Long gone… That is what comes to mind when I think about my 1982 Honda Civic Sedan, and for that matter, practically any Japanese car built before 1990, here in steel-loving Pennsylvania. This was my first car, but that was now six daily drivers ago. Seems like an eternity already, but this was an unforgettable car. How could it be, given that I was fifteen when I got it? And that I shut down a Trans Am with it.This picture, taken on the last day that I owned it in 1997, is how I remember it. Sporting its blacked-out “Mach I” hood and medium metallic blue from an Earl Sheib-style re-spray at a Philadelphia vo-tech school. The hood was sourced from a brown car, dressed primer black but never actually pained to match. It doesn’t look that bad in the pictures actually, but rust was taking its toll on its frame rails and the bottom of the fenders, and it was in need of a carburetor rebuild.
Still, with 245,000 miles on it, it had more life left in it for its new owner, who would put another 30,000 miles on it before giving it to his daughter, who promptly totaled it. On that day in 1997, I replaced it with a ’95 Thunderbird, a car which couldn’t be more different in terms of its form and intended mission.
To most, this car is yet another 1980’s appliance that nobody saves, or even laments being gone. An ’82 Civic isn’t exactly a car that’s often restored or preserved. It doesn’t have legions of enthusiasts dedicated to its restoration, modification or preservation. There is no classic Honda weekend at the Carlisle, PA Fairgrounds. I have yet to see one at the Mecum Auction, or at Barrett-Jackson. And, although I’m not certain, I’m pretty sure nobody drove one across the lawn at the Pebble Beach…That is unless they were there to cut the grass.
My dad originally purchased what would become my first car, as a daily driver for himself. Its previous owner had bought a new Honda Accord and was looking to sell her beloved Civic which she named “Little Blue”. Dad did a lot of driving at the time and was looking to share the mileage burden placed on our family Pontiac 6000 wagon , so the idea of this little Civic as daily driver with its then EPA gas mileage estimates of 34 mpg city/47 highway must have been very appealing. Within a week of hearing about the Civic for sale by a family friend, dad went and got a home equity loan and paid the $3,000 asking price to bring home Little Blue.
image: cardomain
When he got it, Little Blue was still wearing its original Avignon blue metallic paint with black trim complementing its black plastic covered federal-mandated battering ram bumpers. It had the two-tone blue interior much like the car pictured above. These cars came with novel features absent from most of the economy cars from Detroit such a: a tachometer (even though it was an auto), intermittent windshield wipers, remote truck release, a digital clock (that worked more than three years into ownership), various storage compartments and a coin holder.
The second generation Civic debuted in 1980 featuring the familiar hatchback version, but also a station wagon, and in 1981 for the first time ever, a traditional three-box 4-door sedan. These were the first Civics to be offered with the new optional 3 speed automatic transaxle, replacing the Hondamatic two speed.
Of course, manuals were also available (and more common) in both the 4 speed and 5 speed variety, but the three speed automatic and the sedan body style really opened the door to the segment of the population that won’t drive a manual, or a hatchback. The mild 1982 re-skin gave all models square sealed beams that were so popular at the time, and an angular appearance more befitting of the current style. In 1983, an “S” version was available which teamed the 2-door hatchback body with a 5 speed and the 1500 engine, upgraded suspension, alloy wheels and a red accent stripe. The “S” was only available in red or black and had a unique interior color pattern as well.
My Civic, like all sedans, came standard with the bigger 1500cc SOHC engine with the 12 valve CVCC head featuring a Kehin 3 barrel carburetor good for 63 Hp. Honda’s CVCC setup (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) was essentially a way to reduce emissions and increase the efficiency while still using a carburetor. The CVCC engine was a stratified charge engine, or one where different intake valves are used to feed two different mixtures of air and fuel into the combustion chamber.
image: civic1200.com
The CVCC head has the spark plug mounted inside a small pre-chamber which is fed with a richer than normal mixture of fuel by a small dedicated intake valve. This third valve received an extra rich fuel and air mixture from a smaller third barrel of the carburetor. The spark plug ignites this rich mixture. The burning flame front then travels through a port to the rest of the combustion chamber where it continues to burn an extra-lean mixture in the larger part of the cylinder above the piston.
