[Slam]

'83.

Manual steering
Forged rods
No ball joint issues
No fuel line routing issues
Lighter
Simpler for the DIY-type owner
Cheaper parts (see above)
Steel control arms easier to work on (and, again, cheap parts)
Not lumbered with systems more at home on a luxury car
Cast header not prone to cracking
Some prefer the manual TB tensioner
The licence plate's in the right place, not hanging off the rear bumper...

Just off the top of my head, of course.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like about Mandy's 87 too, but when I compare build quality side-by-side, the 83's got it. (Her car's gas door is a floppy plastic thing. My 83 and 84 have aluminum ones.) My choice would be an 82 Euro, if I could find one.

But the good thing about these cars is there's one for everybody. If they made an S2 automatic, I'd want one.