Len Peters COAL piece yesterday has me in a beater frame of mind. We all know what a beater is – a car for the sole purpose of getting (usually) from point A to point B. Looks, of course, don’t matter. In fact, the best beaters are the ones that look the worst. After Len’s piece, I started reflecting on my own beaters (or near beaters) and wondering what a good beater would be in this day and age.
As I think about it, my last real beater was a 1963 Ford F-100 Flairside shortbed. A 6 with the four speed stick, it was certainly not a car for polite society. The park-bench-green paint had long since retired from covering the horizontal surfaces, giving way to that combination of primer and surface rust. The front cab corners were softening, so that the cab was starting to lower onto the frame. This gave the nose of the truck a slight upward tilt, and also thrust the steering column out just a touch so that the turn signals would no longer self-cancel.
Not my truck, but one in similar overall condition.
Something had broken in the shifting mechanism so that the long shifter would swing in about a two foot arc from side to side, giving a new dimension to the concept of a long-throw shifter. The steering also displayed that Ford-patented center dead space so that six inches from center in either direction were only for looks rather than actually accomplishing any change in direction. But it always started, and it always ran. It never broke down on me, although it would wear me out every time I drove it.
Beaters were easy in the 1970s and 80s. Most old cars of that time were not festooned with pesky things like air conditioning or power windows. There were lots of of rugged Detroit sleds that were no longer part of acceptible automotive society, but still had a few miles left for the less discerning among us. Whether your tastes ran towards a slant 6/Torqueflite or a Lima 460/C6 or a SBC/THM, there were loads of choices out there for the picking.
Today? I’m not as sure. It seems to me that most of the front wheel drive stuff of the last twenty or more years have not been as stout (or as easily fixed) as the older stuff, although there are exceptions. So, what about it, Curbside Commentators? Let’s hear about your ideas for the best choice for a beater today.
Jim, perfect timing! I will answer this question tomorrow (Curbside Beater) with the (almost) perfect beater I just picked up for $200 for my younger son’s GF, who needed some first wheels. Any guesses? (not you, Jim).
BTW, is that top picture yours? Awesome. Cars around here don’t have enough rust to make them really interesting.
I officially declare this Beater Week at CC (limited to cars and trucks only 🙂 )
No, none of these vehicles is mine, although they are fairly representative of how these models looked in the salty midwest at one time or other. And for some odd reason, the Cougar really appeals to me.
As an interesting aside, did you know that if you Google “F100 beater”, your yellow truck shows up on page 10?
That Cougar reminds me of my 77 model, mainly because of the front bumper — mine had fallen off due to rust, and I replaced it with a sturdy 2×6 piece of lumber.
No “wife-beater” T-shirts?
Not funny, for some reason.
“most of the front wheel drive stuff of the last twenty or more years have not been as stout”
Maybe an ancient Chevy Corsica, but Toyota and Honda FWD cars last long, and are more common with working class drivers than ever. Used to see old GM mid or full sizers beating around, now it’s ’98 Accords, Prizms or Camrys hanging in there.
Another Prizm vote here. Let me shamelessly repost from my comment on Len’s piece:
I got more than 5 years out of a ’96 Geo Prizm. The thing was ugly, slow and lovable. Never needed anything except a new driver-side seatbelt. Dealing with the clods at the local Chevy dealer was the only bad memory I have of the car.
Alas, its creeping hood rust was catching on in other places and I was starting to worry that my kids’ friends’ parents wouldn’t let their precious cargo into my dingy little dinghy. Traded it in late 2010 and got $300…which is about what the seatbelt had cost 6 months earlier.
When the Prizm was still fairly new, I remember the book value difference between them and their Toyota-badged brethren was pretty startling. Totally silly, but it made for an excellent value – and both Prizms and Corollas of that era make great, cheap beaters today.
The Geo variant also had one significant advantage (beyond cost) for a few years as well: the GSi model was a legitimate pocket rocket and was available in a sweet 4-door hatchback bodystyle that Toyota didn’t offer on North American market Corollas. In fact, I don’t think the legendary 4A-GE motor was on option in these Corollas either…
I’d love to own one of these, shame they didn’t sell all that well and most have long been used up…
These were known locally as the liftback, as opposed to the hatchback which had a much shorter rear overhang – I don’t expect they were sold in the US!
I knew a guy who wanted to buy a Corolla SX liftback with the 4AGE when they were new, but wasn’t prepared to wait 4 months or whatever it was going to take to get one, so got the CSX instead.
Around here (rural Klamath County, east of the Cascade mountains) the typical beater in the country is a 4WD pickup. Rangers and S10s are quite popular, but the Big 3 is well represented in all sizes. (We’re in an area where 4WD is actually useful much of the year and 2WD trucks are relegated to “city work” or sent over the Cascades.)
In town, you see a lot of Civorollas in the beater role. In both town and country, old Subie Outbacks or Legacys are common beaters.
Totally agree on the S10. They’re the 80’s era cockroach that hasn’t died yet. I see them everywhere. Must be the combination of relatively decent gas mileage and ease of maintenance and cheapness of parts….
