We had a blue Civic wagon exactly like this one as our family chariot in 1983. Somehow, we managed to haul our two children, stroller, shopping, and even luggage when going on vacation. Never really seemed cramped; in fact the back seat had limo-like leg room. Enough already, because a full CC on these little gems will come when we catch up on our continuing Honda chronology (there’s a slew of these wagons still here). But I couldn’t resist this nice juxtaposition, even if it wasn’t a Suburban. And that Civic Wagovan is a four wheel drive version, the tell-tale being those different wheels and the higher suspension setting.
A friend of mine drove a hand-me-down ’91 Civic Wagon with “Real Time” 4wd (from what I understand, the same system used in the early CR-V’s.
For a car as short as that little wagon was, the interior room was insane. It’d easily fit four medium-sized adults for trips of over an hour.
It was *really* underpowered (it had the 4-speed automatic – the 6-speed manual the Civic 4wd wagon came with would have been nice) and compared to the well used Volvo 740 Turbo I drove at the same time, had seemingly no structural integrity. However, that Honda was extremely reliable and was sold at almost 200k miles with the original engine and transmission still functioning well.
For some serious Civic wagon hoonage, look no further than here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO12HPLaK-Y&feature=relmfu
It is amazing how vehicles have grown over the years. One question – did you have to place your children in child seats in the 1980s? We have a 16-month-old daughter, and the law states that we must have her in a suitable child seat until she reaches a certain weight. That seat takes up a fair amount of room in our Accord sedan.
I do believe that the child restraint laws have helped kill the sales of coupes on this country. Placing a child in the seat is often hard enough in the Accord…I wouldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like in a coupe. Or maybe I’m just getting older…
Yes, California was pretty aggressive about that. The back seat of the Civic wagon was huge.
When I was a kid, I frequently rode in the cargo area of my Mom’s 240 and 740 Volvo wagons, since it kept me from being elbowed by my younger brother and sister. For several years we drove to the Chicago Auto Show, and it was a great place to sleep in on the way up!
My wife and I had a Civic wagon when we first got married, and then someone rear-ended it. (It had been a replacement car for a previous Civic she had…that had been rear-ended.) Great car in the time she/we had it–we took it on many a road trip and it could haul everything we needed.