The end result of this combustion chamber wizardry was that earlier CVCC equipped vehicles used less fuel and they didn’t need a catalytic converter to meet US emissions requirements, at least for the smaller displacement engines Honda sold in the 70’s. I’m not sure if any of the 80’s CVCC’s came without the catalyst; I seem to recall seeing 1300 CVCC cars without them, but I know that my 82 sedan, with the 1500 engine did have one.
(From: hondahdwallpaper.com)
Now 63 HP doesn’t sound like much power (and trust me it wasn’t), but with its 1,840 lb curb weight, the whole car was so darn light that it felt rather peppy for the times.
For a point of comparison, it could hit forty-five as fast as my friend’s 1980 Trans Am with the Pontiac 301 and 2.41:1 gear ratio. Now, make no mistake, he’d catch me in the quarter mile, and could cruise at 120 all day with the AC on, but it still a made for some great garage conversation. Later, we’d replace the 301 in his Trans Am with a late-sixties Pontiac 400, which fixed his Trans Am’s “Honda problem” once and for all.
My dad essentially handed over the keys to my 82 Civic in the summer of 1989. I was 15 and looking forward to getting my learner’s permit to drive. While I really wanted a 77 Trans Am in black and gold with T-tops, I was happy to have any car to call my own. I was quick to start personalizing my car. What my Honda didn’t have (at least initially) was air conditioning, and since a T-top Trans Am was not a reality, I set about doing the next best thing to my Honda: installing a DIY pop-up sunroof kit from the local Pep Boys.
That is fifteen year-old me cutting a hole in the roof of my car with a jigsaw. It was on this day that I learned a lesson about removing the headliner first, before cutting the hole in the roof. Unfortunately, too much of the headliner was cut away in the process, requiring double sided carpet tape to keep it in place from then on.
Fortunately, I did a far better job cutting the steel and it never did leak. Fog lights, window tint and other accessories would be installed around that time also. I’ve since learned to appreciate a more subtle look on a car, as I generally now prefer my cars without air dams, spoilers, and graphics advertising what it is. But hey, I was a teenager. And teenage boys with their cars are like teenage girls with makeup; more is always better. I’m just thankful there were no fart-cannon mufflers or massive spoilers at Pep Boys in those days. There really wasn’t much in the way of accessories for import back then, but if you wanted to put cherry bombs on your 79 Camaro, you were in luck.
It’s quite possible that I owe my very existence to this car. My friends and I did so much stupid stuff that I might not be here if it wasn’t for the fact that I had a car that was incapable of getting into too much trouble. The sport above was known as roof-riding. That is my friend Dominic, the world champion of roof-riding on the roof of my Honda. I have no idea what we were thinking…
The picture above shows the second set of fog lights that I would install. The original set were smashed after jumping over the top of a steep bridge near where I live today in Chester County PA. My Honda survived, mainly because of the import tow hook loop that you see under the center of the front end protected the transmission and oil pan from damage. My friends following behind me in an 88 Nissan Sentra, and a 92 GMC Sonoma, were not as lucky. The Nissan suffered a smashed transmission pan, and bled out all of its trans fluid, and the GMC was drivable, but was bent into a banana shape from that point on. Fortunately, we had some rope in the GMC, and we were able to tow the Nissan out of there with the bent GMC, before any law enforcement showed up.
My Honda also often served as a test mule for experiments and other Junkyard Wars style modifications. One of which was a ram-air setup (not pictured), inspired by my sister’s 88 Camaro (in the shot with my Honda) that I built using PVC pipe and a scoop mounted in the airflow under the bumper. I would also install air conditioning myself using an aftermarket setup sourced from junkyards. The simplicity of this car made it perfect for these projects.
It even had several knockout panels to allow easy installation of toggle switches to control the home-made AC, a 1000 watt amplifier for my tunes, fog lights, and my home-made alarm system and kill switch setup. The car would only start if the toggle switches were in a specific pattern. A hidden toggle switch mounted under the rear bumper armed the alarm system which used a system of relays, a shock sensor and the dome light circuit to activate a fire-siren mounted under the hood.