To that I’d add the 80’s era suburban’s and full size gm trucks. That 350 is cheap to work on, and pretty damned indestructable. I’ve had an 89 suburban for about 6 years now that is good for home depot runs and towing duty. It’s had 2 starters, 3 batteries, a serpentine belt, 1 new set of tires and a yearly oil change, and one car wash. It mostly starts every time (assuming the battery/starter is good 🙂 and just keeps on truckin.
95 325i. Rust, dents, windows that dont work, a radio that doesnt work, ac that doesnt work, 5 spd, bullet proof 2.5 litre w/ 200hp, rear wheel drive and it drives like new. Plus it keeps the jag in garage. It may not be the most creative entry but the sixes that came in these are very robust and parts are a plenty in socal.
It takes a pure idiot to take a BMW and let it turn into a beater. Who can be that stupid? I see it a lot with other nice cars, too. Camrys, older Accords, Maximas, even Jags. Even a Taurus could be kept up to look nice and drive nicely.
Even if you’re spinning your own wrench parts cost on anything German can make keeping it going an uphill battle.
I thought the same myself Ian, but ebay and next day air take the edge off briskly!
Pardon me Kev. But this Bmw was rescued from an owner that drove it into the ground over a period of years. Many of these little 3’s were pounded into the ground through years of automotive idealistic neglect. I was the one that suggested he buy it years ago. Regardless of your opinion that may or may not have merit do us a favor and keep your sophmoric insults to yourself. There are thousands of these on the road because they are Bavarian cockroaches. If one day I restore it like I did to scores of others over the years, it will be not to your credit. The irony here is that I share your opinion in the idea that with constant care any car can be a reliable head turner with time. But sometimes previous owners dont share the thought. So spare me the nonsense or ride your high Camry horse over to the old angry guy stable.
Some people have a tough time grasping the notion that the current driver of a damaged vehicle isn’t necessarily the damager. I’m sure some haters berate me when they see me driving some of my beaters around. “Look what that loser did to his car.”
They don’t realize these were purchased at impound auctions in previously damaged condition. I’m the only reason these vehicles even exist at this point. I outbid scrappers & junkyard owners. Sheesh!
Well said! Sometimes these vehicles deserve a second shot.
I’m on the verge of selling my ’69 F-100 longbed to a local high school senior, which makes me happy… it’s the truck I learned to drive in (and my sons as well), but it’s just accumulated too many issues to continue being my farm/beater truck. Glad that someone new will take up the mantle and hopefully keep it on the road another decade or more.
I bought the successor a bit over a year ago, a ’95 F-150 4WD. It ended up needing a lot of work, too, but it’s fairly sorted out now, and the a/c and power steering/brakes are a nice upgrade from the “clank-clank-steam-heat” amenities in the old truck. Believe it or not, this was the least-rusty truck I could find in my budget.
Oh, the other beater I wanted to mention is our old ’98 Grand Caravan, which my son drives now – pushing 250,000 miles, if the strut towers don’t rust through in the next year. This generation Caravan – as long as you get the ’98 or newer with the improved transmission – makes an excellent beater, especially with the 3.3L. Parts and service are reasonably cheap and available virtually anywhere. Highway mileage isn’t bad at around 24-25mpg. It’s a high utility vehicle as well…
Chalk up another vote for the minivan. My ’99 Grand Voyager (white) is rusting out (esp. tailgate and driver’s side sliding door), is a little smashed in front, and has 246,000 miles, but always gets me where I need to go, even if that’s a couple hundred miles away. It drives straight, rides decently, the (crappy-sounding) stereo still plays CDs, even the A/C and power windows work! Only real problem is the cooling fan doesn’t work (fried wiring harness – common in these), so especially in the summer, a traffic problem can overheat me in a hurry. I’ve been meaning to take care of that, but i don’t know how much longer I’m going to use it as my work truck/daily driver. I’m working this poor thing to death on the weekends, and I really could use a full-size van, but I’ll keep this Voyager until the body returns to the earth. Best $1000 I ever spent.
Oh, I bought it three years ago; it had 189,000 miles at the time.
I had a Plymouth minivan as a beater…a 1997. Funny problems started piling up…like the shock rusting right off the axle on the right side of the thing. And then, the three-speed automatic stopped shifting when cold; and then (as I dumped it) stopped shifting at all.
Rust around the edges; but not wholesale corrosion like we used to see. The corrosion that was there was in much more serious locations – such as the spring towers up front.
Beater FAIL!!
I kind of tried this with my 99 T&C. Mine was nice enough that I would not let it devolve completely into beater status. The only problem with these is that Chrysler did a pretty good job of packing a lot of mechanical stuff into a very small area. Changing plugs and wires is a real challenge on these, one that I elected to pay a mechanic to do rather than take the time (and frustration) it would take to do myself. I will grant that they are pretty durable (and there are a lot of them still on the road) but I would go rwd on my next cheap car.
I paid someone to change the plugs in the ’98, but decided to do them myself on our ’05 T&C. Took less than 15 minutes. I guess they made the engineers change a set themselves before designing the gen 4 models.
I haven’t done the plugs/wires on mine, but it may be time soon. I guess I’ll have it done along with the serpentine belt, which is getting a big long in the tooth.
