on this thing? Admittedly I don’t know much about how they price out because they’ve pretty much rusted out of existence here in PA. I don’t even know where to start on the pricing of that Civic…wow.
Even though the Hardbody runs, is in much nicer condition, and is in the same town as where I work, I already have a truck and I’m too young to have Radwood era nostalgia for it. The Civic, assuming it can get running cheaply would be a fun AutoX car, and the body kit puts it just over the top for me.
Man, has inflation hit imaginary internet dollars that hard?
That Civic seller either needs to put in the work or adjust his expectations.
Nobody’s paying $7K for a project that was left unfinished 40 years ago.
Agreed; it’s super cool but not at that price. To be fair, the Civic’s ad copy mentions that it’s $6k without the second set of wheels. It also basically says “price is firm, find another”. I have a feeling you’ll have PLENTY of time to look for another while this one sits.
“price is firm, find another”
The same could be said by a potential buyer of themselves.
The running car always wins.
This is one of the easiest calls ever. I’ve always lived the Desert Runner. I’m going to have to find out more about this one since it’s in my region.
Here in the Carolinas clean D21 Hardbodies are not a rare sight. Multiple times per week I’ll see one tooling around in good condition, still just being used. Part of the reason I ended up with my Ram 50, despite my owning another VG30-powered ’80s Nissan, is that D21’s were just too common.
None of that applies to a Desert Runner. I’m a sucker for obnoxious factory graphics packages from this era. It’s disappointing that the tire carrier is gone, but that could be fabbed. What’s important is that those iconic triangular wheels have been preserved and the graphics look generally there.
The driveline will gladly take you to the moon and back. As for the price, I keep close tabs on the local RAD-Era vehicle market. For a fully functional rust-free V6 manual 4×4 D21, 7 grand is maybe 1.5 to 2k on the high side. For an original Desert Runner that’s just about the asking price I would expect. Remember the listed price is where negotiations begin, not where they end.
I work in the same town that the Desert Runner is listed in and like you said, there’s still plenty of them on the road. Heck, there’s even a few Mitsubishi Mighty Maxes and assorted compact Isuzu trucks still providing utility today long after they’ve been most likely turned into soup cans throughout the rust belt.
beat to hell project civic or a working truck, tough choice. Not really though.
This is going to be one of the most lopsided polls in recent memory.
That Desert Runner is BRILLIANT. And complete. And running. And CHEAPER.
I love both of these, but the Nissan is the least egregiously overpriced.
I don’t think there is any contest, Nissan.
Civic looks nice, but too many parts missing and too much time without running.
I’d like to vote both, but not at those prices. I really wanted to go Civic but definitely not at that price.
Guess the truck could be fun.
Both? Both. Both. Both is good.
I went Civic though. More my style. Either would be Forza Barn Find worthy.
But triples makes it safe, triples is best.
If I had to choose though, the hardbody squeezes my nostalgia glands the hardest.
The problem with my nostalgia is that that truck would have had to have been a fiberglass-and-tube-frame stadium race truck for me to get really nostalgic for it. So I’m kinda not nostalgic for either. Just went for which one I found cooler, and that’s fine.
I am a ’90s-’00s kid, and by then most of either of these cars had become Iron Oxide or were in the process thereof.
I’ve spent enough time in a hardbodies (!) already, so the Civic called to me. No wrong choice though.