Looking back now, I suppose it makes perfect sense that I would go on to become an engineer. But cars were and are still my passion, and this was my first car. And while it wasn’t really a cool car then, there was something different about the Honda that I liked. It seemed like Honda did it differently at every turn. Be it the way the hood opened from the back, the CVCC engine, or the cable-driven tachometer, it was unique. Honda’s slogan was “We make it simple” and that what this car was.
It was elegantly simple; a perfect blank canvas for a kid, like me, to make more complex. And my ever durable and loyal Honda put up with all the abuse that a teenager could throw at it with minimal issues. Besides the routine maintenance, the only things I remember having to replace were timing belts, a radiator, an alternator and the exhaust system (a couple of times).
Time has marched on since these cars were new; 1982 is long gone. As a people, we got bigger and we wanted more in a car. We want more gadgets, we want more power, and safety has become more important. You simply can’t sell a car like this in North America anymore. A new Civic or any modern compact has more than double the horsepower, more room, all of the amenities, and weighs substantially more. It also delivers similar fuel economy (using modern-adjusted EPA MPG numbers), and a fighting chance in a collision with an SUV. The trade-off is the simplicity, and that spritely feel that these Hondas had back then. So yeah, modern cars are better in many ways, but as for looks and function, I’ll remember the way Honda did it in 1982. I kept a souvenir from my car, to help me remember Little Blue.
Awesome little cars I bought a 83 5 door in red several years ago for a few hundred for a get to work beater it was great although some of my work could be 500kms away I got there in the Honda it was spared nothing and being thrashed on gravel was right up its alley I was impressed. I wrang this thing out for about a year only stripping and rebuilding the carb and a used starter some bog over the rust for inspection thats it not bad for a 20 year old puddle jumper.
“My friends and I did so much stupid stuff that I might not be here if it wasn’t for the fact that I had a car that was incapable of getting into too much trouble.” Ah yes. As the father of a 16-year-old, this idea really resonates with me!!
Then check out the Chevrolet Spark. Top speed is 90 mph according to Car & Driver – with airbags and all the safety equipment that’s standard for 2013. I figure he can’t get into too much trouble with speed that low. Or get a used midsize like a Taurus or Impala that can absorb a hit if you think the Spark is too expensive. My folks went both routes with me.
My advice, based on personal pain and experience, is to NEVER buy anything made by Daewoo in their Beupyeong factory, which is famous for about the worst labour relations one can imagine.
But to each his/her own.
Hey, my brother’s base Honda Civic, circa 1996, I think, don’t come with digital clocks! In fact that car comes with hardly anything but the basics. I guess Honda was much stingier by then, having achieved success.
All Japanese automakers were also struggling to various extents with the value of the yen relative to the dollar. The exchange rate shifts meant either raising prices or taking a big hit in margins, sometimes both.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen one of these. Rust was the major enemy of these things around here.
You aren’t kidding about the slow-going 301 powered Trans Am! My best friend in HS (and still to this day) had a ’80 Turbo Trans Am with a mighty 301 that had a turbo grafted on it in total GM style. At some point he decided he wanted better mileage so he unhooked the wastegate.
And it was amazing how slow of a turd it was. With the turbo you’d have to “brake torque” it for a few seconds to spool up the turbo, but then she’d launch like a screaming bird. But without the turbo it was.. pointless.
Talk about bringing back memories, his even had the same Radial G/T’s! He swapped in a 383 stroker instead of a Poncho motor, and wow that was a fast car after that.
My friend’s car (pictured) was a naturally aspirated 301 and the highway gears. it was incapable of doing a burnout in the rain. I know GM was trying to meet that CAFE standards and all, but man… Why bother making a Trans AM like that? Why not just have a V6 Firebird? I guess Ford did the same thing with their Cobra II Mustangs in the 70’s. Some rough years for the domestics.
After it had the 400 transplanted into it from a 68 LeMans, it was a whole different car. He wanted to keep it a Pontiac, and not do the Chevy swap, which I admire.