The brakes were completely shot when I bought it (which is why I got it so cheap, along with the light body damage); I had to have it towed home. I did a complete 4-wheel brake job, replaced the outer tie rod ends (they were shot, too), got an alignment, and picked up a set of good used tires from a wreck. Total outlay: about $600 including the tow, and it’s been good to go since. Only things that have gone wrong were the starter, which is like Kryptonite to the 3.3, and the HVAC control panel.
Ed, you mentioned that your strut towers were rusting out. Mine too, but I’ve been told there’s a repair kit you can have welded on. I might do that before something really bad happens. With my luck, it would be on one of my mini road trips.
I am torn between 3rd and 4th gen on these. In the midwest salt country, the 4th gen seems to be a lot more rustprone than the 3rd gen. I looked at an early 4th gen that had lived its first several years in Michigan, and it was starting to rust EVERYWHERE. Even the hoods will start to rust through on those. However, many of the newer ones come with StowNGo seats, and as you say, there was a little more room under the hoods. I loved my 99 and it is still on the road being driven by my secretary, and is still a nice car even though it is north of 220K. The 3.3 is rock-like in its durability. I just wish Chrysler had put the 3.3 in some rear drive applications.
Well, I have experience with both. My mother’s last vehicle was an ’02 Voyager eC, which was a one-year-only stripper special she got brand new. It sported the 2.4 four-banger, not really a bad engine until you had to go uphill. My brother got it after she died two years ago, and he still has it. The hood was indeed rusting on the front edge after about five years, and there’s now a nice rusty hole in front of the passenger side rear wheel (thanks, Michigan!). It’s now officially a 150,000 mile beater. Kinda sad to see the shiny navy blue (Patriot Blue in Mopar-speak) van that Mom once so proudly drove home from the dealer in such a state today, but they don’t last forever, do they? At least it’s still serving my brother well.
I’d vote for 3rd gen based on our experience. Much better materials, fit and finish – the cost reduction really screams in the 4th gen van.
We bought our ’98 here in the Middle West with about 98K on it, and have made it a point to frequent the car wash with undercarriage blaster during the winter. Seems to have helped, although I did have to grind, fill and paint some rot that started around the rear wheel wells a few years ago (starting to come back now).
My son had to do the cold solder joint repair on the back of the dash cluster (common issue) and the brake lines rusted through a year or two ago. Basically all stuff any older car is going to get here in the salt belt.
We did put new struts on a few years ago, and as my son has continued trying to keep the vehicle up, it still looks nice inside and out.
Whatever beater you choose is up to you but my bet would be on this Tercel, which lists at $750 but could be had for $600 in my opinion:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/cto/3121131420.html
Have a look at the body on this one. You can see what I mean about rust-free Vancouver cars. These are great cars, the drive train is practically impossible to kill.
Around here, the early ’90s 2WD Chevy/GMC 1500 twins seem to be everywhere. Not nearly as many 4X4 ones survived for some reason. Between those and the mid ’90s F150’s with the 300-six, they are some pretty reliable, easy and cheap to service beaters.
For cars, I’d vote for the Saturn S-series with the SOHC engine. The DOHC ones tended to burn oil, but the lesser models seem to last a lot longer. Even here in salty eastern Canada, I see lots of first-gen SL’s still on the road. The (mostly) plastic bodies mean they still look pretty good too.
The SOHC motor was an oil burner too. I believe the problem is oil getting past the rings, and both used the same exact block.
Regardless, the Saturn S-Series is a superb beater! They’re fun to drive (especially with the twin-cam + 5-speed), get outstanding mileage and are super cheap. The plastic body panels actually do work well for urban areas where people are bumping into you constantly. I always see them on craigslist with over 200k miles.
Great cars… it’s amazing that Saturn ended up a massive failure. The Ion that replaced them is clearly a GM Deadly Sin, IMO.
Yes the at the 10-15 year mark the Plastic body panels tend to look better that a metal body car of the same vintage. Up here in Sierra Land when you do spin out and bump into the berm they tend to shatter though. My mom before she passed away had a 94 S series with the DOCH Motor at 140k, it was going through a 1/2 qt per 1000mi.
My brother is currently driving a 1994 Saturn SL2 beater. The odometer broke at 264k before he bought it two years ago. Its an automatic with power everything, and it all works (sans the odometer)! It looks pretty good by Minnesota beater standards. Structural rust will do it in soon, but I think he will be able to hit 300k-ish before it finally gets made into Tupperware.
I was hoping Geozinger would have chimed by now, as he has the all-around perfect answer: A Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire – a true “Cockroach of the Road”©!
I guess I have his back.
©Geozinger
BTW, the commenter above who used the term “cockroach” may owe Mr. Geozinger a beer! Credit where credit is due…
You are giving cockroaches a bad name.
Cavaliers and Sunfires were terrible cars. Absolutely terrible…
Right at the end, they started using the Ecotec motor, which is OK – but before that it was pretty much all junk. What was marketed as the “Twin Cam” on the 95+ models was really just a Quad4 and everyone knows how rugged those are. The other engine choice for most was the overhead valve 2.0/2.2 which is known for eating head gaskets and coil packs. Older Z24’s had the V6, but those have all been beaten into the ground by now, and the older Pontiacs/Buicks had that overhead cam Brazilian disaster motor.
