Typically “Shitbox Showdown” runs from Monday through Friday, and is penned by our talented contributor Mark Tucker. But I felt compelled to write a bonus Shitbox Showdown as a way to thank you for helping our site reach 1 Million pageviews this month, and also because I can’t stop staring at these two manual Ford SUVs and sharing them with Jason Torchinsky. Jason shares my appreciation for these two vehicles, but I can only send him these two links so many times before even he tires of agreeing with me that these are cool. (Actually, in truth, I don’t think he ever tires of it; but I worry that he might after the 1000th time I show him these links, so let me cut him a break and start bothering you). We’ll start with the Tribute.
2008 Mazda Tribute: $6,500
I know, I know. Some of you are thinking: “Hey, this is supposed to be Shitbox Showdown, and you’re showing us a $6,500 car?” And that’s fair; this thing ain’t cheap, and it’s really not a shitbox, per se. But it’s cool, though maybe in the same way that music aficionados like bad music and cheese connoisseurs enjoy dairy that smells like feet. But whatever. So what if I’m in so deep that I’m now drooling over mundane crossovers? I’m not ashamed. Look at this thing! You can’t tell me that the second-gen Mazda Tribute’s styling hasn’t aged well. It’s upright, has tough fender flares, the face looks confident, and overall the design is just clean.
But here’s the thing: It’s not just the crisp exterior styling that has me so interested in this Tribute — it’s the interior. Not only is it equipped with a stickshift and clutch pedal, but it’s absolutely beautiful for a cheap 14 year-old crossover cabin. Check it out:
Am I wrong on this? Why do I find this 14 year-old Ford Escape cabin to look absolutely lovely. The tan and black is just so perfectly blended, the four-spoke steering wheel looks great, and the liberal use of tan on pretty much all door trim and on the headliner — it just makes the interior feel airy and pleasant.
But it’s not just the elegant interior and exterior styling that has me feeling some type of way about this Tribute, it’s the hardware underneath it all. The engine is Mazda’s 2.3-liter “MZR” engine, called the Duratec 23 in Ford applications. It is a legitimately good engine that tends to last forever, and it’s hooked to a Ford G5M-R five-speed manual which should last well beyond 200,000 miles if taken good care of (though its internal slave cylinder has me concerned, as to fix it would require one to remove the transmission; external slave cylinder designs don’t have that problem). I guess what makes this car so appealing is that it’s a modern car with decent crash test scores, it scores 28 MPG highway, its interior looks fantastic, the exterior looks like a nice blend of elegancy and toughness, and with only 95,000 miles on the clock, I bet that Mazda MZR motor and G5M-R transmission will last until the end of time. This seems like a stout, modern, comfortable, somewhat efficient little manual transmission machine that’s in incredible shape.
1993 Ford Explorer: $3,800
The other manual FoMoCo SUV I’ve been drooling for is a 188,000 mile 1993 first-generation Ford Explorer. It’s a body-on-frame, squared-off, old-school machine that really doesn’t get the love it deserves from car enthusiasts. Though I guess I understand why; the vehicle is a bit watered down. It’s not as purposeful as its Jeep Cherokee competitor; the geometry and the independent front suspension setup pretty much preclude the car from being a real off-road beast straight out of the dealership; it guzzles gas; it looks like many other Fords of the era (and shares many mechanical attributes)’ and it never really became a cult classic despite being featured in films like Jurassic Park (where it wasn’t really the star). It’s just a 1990s-era Ford SUV.
But I dig it.
The squared-off styling just works, and overall, I think this body-on-frame, 4×4 machine would make a pretty good camping rig. The 4.0-liter V6 underhood is basically unkillable from what I’ve been told, and though the Mazda M5OD five-speed isn’t exactly known for being the most robust manual transmission, if used mostly on the street and not in hard-core off-road environments it should hold up just fine.
The dash is a bit boring, but the Explorer’s seats are just fantastic with those striped shades of gray.