Yup, the same was true of my buddy’s Turbo T/A. It was made worse by his having positraction, which I’m trying to figure out the thought benefit analysis that went through their heads at the time. The only – and I mean only – way that car would move the tires is by doing a brake stand and waiting for an overboost, then you could move them ever so slightly.
Yet when the snow fell, it made it even worse. That car was for all intents and purposes un-drive-able in the snow. Even by crazy teenagers.
I’m sure at the time GM was thinking “all T/A’s need positraction!” yet um – it was pointless.
After he put the 383 in it, and kept the highway gears with posi, that thing did utterly colossal burnouts. Parking lot filling opposite lock insane burnouts.
I’m still pissed at the guy he sold the car to, who in turn sold it for $500 just to get it off his dad’s driveway when his dad decided he wanted that driveway back. Why he never called any of us to ask if we’d take it (yes!!) is beyond me. The INTAKE on that motor was worth that.
Good story, Carlo, thanks for some laughs. I’m your age and I remember those kind of days: “Hey man, you busy? Me neither. Let’s do something foolish with a car.” But unlike my little teenage crew, it seems like you successfully completed most of your hacks.
“Looking back now, I suppose it makes perfect sense that I would go on to become an engineer. ”
Yes it does!
Thanks – those were fun times.
”But unlike my little teenage crew, it seems like you successfully completed most of your hacks.” – those hacks were not all completed, and not all were successful. I have a garage full of partially complete projects that proves this point.
The Honda ram air experiment didn’t really have the desired effect either. Honda’s carb was too finicky to get adjusted right. You’d have to make it run richer to get any positive effect of ram air, which naturally then made it run like crap at low speed. I ultimately decided that it was better off the way Honda had it in the first place.
Isn’t it amazing how engineers with doctorates are better at designing cars than shade tree mechanics? I have indeed pointed this out to quite a few people but they never seen to get it.
Haha. Yeah, most of the issues that I had with my Honda were all issues caused by me. I’m sure that without the massive draw from the 1000 watt amplifier, the alternator wouldn’t have gone bad. And my tampering with the carb with that stupid ram air set-up was probably the reason it went bad too.
Now in the case of my 95 Thunderbird, I think it’s the other way around. Ford’s engineers got it most of the way there, but it’s up to us shade tree mechanics to make it into a vehicle that can go more than 80,000 miles on a transmission and a set of head gaskets.
Len, I think you just don’t get what engineering is all about. Fact is for many situations the shade tree mechanic can do better. For the engineer with the doctorate working at a vehicle mfg is is all about meeting what ever constraints that were handed to them with the project. Many times that means making choices of how to save a quarter either in material, manufacturing or assembly costs. For the company a couple of saved quarters per unit translates to a big difference in the bottom line while for the shade tree mechanic it only costs a quarter.
Many engineers get very complacent and don’t think they can do any thing wrong so they shove something out the door that isn’t as good as it could be yet they still defend it with that degree.
I could fill a page with all the field engineering I or others have done over the years to fix problems created by those degreed automobile engineers.
This is the time of year I work with hundreds of degreed engineers and there is nothing I love more than a bunch of high school kids or me a mechanic showing them up.
Don’t get me wrong I’ve got nothing against engineers, which is a good thing since my job is teaching kids about engineering and promoting it as a career, and I have lots of friends that are engineers.
Carlo, your “tampering” with the carb likely had absolutely nothing to do with the reason it was in need of work. The carb required for the CVCC is fairly complex for a non-electronically controlled carb and do need skilled care an maintenance over the long run. While the 1000 watt amp certainly didn’t help the alternator it too likely would have failed regardless, alternator failures were not that uncommon and after so many miles the brushes are going to wear out no matter who made the alternator.
That’s impossible Eric; Hondas are perfect, didn’t you hear? 🙂
I am an engineer, but was a mechanic before going back to school. I have a great respect for an experienced mechanic (or field technician in my career – I’m an Environmental Engineer). But be it cars or remediation systems, I prefer to work with knowledgeable technicians because it makes my job as an engineer so much easier. I was lucky enough to work with a couple truly great mechanics and field technicians over the years, and I can honestly say that I learned more from these people than I ever did in school. It seems to me like these people are getting harder to find. They are retiring / dying and are not being replaced. I see this all over.