Your best chance of finding a somewhat reliable J-Body is one of the early 2.0 OHV’s with an iron head and HEI distributor, or a V6 wagon – both of which are incredibly rare now. Add in that the build quality on all of them was atrocious and that people abused the living piss out of them because they’re worthless, disposable cars and it’s no surprise that a car GM once sold 400k copies of yearly is hardly ever seen on the roads these days.
My first car was a hand-me-down ’89 Cavalier that my mother had bought new and maintained religiously. It was hauled off to be turned into an aluminum can before it hit 90k miles. A good beater should be cheap, reliable and utilitarian. The J-Body can only hope to meet one of those criteria at best.
Thanks Bro! I’ve been a little occupied with other things lately, and haven’t taken the time to stroll through CC as much as I’d like.
I’d argue that the older (pre 1990) J bodies were less stout than the later models, but so was everything else during that time. My own personal experiences with my J bodys, all post 1995 apparently have been exceptional, but I can’t speak to anyone else’s expectations.
I’m still hammering out miles in a 95 Sunfire GT with the dreaded 2.3L Quad 4; I bought the car from a young man who beat on it mercilessly. It was HIS beater. Due to the loss of my job (and subsequent acceptance of a lesser paying job) three years ago, it became my daily driver. I’ve put some repairs into it for sure, but any older car is going to require something; I’m not particularly easy on a car, and I know I will have to pay the devil his due for my indiscretions, both automotively and otherwise.
My 253K mile 1997 2.2L Cavalier is another beater, but the thing that will take it off the road is the body rusting horribly. I guess I shouldn’t complain, a 15 year old car that is still mechanically roadworthy is something of an accomplishment, at least compared to cars past. This past winter I lent the car to a family friend who had encountered some money troubles. Once those were resolved, she liked my old Cavy so much, she bought a 2005 Cavalier sedan for her daughter to drive.
My own daughter got a 2004 Sunfire from her grandfather as a HS graduation present in 2008, other than some oddball things that went wrong (dashboard lights and a power outlet), it was a great runner. The Ecotec and 4T40 is one heck of a drivetrain. In a perfect world, I would replace my beater Sunfire with one like hers. Unfortunately, hers was totalled in an accident and I wasn’t able to salvage it. Bummer. And I need more space than a small coupe can give me. Whatever I get next will be larger. Bummer again.
My other choice for beaters or at least cheap used car is/will be the GM Epsilon bodies (Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura, Chevy Malibu/Uglibu). Most of those are close to their nadir in terms of pricing, and the Ecotec equipped ones are quite thrifty. Plenty of space in the Uglibus, and my personal preference is for a Malibu Maxx. Or a 3.6 equipped Aura or G6. Surprisingly good performance out of those. Ask me how I know…
Great topic, JP.
I’ve had a string of beaters, but one of my favorites was a 1986 Crown Victoria I purchased for $375 at an auction at Southeast Missouri State University. It started life as a Missouri State Highway Patrol car and had a very robust (and thirsty) 351 (5.8 liter) V8. Drove it for several years and sold it for $900.
Around here (Southwest US) rust does not cleanse the landscape so you see a wide variety of beaters of all body styles and power plants.
In my mind the ideal beaters are old trucks and BOF cars (just for ruggedness if nothing else) so I will choose old F series Ford Trucks and Panther platform vehicles.
Minivan: pre 2004 Nissan Quest/Merc Villager
Pickup: Any of Detroit 3 big or small, as old as the 80’s
Big Sedan: pre-97 Camry/Avalon, after are too $$$
“Has to be American”: pre 2000 Buick LeSabre
Compact sedan: Any Prizm for lower purchase cost, or pre-2003 Corolla
Coupe: pre 2001 Civic EX
A decently cared for GM W-body car would make a decent beater, you can buy nice Regal Limited sedans on Craigs down here for like $1000-$1500.
Any Olds Cutlass Ciera or Buick Century. They have all other hoopties beat.
And for a few years you could even get a 3800 from the factory in a Buick Century. That in my mind would be the king of the late 80s A-bodys.
Dont tempt me, there is a clean Fargo era 2door Cutlass Ciera Brougham on Craigs down down here with the 3.8 V6 that has me twitching…..
There’s a 3.8 Century wagon on Autotrader within 500 miles of me. Clean as a new penny.
Some ideas that I have not seen yet: The old Jeep Cherokee. Ideally, it would be a 2wd version with a 5 speed and crank windows. But I’ll bet Chrysler probably built about 12 like that. Still, I would love to find one. I am also thinking about an Explorer with the V8.
I like the S-10 idea, at one time that seemed to be the official vehicle of rural Indiana trailer parks. There are still quite a few around, ditto Rangers.
I also like the full sized pickup/Suburban idea. A Ford E series van is good too, but not as easy repair access as on the pickups.