The two-tone exterior paint is lovely, and between it, the fun seats, the car’s squared-off shape, the reliable V6 engine, the 4×4 capability, and the five-speed manual, there’s just a lot of ’90s Americana to love, here. The question is: Does the lower-mileage, more expensive front-wheel drive 2008 Mazda Tribute offer even more to love? It’s newer, safer, has a nicer and brighter interior, has a similarly stout engine and drivetrain, can go farther on a gallon of gas, and is safer. But it’s also a two-wheel drive crossover that looks like an Escape. Hmm. Let’s have a poll:
I’d love a manual 4 door 4wd Explorer, first gen or early 2nd would be fine. I’ve driven them and they’re a lot better as a daily than an XJ. They ride nicer, interior is roomier and not as awkward to get in/out of, and I always considered them to drive nicer, in spite of being true BOF. The Grand Cherokee was clearly aimed at Explorer, while the much earlier design of the XJ showed when compared. I have been off road in both (moderate trails with deep ruts, etc, nothing extreme), advantage: Jeep… but not by a huge margin for that type of driving. Hard-core off-roaders will undoubtedly prefer the Jeep. And they can enjoy is myriad of electrical problems and multiple fluid leaks, seemingly from the factory as I recall. The Mazda Escape? I’d rather have a real SUV any day. I had a crossover (AWD/manual Element), not interested in another (especially a FWD only, even with 3 pedals). Second, and more importantly, the Mazda is an Illinois car. That generation of Tribute/Escape loved to rust out under that body cladding. I’d be willing to bet that despite looking oh so clean, there isn’t much body structure left under that cladding. I realize that’s somehow a plus for your David, but for those of us who aren’t keen to drive a vehicle that will wad up like a beer can on a frat boy’s forehead in a wreck, I’ll pass. The explorer would be a good 2nd vehicle. Home Depot trips with a utility trailer. Take the dogs to the creek. Throw some AT tires on there and do some camping etc. Now that you mention it, looks like the camber is off (and has been for awhile) even now. I have a friend who had a small fleet of this generation Escapes for his business. He even drove one himself. He took pretty good care of things and he claimed they were all unkillable and affordable to keep up with required maintenance. He did however, lose them all to copious rust. They just rotted out extremely fast. For this reason, I think it is the best choice for David. He will feel right at home in one. The Explorer checks all the boxes for me. Honestly, I only have two for this gen Explorer/Ranger and those are 4.0 and manual. But the Tribute looks like something that you can daily right now and for many years in the future – to me it is clearly the better buy if it is going to see regular use. Mazda it is. What do you want it for? A pavement-only runabout that will spoil you with it’s fresh*, updated* interior ? Would you drive it once the salt comes out? (* by DT standards) Let’s face it. The Explorer is close to your style. With it’s apparent lack of rust, you’d still probably park it in winter. But while not a rock crawler, the Explorer can go farther off road than a FWD CUV. I’m too lazy to look up tow ratings, but I’m guessing the Ford’s would be at least twice the Tribute’s. Since you work at home, how much driving do you really do? at an almost $3K price difference, how long would it take you to break even? I’d take the Escape/Tribute because a manual SUV THAT new is definitely rare and fun and kinda cool and unique. The Escape/Tribute is the reason Mazda didn’t offer a 4-cylinder engine on the Mazda6 wagon in the US–fear that it would steal sales from the Escape/Tribute, so the 6 wagon was V6-only in the US 🙁 The I4 comes from Mazda. The V6 comes from Ford I know they worked together, but can anyone explain why the Mazda has a Ford transmission and the Ford has a Mazda transmission? so even as clean as it looks, I could ever choose it here. My sister bought a ’92 for $500 in 2002… I put a fan clutch and fuel pump in it and charged the A/C and never did anything else but oil changes for the next three years. It rode rough, it was noisy, it was borderline anemic in the power department, but it was roomy, reliable, and useful as hell. On the other hand, I worked on the Tribute/Escape for a living and came away with a healthy hatred of the things.