My best friend of all time was such a man, a unique individual who could, and did, work on everything from small displacement motorcycles to tank engines. He was an amazing man, if he couldn’t get a part he could make it in his own machine shop he had in his garage. This from a man who had zero training other than manuals and experience. Mr D had the ability to figure ANYTHING out by reading the manual and carefully looking at the subject. He gobbled up tech journals on loads of subjects, including deep sea diving, machining, assembly methods, factory systems, you name it. He passed a few years ago and there will never be a man like him again.
Of course, Eric, you are correct. All cars are built to a price and there are few cars that couldn’t use better parts. On the whole, however, the past couple of decades have made for much better automobiles of all brands so I do in fact feel that the engineers have for the most part done a good job. Modern production techniques have given us really good cars at historically low prices.
The carbs on these things are remarkably simple for me, but NZ market cars did not have the plumbers nightmare of pollution equipment the US model had. I looked in a shop manual and was appalled at what they did to it the vacuum losses mustve been incredible.
Great story! Though it drags up repressed memories of trading my wife’s perfect 85 CRX for a more family friendly Taurus
In late 81, I sold my 76 Buick Regal to buy a new 82 Honda Accord hatchback. It was a very high quality car compared to anything made in the USA at the time. No wonder that Hondas were selling as fast (or faster) than the dealers could get them.
I drove a hand-me-down (from a sibling) blue ’83 Civic 1300 hatch for about 10 years, right up until I became a parent. It was such a great car that I didn’t mind the absence of a/c, armrests on the doors, rear defog, etc. All the 1300s were 4-speeds with 12-inch wheels. The car had one valuable option – a right-side rear view mirror. I still have the Honda shop manual, with the drawing of the 1980 car (with hood vents) on the cover, crudely altered to show rectangular headlamps.
This is the car that finally weaned me from my 1966 Bonneville convertible that I’d driven since I was a teenager. It taught me the value of agility over brute force.
The gen-’75 CVCC Civic could run on regular leaded back when unleaded was more costly. One should take such things into account when comparing cost of operation; a lower tolerable fuel grade is as good as higher MPG. BTW, the wagon was available then as well. A blue 1488cc ’75 hatch, with dealer-option A/C requisite in So. Cal., was what I learned to drive stick on. As Mazda would say, a “Great Little Car.” Only problem I remember was replacing the accessory belt, which required dismounting the engine. I think they remedied that in the next generation.
I now drive a US-built 2010 Civic, but miss the simplicity & quality of the early ones.
Very good point about the leaded fuel at the time. That certainly was an advantage then not having the catalyst, which couldn’t handle the lead. When I was of driving age, leaded gas was pretty well phased out, but there were cars that I passed on because of the need for premium fuel.
This generation was easy to work on. Timing belt was easy, oil filter was right on the front of the engine, as were the spark plugs in clear view (the intake and exhaust manifolds were on the back). The only think complex was the 3 barrel carb and all of emissions controls which were a labyrinth of vacuum hoses.
The last of the CVCC Hondas hold the record for the most number of vacuum hoses by a long shot. In about 1984 I was working at a shop and a customer brought his then pretty new Civic in for an oil change. Now I was very familar with the original Civic and its vacuum computer, having done countless head gaskets, tune ups, and engine replacements. This new one blew me away as I looked at the diagram and found that the total number of vacuum circuits was 51. No wonder Ford walked away from the CVCC venture and told Honda they could keep all the patents, then later axed the deal for the 81 Escort to be use the same drivetrain. Sure the cost of the catalyst was saved but the resulting 3bbl carb, vacuum computer and miles of hose more than ate up the savings.
Maybe I’m fortunate, but I never had to touch a vacuum hose, or mess with the vacuum computer, so I none of that stuff scared me.
I did do a couple of head gasket jobs on Hondas of this era, and I don’t recall having to mess with any of that to get the heat off. Probably it all stayed attached to the carb and intake. I will say that you don’t want to overheat your Honda. They are usually oil-burners from that point on. A friend had a CRX that was like a mosquito sprayer with the amount of oil it burned after it was overheated and had the head gasket done.