For a car, I would probably stick with a Panther or any GM sedan with the 3800 if I have to go fwd. I understand the Honda/Toyota argument, but they cost so much to get into around here, and parts costs are a lot higher when something does break. True beaters must be repairable in a WalMart parking lot. 🙂
Just make sure it has the 4.0! College girlfriend had one with the GM 2.8. Thing died going up a hill in Milford, PA, and stayed dead. On the bright side I couldn’t have picked a better companion to be stranded with, and she’s been Mrs. Capn for many years now! 🙂
In 1999, when my wife and I were looking at new Cherokees, we saw a base model on a dealer’s lot in northeast Connecticut with two doors, a four-cylinder engine, and two-wheel drive. I’m pretty sure it had a manual transmission, too, and I’d be stunned if it didn’t have crank windows. You’d be hard pressed to find a Cherokee from that era with any one of those features other than maybe the crank windows, but this one had them all. (We ended up buying a base model at another dealer in Massachusetts, which we still have today; ours is a four-door six-cylinder automatic with four-wheel drive, but it does have crank windows.) So at least one 1999 model was built that way….
My sister bought a 93 Cherokee Sport. Her requirement was the 5 speed, but the car was otherwise optioned pretty nicely. She had one heckuva time finding a 5 speed – there seemed to be about one for every 50-75 automatics. I’m still mad at her for not telling me when she was going to get rid of it.
I passed on one of those!
I was shopping for a 2wd Cherokee…I drove on gravel and rough terrain – so I wanted the solid front axle – but didn’t need the four-wheel-drive. Found one; olive-green; four-cylinder and five speed, two-door.
I would have bought, but the same dealer had a loss-leader Wrangler, with no carpet, no back seat, and no options for the same price…$9999. I bought the Wrangler.
By hindsight, the Cherokee would have been the better choice.
OK, seems no one mentioned the front-wheel-drive GM A-bodies. I know of one (drove it for 8 months in 2005) that is a 1989 Buick Century Limited, and it had a really good paint job put on it and the engine and tranny had been “gone through” by a decent garage.The interior, though not pristine,detailed out wonderfully.(Louis C.K. says men should not use the word ‘wonderful’,) It was really my wife’s car, but I traded with her for 8 months (needed a head exam; I was driving my 2001 Accord at the time, but she halfway took care of it. I was simply intrigued by some old GM iron that was in decent shape. You see, my wife can turn a car into a beater but she really tries not to sometimes… ) When we traded back to normal (me-Honda, her-Buick) in ’06, all went well until she ran into the back of a Camry on her way to church. It became a beater then. One headlight and turn signal out, dented front fascia. Three months later, a Gomer Pyle type of red-neck in a truck pulled out of a parking lot without so much as a glance and there was wifey and the Century. Took out the other headlight and the rest of the fascia. GEICO totaled that car and I will never recommend them to anybody. And I wish I could step on that stupid lizard.
Bottom line, that car went back to her dad (he owns a small car lot, mostly beaters anyway) and he put a front fascia on it and it is still on the road, being driven by a friend of his family. GM may suck, but if you let them run a model into the ground (didn’t they still use that platform on the HHR?) they can make it at least halfway dependable, once all the engineering cheapness (consumer Beta testing I’m speaking of) is worked out of it. GM still sucks so badly, though…Hey, anyone for a bonfire/barbecue? Let’s go buy a Volt, a $45000 barbecue grill/bonfire starter! And for a little more fun, Anyone who drives a Cruze to the party can make big bucks when we place wagers on how soon your steering wheel will fall into your lap and how much chaos it causes you when it happens! My 2 cents. The car now has well over 220000 miles on it by now. Amazing, but I still hate GM.
Here in the UK, we’re talking sub-£1000 cars, and they’re called bangers over here. You’d want something reliable, easy to repair, and not too bad on petrol. A good guide is to see what is used as a minicab. Sadly, most of the ‘standby’ beaters have either been scrapped under the scrappage scheme or have become classics. Volvo 240’s are no longer the substitute for a builder’s van, and Citroen BX’s have become too costly to keep going so have been scrapped. Sierras have all either rotted or modified into oblivion. Even the Volvo 340s which were everywhere have all gone, having been discovered by youth who want cheap insurance and RWD for drifting. (How such an uncool car can become cool is a mystery to me).
Interestingly, as cheap cars have become more complex, they tend to be scrapped before their tenth birthday. Focii, Astras and the like are real no-nos.
Peugeot 406’s are now firmly in beater territory, although they can be a pain in the arse to fix and scream minicab.
Mercedes 190’s are often found for £1000 in good shape with only one or two loving owners. They’re soon to be classics though. These were the last of the hewn from granite benzes and in Europe the cheap spares more than make up for the 30mpg.
For the Citroenistas, the Xantia is very cheap at the moment, and if you know its quirks can be quite reliable, especially the diesel.
For something sporty yet economical, Toyota Celica’s of the mid-90s are an excellent buy now. 1.8’s were usually bought by retirees and well looked after. These never break or rust and are capable of gargantuan mileage with only minimal care.
If you want to kick it old school, how about a Skoda Felicia? These are easily under £500, use a pushrod engine designed in the ’50s, get 40mpg, and can carry a washing machine in the back after the rear seat pops out. The first buyers were usually elderly, so its easy to find one with under 50K miles.
For those with a large family, nothing can beat a Volvo 940. They gulp fuel, but don’t rust and generally don’t break. If you don’t need the space, a saloon with under 100K can be picked up for under £800 with the proverbial one careful owner.
