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?
looks like the special edition parts are mostly there. I prefer that over the Civic, but the plethora of parts and uniqueness of a wide body car running maybe 80 hp is of course fun to look at. looks like Hightower raced it with the seating arrangement. Still for the money the hardbody is the way today.
Nissian, by a long shot. Actually works appears in good condition especially for those. Plus factory special edition. Civic needs to be cheaper in its condition.
The civic has some neat tuner heritage going on, but that price is insane.
This was so easy- truck! Wowzer, that Civic is $7K?! “Ran when parked” Ha ha…doesn’t even have door cards, let alone seats?! Total ND/Crackpipe. That truck is just great…plus useful and fun. It would be a blast to take off-road. Looks good too
I saw the header and assumed there was a catch, like the hardbody didn’t have an engine and the bay was completely filled with wasps and you had to take the wasps with it and promise not to kill them. I might have still picked it over the Civic, but you made it really easy.
I’d go buy the Nissan, rent a dolly and go offer $700 for the Civic.
Nissan for me mainly because it has front seats and doesn’t look stupidly molested like that poor Civic. And the seller doesn’t sound like a “I know what I have” jackass.
The jackass selling that Civic on crack if he thinks his unfinished project is worth THAT much. $7000 is what I’d pay for that Civic with that body kit if it was finished… including a fresh coat of paint. Not some bullshit “too-cheap-to-spring-for-paint” patina look, missing seats, not running and partially disassembled
Oh but the engine is “built”!
So fucking what? So you “built” that engine. Lemme guess… you ‘built’ it BEFORE you beat the crap out of it on the race track, then something broke and then you parked it, right?
Oh but it ‘ran when parked’. But was it ‘running’ with a burnt valve tick? Or maybe some sounds coming from Uncle RODney?
To me, that heap-of-a-Civic is worth $1000 WITH those SSR wheels… and $500 without.
Yeah, it’s all just so unbelievable…
$7K?! WTF? Total ND/Crackpipe.
That car’s value is in the hundreds, not thousands. “It’s worth what someone is willing to pay” NO, that still doesn’t make a fool who overpaid not a moron and it doesn’t automatically make that car worth that no matter what anyone says.
To this Civic seller and the peanut gallery:
“Ya big dummy”
-Fred Sanford
BTW – this format is fine. No need for the two cars to be similar – just a similar price.
The sensible thing here is to vote for the Nissan as that’s clearly a deal,I vote for the Honda for classic racing. Actually I would take both and use the Nissan as a tow-pig.
That Hardbody is worth it just for the intact OE Nissan SE-trim wheels with the center caps intact.
I wonder is this is Allison’s old truck. I haven’t seen it ’round town in a long while. Was the only one around as far as i know.
Sometimes in these challenges, you choose the lesser of two evils. Other times, one vehicle actually looks appealing, and today it’s the Nissan. I’d actually drive that one, though I’d probably use it more for truck stuff than fun stuff, too. At half the price, the project Honda might be tempting, but I still think I’d go for the Nissan.
I voted for the obvious Nissan choice because that’s a really nice example of eighties nostalgia and those Nissan Hardbodies were good trucks. The Honda is so clearly a case of insane stupidity at a crackpipe price. Still, why is the insanity so appealing?
I’m not a pickup guy and I’m not a fan of Nissan (love Datsun though), but how can you not choose the Nissan in this case…
Definitely the hardbody and then start delivering for Domino’s.
Exactly where my mind went too. That thing is begging for a Noid decal.
Gonna have to echo that the Civic price is lunacy. I’m not handing over 7k for someone else’s project. Especially one that the prior owner didn’t even get remotely close to completing.
The Hardbody is super cool and while a bit expensive, at least it’s a running/driving example with you know… SEATS, lol.
The seller of that Civic deserves to stub his toe on his bedframe every morning, asking for that price. I’d pick the Civic if the owner wasn’t a crackhead.
I’ll take the one that runs, has front seats, and doesn’t have a body kit. The D21’s thirst doesn’t bother me since I wouldn’t daily it.
My initial reaction to the Civic was thinking the seller somehow fat fingered a 2 into a 7, but I think it’s not quite that bad of a deal for the right buyer. Still overpriced but if you want something from that early tuner import era you aren’t exactly going to be swimming in choices.
Those turbines are a blast from the past.
I’m a Nissan pickup fanboy thinking of upgrading from a D22 to a D21, and I picked the Civic. I don’t want 4WD or the V6 engine, and the widebody Civic is ludicrous in a good way. I think that model year doesn’t have a catalytic convertor so I bet I could get it to pass smog, and if not I could swap in a later power-steering equipped engine.
These both seem a bit overpriced, especially for the non-running Civic. As much as I want the small fun car, I don’t have the time or skillset for a non-running toy that needs a bunch of body work. Make mine the small fun truck, because I can tinker and polish with the best of them…. I can also swap out taillights.
That Nissan is a bonafide legend! Easy choice today.
“Are they worth the asking prices?”
NOOOO! Not even close.
Now that we’ve aced the hard question, we’ll move on to wasting fictional theoretical cash. The truck runs. It still has an interior. The aftermarket speakers are a plus, put a single DIN audio system in there and you have a rusting POS that can play decent music and make you forget a bit about being unable to climb a grade at anything approaching the posted speed limit.
Find me a Civic hatch that graduated from the Malaise Era and isn’t carbureted and we might have something. That one is gross.
That price for a non-running project Civic??
It’s a great day to spend internet money – BOTH.
Being there is no BOTH option today – voted for the Hardbody.