I have 2 1981 Honda Civic’s and they are still in mint condition. These cars are great in gas and I will never changed them for a new one because mine still are new. Check mine out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iI3s_VH5cgc
After the downfall of CVCC and before the widespread adoption of PGM-FI, Honda still used a 12-valve head design for several years. AFAIK, it worked the same way except without a pre-combustion chamber at the auxiliary valve. Most still used the 3bbl carb, some were even EFI – but the most frightening take on this setup was the Prelude 1.8l with twin sidedraft carbs available from ’83-’87.
I had one of these, thankfully it always ran 100% perfectly (somehow) and I never had to start digging into the snake’s nest of vacuum hose under the hood. Most people who had them weren’t so lucky, which is too bad because when it was running right it was an amazing engine.
Look at this nightmare…
If I’m not mistaken, the ’85-’89 Accord had that 3-valve system, & mine never gave me a lick of trouble. I had a DX w/ carburetor (A20A1?), & it always ran well, just a little hesitation when cold (& it warmed up fast). Wonderful balance of performance & economy.
Neil – You are correct, and the engines in the ’86-’89 Accord were from the same engine family as the one in the contemporary Prelude. In the case of the fuel-injected versions, they were nearly identical. It came in three flavors (in the US anyway) – there was the single 3bbl carb 2.0l version used in the DX/LX Accord, the EFI 2.0l version used in the Accord LXi/SEi and Prelude Si, and the twin-carb 1.8l version used in base/DX Prelude.
When I say that most people didn’t have such good luck with them, I’m referring only to the twin-carb version… and it’s biggest crime was probably just being too damn complicated for the average mechanic. The other two were seemingly indestructible.
The engines that were marketed as “12 Valve” are not CVCC and do not use the special 3 bbl carb that provided a rich and a lean mixture.
Eric – They’re not CVCC, but they still used a 3bbl Keihin carb. Maybe the later A20A1 Accords stopped using them, I’m not really sure about that… but I know for certain that the earlier version of that engine used in the ’84-’85 Accord did. From a quick look at my old Chilton manual it looks like the Civics from that era did as well.
I have a 1982 in my Garage since 1984 and am thinking of selling it. I live in Southern California. It is in fair condition and was last run in 1993. What might be a fair market value? My email is rashidaj@msn.com.
Thanks
Carlo, fantastic write up about a great car. I love that you put all those photos in there as well – makes you feel how it was for you as your time progressed with your blue Civic. I think it was a simpler time back then – today we have become spoiled and require so much more for a car to be considered great. These early Hondas were just that, great simple vehicles that were by leaps and bounds ahead of anything from the U.S. at the time.
I owned a gold 1980 Prelude for about two years before it was sadly totaled by a lady running a red light in a new 1986 Cavalier on my way home from college. What a great car that Prelude was. So many features, great driving dynamics and fantastic reliability – you couldn’t ask for more. It was a car that was amazingly far ahead of its time. I wish I had it today!
Excellent story Carlo. I didn’t do any stupid things with my cars at that age, but that doesn’t mean I was any less of a menace on foot. And then there was college…
A very nice write up there Carlo. My wife and I bought a used 1979 Civic hatchback in late 1980. 5 speed manual, dealer AC, and 12 inch wheels. It was our first Honda and it went across the country twice. What a ride. Over the years, Honda automobiles have changed quite a bit, so have I. And yet, to this day, we always have at least one Honda in the garage.
Thanks again for the comments all. I will share more stories as I can get to them. My daily drivers and project cars are quite a diverse mix with imports like my Honda in this story to an MN12 Thunderbird, 60’s Mustangs and even a B-body Caprice. All of them seemed to make sense at the time and most of them have a story to tell.
I still have mine in great condition. check it out..
Great story. Now I am going to have to try and figure out what I did with all the pics of my first car and put something together!
Great story. As you day, the car had an elegant simplicity, both in engineering and styling, and that helped build Honda’s reputation. Shame they veered away from those strengths with misshapen blobs like the current Civic. And bring back the 2 door S Hatchback!
Their greatest weakness seems to be they were rust prone, probably why I haven’t seen of this vintage for a long time.