I think the only thing these cars have in common is the same thing that makes the A body roaches and ’88-95 Lesabres such good beaters- elderly owners. Yes, an ‘uncool’ car with a loving owner who polished it every weekend is exactly the car you want to get from A to B. Get a good’un and it’ll last you forever.
I have two- a ’79 Volvo 245 which I got for £1000 with 50K on the odometer and a stack of papers as thick as the seat foam, and the beater of the ’70s- a Rover p4. Other sub-1000 cars I’ve owned are:
Austin Allegro (4 of em)
Rover SD1 £250 and 28K miles!
Mercedes 250D- I put 65K on it without any more than regular servicing that I did myself.
Skoda Felicia (see above)
Ladas x3- these were very good cars, much better than their reputation gave them credit for. They were always knocked for their build quality, but it really was on par with Leyland or anything French. (or malaise era American for that matter)
and of course my lovely Volvo 245dl that has given me four years and counting of (mostly) trouble free motoring.
I am sad though that there won’t be any beaters ten years from now. Cars are getting too complex and cost engineered to the penny so that they will be reliable for ten years and 200K miles and not a day or mile longer.
Great list of cars Brian, some interesting machinery in there. I’m amazed to hear that the 340 series has become cool. I had a nasty 343 with the Renault engine and cvt. worst car in the world, I’m convinced.
My best uk beater was a nova with the 1.0 pushrods engine. Incredibly basic car, but almost nothing to go wrong with it. Simple, robust technology, but not great at motorway speeds.
Best beater over here in nz was a 2.0 cortina estate for $100. Don’t see too many of these anymore.
When you mention ultimate beater, I think of my friend Dana’s mid-80’s C10 that he bought for $60 in the late ’90’s and drove for a few years. It had been a coastal Florida DOT vehicle, rust-yellow, which was fortuitous as the faded paint nicely complimented the surface rust-a true two-toned truck. No options, meaning the 250 six, plaid vinyl seats and three-on-the-tree. It needed about everything maintainance-wise, which it eventually got as it was otherwise so reliable, and had such good kharma that each person to whom it was loaned felt obligated to put a little work into it. That $60 truck moved innumerable friends (Dana is a great guy) over the years, with each drop-off marked by a rectangular-shaped dusting of former steel in the recipient’s driveway. Dana kept it until he inherited his father’s vintage Airstream, which came with the newer Silverado needed to pull it. Dunno what happened to the $60 truck-probably still moving people and quietly rusting away somewhere in north Florida.
A topic near and dear to my heart: unglamorious junkers/beaters/bangers/work cars. Ease of maintenance is one of the most important considerations for a beater, and so is availability of parts. You need to be able to do the work yourself, or at least be able to understand what’s going on when you farm out the work to someone else. Therefore, I tend to prefer domestic brands for beaters… Difficult to say what I’d choose now if I was in the market for a beater… Most of the beaters/junkers around here are Toyotas and Hondas. My favorite beater used to be the 70s Camaros– they’re getting a little thin on the ground nowadays, though. I never owned one, but they were always purchased with such high hopes– a little paint, a little bondo… their beater status was always supposed to be temporary.
I would add this: in the case of some cars, such as the Cougar(???) at the top of the story, the quality of the tape used to hold it together would be the most important consideration given the relatively high tape to metal ratio in some junkers/beaters.
My only beater (besides worn-out VW bugs, which aren’t really beaters for some reason) was the ’74 Nova Spirit of America hatchback that Ed pictured on the Fourth.
It got so bad at the end that I used an office stapler all over the falling headliner, it had a persistent mildewed smell inside from the leaking hatchback, and I had to lift up the long, sagging driver’s door when closing it. Some rust from its first winter in Wisconsin, and a peeling vinyl roof too.
AM-only radio, so my sound system was a Radio Shack portable AM/FM sitting on the hump between the bucket seats.
You should have seen the look on the salesman’s face when he saw what came in trade on a new ’87 Celica. If it spent more than an hour on the Toyota dealer’s lot, I’d be amazed.
Thing is, it ran great the whole five years it was my daily driver. Just one breakdown in all that time, a blown radiator hose one morning, in front of a gas station, walking distance from the office. Of course they had the part, I drove it home after work. Can’t wish for better than that.
As I said on the 4th, I really enjoyed that SBC and THM. It was my one and only V8 American car. I still miss it.
Somehow I can’t qualify a pickup truck as a ‘beater’. Ever since i was a kid, cars were the only vehicles referred to as ‘beaters’. Otherwise decent looking cars with one isolated area of damage don’t qualify as beaters to me either.
it’s evident that several of you would find many of my vehicles “beaters” but here is one that I feel truly qualifies: it’s my ’73 Bonneville 4-door sedan, purchased ten or more years ago for $200 at a Birmingham impound auction.
I bought it for the 400-2 engine to repower my ’73 GrandAm sedan but it got a stay of execution: I had recently moved from AL to NC due to a J.O.B. but had all these vehicles still sitting down there. Someone was going back to AL & one weekend I hitched a free ride back there with the intention of driving one of my cars back. However, something broke on whatever I was gonna drive back…leaving me with several < $200 vehicles to choose from.
I chose the old Pontiac… After working through the night changing all the fluids, repacking wheel bearings, & temporarily installing a cheapo temp gauge, I headed up north in it. The car made the 600 mile trip without any issues whatsoever.
It had been previously abused, taking a pretty hard hit in the front. The roof was rusted out under the post-factory-installed vinyl top, & the whole top of the rear seat was literally covered in duct tape, complementing the exposed foam on the front seat. The trunk lock had been punched out by the impound lot so it now wears a burma brown rusty GrandVille trunklid..clashing with the awful mystery color it had been painted with some time in the past. I never installed a lock in the “new” lid so it’s still screwdriver-accessed.
The car is not worth fixing but I just can't bring myself to kill it. The front end is completely worn out as there is a lot of slack in the steering & the exhaust is starting to leak up front…although the duals/glasspacks still sound pretty good out back. The early 80's Pioneer cassette player is missing a knob but both rear speakers still work despite that. The upper driver's panel is MIA but the armrest is still there.
It's currently tagged & insured & I like to drive it around when I know it's not going to rain (the roof has lots of rust holes). It starts a lot faster than my "nice" '73 Pontiacs do & I've yet to adjust the points in the thing.
I am on record of being no fan of the 71-76 GM B body – as a car. But as a beater, it is without peer! You, sir, have the ultimate beater. I love it. I might prefer a similar vintage Oldsmobile, but your Pontiac would be right up there in second place. The little side visors put it over the top. Nobody on the road in any of the 50 states will mess with you in that car – you will be the winner of every traffic dispute. Get some roofing cement and patch the roof holes, but do not get rid of this car. You will regret it.
Its true about the sheer menace that a rough looking 70s’ land yacht brings to the everyday traffic grind, stuck up housewives in pear white RX300’s avoid you like if you were Ted Bundy and every wanna be in new leased 3series will never dare to tailgate you or cut you off for fear or your lack of insurance/possible firearm in car/anti-goverment psycho vibe that a rough land yacht throws out, its like wearing a bulletproof vest with a big bumper sticker that reads “dont f*** with me”.
I am so with y’all on the 1971-76 GM cars. My favorite beater was this ’76 Caddy Sedan deVille I bought for $450 from a sketchy used car lot in Philly in 1997 or ’98. All it needed was a fan belt, an alignment and some silicone sealant around the rear window and base of the vinyl top that temporarily stopped the rain leak into the trunk (being caused by rust developing under the top). I got one of those cheapo DIY R-134 A/C conversion kits and it actually worked. Eventually the transmission started leaking badly but it worked fine as long as I kept the fluid level up. My daughter (teenager at the time) said it was a hunk of junk. My friends and I decided to run with that and so she was christened “the HOJ.”
The HOJ had a blue leather interior that was excellent outside of one worn spot on the driver’s seatback. Ahh, those were the days, when car interiors were available in colors other than grey, black and tan.
Mr. Cavanaugh,
I’m honored! I never even considered roofing tar/cement but that is a great idea. If I ever decided to fix this thing up the roof would have to be cut off of it anyway, so a layer of black goo wouldn’t do it any harm now. An extra inch or so thicker around the rear window would prevent the rust from spreading further. The trunk floor is a little spotty but the rest of the unit is surprisingly solid for what it is.
I will say driving it is a real pleasure because the car does not try to prove anything. People don’t try to pass me, cut me off, give me smug looks, or otherwise challenge me in traffic. My solution to the tailgaters is currently my leaky rear main seal (ha-ha!) but I will probably be taking Carmine’s advice & making up a bumper sticker that reads, “Go ahead. Make my day”.
The rear main leak is getting bad enough to warrant changing though which sucks…the oil spray preserves the undercarriage but the greasy trunklid & smokescreen when pulling hills isn’t living up to even my low standards. I kicked around several ideas with this car since it was not ordered with any interesting options and its original color was Burnished Umber (silvery brown). I thought about painting the car one panel at a time….doing it “right” with the exception of each panel being a different 1973 GM color. Golden Olive hood, Regatta blue LF fender, Florentine Red LF door, Porcelain blue LR door, Brewster green RR quarter, etc. Same thing with the inside door panels. Oxblood, green, blue, black, neutral.
Check out the front end damage. It’s perfect. The bumper brackets shifted it nearly six inches to the driver’s side but the bumper itself has zero damage..not even the rub strips are torn. Although the fender & core support are killed, the fragile front valance, hood, & frame escaped injury.
BTW, that blue HOJ is one fine looking machine…I would have a hard time calling it a beater. Cadillac is the one exception to my 1973 GM fetish – I’d take a ’75 or ’76 Cadillac “anything” in a heartbeat.
Have you ever seen the fake Saturday Night Live ad for The Chameleon? On the outside it was a full size 73 Pontiac like yours with a luxury interior like a Rolls.
That thing is AWESOME. I’m so jealous. It would make an excellent traffic clearer in my neck of the woods…
Interior view! The whistling at higher speeds (from the holes in the roof) and the sticky accelerator cable are a little annoying but the car just soaks up the bumps. The Bowden cable that selects the temperature broke so the end of it was rerouted through the glove box light access hole.
The clock keeps perfect time though — I could not deal with a broken clock so I took it apart & oiled it.
Aw heck yeah, two buddies and I went Maine to Cali in a ’71 Catalina with that same motor, a two-door but same colors inside and out as yours. This was in 1995. I hope you can bring it back a little…but not too much. 🙂
This could be a whole routine, “You may own a beater if…”
Well this may be a beater or it may not. I think this picture and the ones that were in the previous article (Don’t need no stinking full sized truck) prove that it gets beaten on. I guess we can all have our private definitions but this is my vehicle that gets beaten on regularly.
Reminds me of a trip I did with my grandfather’s in his 89-90 model Subaru Brumby (aka Brat) – he subsequently bought one of the ‘last batch’ in 92 or 93. My aunt had a small rural property, approx 30-50 acres at a guess, and ran some sheep on it, so my grandfather made a trip down in the Brumby loaded up with a portable stock yard on a pipe rack (literally made from heavy gauge water pipe) and a heap of other stuff that made mockery of the Subaru’s 400kg load rating. I travelled with him on the 120 mile return journey, and I remember one hill the Brumby had to climb in second gear, it would not pull third. Mind you they didn’t have a lot of power in any case so holding top/fourth empty would have been pushing it. Thanks for prompting a fond memory.
The best are:
GM A-body with a 3.3 V6
GM B-body
Ford Panther
These will all run forever with little upkeep. Plus they are very, very, hard to kill.
The Panthers need another 5ish years until they truly enter the Pantheon of Beaters. Right now you still see them driven by Cops and Respectable retirees. With a large & long production run and rugged proven components they have the DNA of a beater.
The first Panthers are over 30 years old and the fist aeros are 20 years old. So they are already eligible for beater status. I certainly consider my 92 CV a beater and one that has done me well.
Ford Granada as a beater.
Yeah, I know, they’re just about gone…but that had everything you’d want in a beater. First, the cosmetics of the body would fall apart before structural fail. Then, the Ford six was just about indestructible.
Finally, there was NO way you’d EVER develop an attachment to such a character-free POS.
You have hit on a key point of beaterdom – it has to be a car that you would never find attractive, as in you would never be tempted to improve it to the point of being better than a beater. This is why (for me) a Granada or a 72 Olds 88 would be a better beater than a 72 Newport. I might (would) get attached to a Newport and would start putting money into it to improve it and try to make it a relatively nice car. This happened when I bought my 99 Town & Country. It drove so nice that whenever something needed fixed, I would fix it. So even though I didn’t pay much for it, it looked right, drove right, and everything worked. So it was a bad beater for me.
But a Granada – how perfect. I could never love a Granada. I could respect it for its basic mechanical toughness, but not as a nice car.
Pretty much any Ranger pickup you can find on Craigslist, square or rounded bodies alike. The 2.3/2.5 engines are dead reliable, and get decent mileage. Parts are plentiful, cheap, and there were a lot of them on the road, which means junkyard parts should be easily sourced as well. I am also a fan of the last generation of Escorts because they can be had for nearly nothing, and are put together reasonably well.
Last Gen Escorts are great, still miss my 1997 wagon that got lost in the divorce to someone who didn’t even like it.
The last car I owned that qualified as a beater was the 90 Toyota station wagon no rust because theyre galvanised and dont but it had nothing going for it other than anvil like reliability of the SOHC 2C diesel engine cost me $300 at auction ,$200 in parts to make it roadworthy and replace the cambelt and injector pump seals and crank seal, that stopped the rain of fluids and I drove it 11 months and sold it for $600 mostly because I was sick of it and my current ride appeared at a good price. Our bianual roadworthy inspections remove all the rust buckets from service so even our dungers are in reasonable order.
I think the ‘beater’ landscape has changed drastically in Australia in the last few years since leaded petrol and then lead-replacement have stopped being sold – it is now fairly rare to see pre-1986 cars used as day-to-day transport. Yes there are still some elderly folks who are driving their ‘last car’ that they bought in 1975 (and keep in amazing shape partly because it is garaged and does 5000 miles per year), and some ‘grandfathers axe’-mobiles that have been fed a steady diet of new engines & transmissions etc, but they are a tiny percentage of what is on the road.
Then there is what you regard as a beater to start with. I’d say it is a ‘cosmetically-challenged’ car that you ‘keep on the road’, but only up to a point – ie any large repair bill will kill it. This can be a deliberate decision, but occurs naturally to cars somewhere in the 5 to 20 year old range for most people – you make a transition from ‘pride of ownership’ to just ‘ownership’.
I think the true beater exists to save the nice car from certain usage, such as parking at the train station.
Good beaters today? I’d say most GM cars with the 3800 v6 would qualify, especially if you get an old Buick Park Avenue or Lesabre. Corollas and Ford trucks are still legendary too.
I just spent an enjoyable few minutes browsing the local Craigslist for cars by owner, max $1000, sort by high price. A remarkable parade of beaters. Everything from a ’99 Olds Silhouette to a ’53 Willys Ace.
Try it in your town, or just pick anywhere. You see the damnedest stuff on Craigslist.
I have read this older thread a couple of times now.I love it.Would like to hear more beater tales out there.I have an 04 Taurus with 240 k that I just can’t part with.Its my ole horse.
I’m afraid some time in the future Beater cars will become a thing of the past.