Great writeup on a great car, this brought back a lot of memories for me. I never had a Civic, but I did have 3 Accords and a Prelude that were all from the ’80-’85 model years. Out of all the cars I’ve ever owned, which is a lot, I find myself continually the most haunted by those little Hondas. I’m not sure what it was about them – I’ve owned faster, better handling, more attractive, more comfortable, etc. cars – but there was just something so right about them in every respect that words can’t fully do justice to.
They were idiosyncratic, extremely high-quality and begged to be driven hard. Like a compromise between all the best qualities of an Austin Mini, a Dodge Dart and a BMW 2002. The later Hondas with double wishbones and fuel-injection were better, of course, but these are the ones I’ve always been hung up on. Wish they weren’t long extinct on this side of the country.
Here’s my first Honda, an ’82 Accord, amongst good company in my parents’ driveway when I was a teenager…
An ’82 Civic DX hatch with 5 speed was my 6th car and 2nd new car, replacing my California model ’81 TransAm with 305 SBC and 4 speed. The TransAm was quicker in all situations and had 20+ mph on top end over the Civic … but the Civic went three times as far on a gallon of gas, and gave me my first (and last) SCCA autocross victory. I still have the original window sticker and brochure for both cars. I sold the Civic after just a few years to get a 4WD truck but it ran flawlessly for 44K miles, many of them close to WOT.
By the way, my Civic got about the same overall mileage as our current 2nd gen Prius. The Prius is much roomier, and has A/C, and power windows, and cruise and a better stereo. And airbags, ABS, etc. But modern cars have gotten so heavy it saps not just economy, but driving fun. And most manufacturers compensate with even more horsepower and gadgets. I’d like to see what kind of 4 door compact hatchback Lotus could create.
There are people who preserve Civics — there’s a Southern California Japanese Classic Car Show, for example, which typically has some well-preserved older Civics. (Surprisingly, a fair number are factory correct, which is not the case with the Datsun Z contingent.)
I have great affection for Civics of this vintage. I’ve never owned one myself, but I’ve driven them enough to know that they’re great fun to drive, particularly with the five-speed. Their limits aren’t high in any absolute sense, but within those limits, the car does exactly what you tell it to with no funny business. In terms of driving enjoyment, I’d rate it higher than the Prelude, which was a lot slicker, but not as engaging.
Well some things don’t change. My first car was almost 40 years older than yours and I don’t ever miss it. Thing that was similar was that the studebaker flathead six was too slow to get in trouble and really simple to fix. By the 82 MY I was into trucks and an old married guy.
Great story. Makes me miss some of my japanese stuff from the 70’s and 80’s but certainly not the old studebaker.
Great article, I grew up around the same time as you, and me and my friends all did so much crazy stupid crap with cars it is a wonder I am alive. Roof riding brought back memories, yeah we did something like that too. My dad got a brand new 84 Civic, the new body style, and I almost got an ’82 Civic S hatchback for my first car. I should have, the Scirocco I got instead maybe looked better but didn’t last long in my teenage hands.
Carlo, your piece was a wonderful Sunday read. I always enjoy a well-told story of someone’s first car. I never had any firsthand experience with a Civic of this generation, but I think I would have liked it. My hands-on Honda experiences skipped from a rental 76 or 77 Civic wagon with the HondaMatic to the 88 Accord LX that I eventually married. There was nothing wrong with either of them that a stick shift would not have cured, and both were fun drivers.
Love this piece — takes me right back to my adolescence when this car was new. Last year, I found a pristine 1982 Prelude and bought it as my first “classic” car. It has 140K miles and lived most of its life either in California or a garage. The paint still shines, the engine purrs and overall it’s just a peppy, fun driver. Last fall, I brought it to a local classic car show and it was the ONLY Japanese car there and one of the few cars period post 1980. That said, I got more comments than I expected about it. Guys in their 30’s and 40’s who grew up with these types of cars, drove them as teens and played around with modifications.
I know the Japanese nostalgic car show has taken off in CA. Here in mid-America, there are far fewer models left around, given the rust issues. I do believe, though, that these models are the classic car showpieces of the future. In the meantime, I am relishing the first warm days when I can take out the Prelude, open the huge sunroof and let the sunshine in.
Great looking car! There’s one of those that is still daily driven in my area, but it is a silver automatic. I like the looks of your red one far more.
After 1980, I was driving my ex-Parents 1972 Buick Estate Wagon. One day in the spring of 1981, an elderly gent ran a stop sign and I t-boned him, ending the life of the Buick (fortunately not ending his life).
I went car shopping and I really liked the 1982 Civic that was available that summer. It cost about $3,500 but would have got 3 times better mileage than the Buick (36 vs 12). I actually tried to cost-justify it based on the gas mileage. Gas had hit an all-time high of about $1.40/gal in NJ where I lived.
Instead, I bought a ’72 Dodge Dart from a friend who’s Parent’s didn’t need it any more. It only had 65,000mi on it even though it looked tired. After a replacement radiator, it drove great. I bought it for $400 and sold it 5 years later for $195.
It was no where as near as fun to drive as the Civic would have been, nor did it get as good mileage, but it allowed me to save up enough to buy a new ’85 Honda Prelude which I loved.
Ah yes, I was 15 in 1989 too. Although the roof-riding didn’t start until 1991 on a friend’s mother’s ’75 Datsun 120Y (B210) sedan. Some frightening things were done when we were young!
My sister’s first car was an ’83 Civic 5-door wagon in 1992. She was the second owner, my Dad was a Honda dealer mechanic and had serviced it from new. My sister loved it – it was zippy and practical. She crashed it twice. The first time it was repaired; the second time it was spun into a roadside drainage ditch and twisted lengthways (it ended up shaped like a trapezoid). The LH driveshaft was ripped clean out of the engine, and the engine was rammed hard into the firewall. And yet it still ran like clockwork…
It was replaced with an ’85 Civic ‘S’ 3-door hatch, which she still has lying in a paddock on the farm. It’s rusted away to almost nothing now, but also still runs like clockwork…
I have the almost exact same blue 82 accord just rebuilt the top end including the last 10 new head bolts known to exist by Honda in rust free all original condition about a 7 out of 10 thank you for your heart blog makes me want to keep it forever will upload pics soon. ….unless of course you can’t live without a others one. .the head gasket gave up and ended up doing the whole thing but it was worthit as I find they are now so rare
I still have one in Victoria bc Canada – and it’s driving well!
I bought a 82 1300 FE Hatchback 5 spd man brand new. It was an advertised special for $6,200. No ac. Rated 53 mpg hwy in Ca.
It was a great commuter car for my wife and I would run it hard as I could when I was driving it. We made several 350 mile trips up north on 9.5 gallons going 75 mph which was holding the throttle right at the point before the 3 barrel carb opened. A single tank held 10 gallons.
Brings back memories. Newly married, my wife needed a car and we wanted a Honda. Back then the dealerships were tiny and didn’t have cars on the lot. You paid over sticker and went on a waiting list. Color – you got what came in. Ours was brown with 5 speed manual. No A/C but back then, that was still something for rich people. The thing I remember about that car was how well it tracked and handled. I had an awful Datsun 210 that wandered all over the highway. The Civic we used to say tracked like it was on railroad tracks. My current Honda Fit (which I love) doesn’t track anywhere near as good. Good thing we never had an accident in it as I’m pretty sure it would have folded up like a $2 suitcase. If it works, I’ll include our original sticker.
love my 1981 Honda and it is a 1500 dx it didn’t have a CAT on it in 1981 because teh cvcc was so clean it didnt require one still i only mention this because you said you didnt know about if the second gen came with them or not mind didnt but maybe yours had them added later or it was after the abandoned teh cvcc platform for the vtec idea people alwasy ask about my honda i assume because it looks liek it shouldnt run because i havent kept it painted but it runs well and still get amazing miles per gal but lacks power but is still fun because it isnt a boring automatic great story it hit home hope to never have to stop driving it but worry some one will hit it and make it go away it still runs have parked it here while i get my sons 1997 civic road worthy please ignore the dirt as this is a farm area and everything is very dirty very fast
Dad’s 1981 Honda Civic beater, being traded in at a local used car lot, c. mid-1990s: