The title of Joseph Dennis’ CC this morning obviously inspired this one. Cars are intrinsically a reflection of their time, but the various brands and models reflect the many facets of any given time. And while the convertible was just about to get a new lease on life with the LeBaron, just two years later the radically new Honda Civic “tall boy” wagon created a sensation in its own right. Nothing quite like it had existed before; at least in the US. The Germans would call it a raumwunder, a space or room miracle. And so it was.
If you want to know why I love my xB, it started right here: we had one of these, if only for about a year or so. It was Stephanie’s car, and saddled with the three-speed automatic. It essentially replaced her Peugeot 404 wagon, which felt about twice as long. But I loved how tall and airy the cabin was in front; cranial real estate! A quality I have treasured ever since. Being 6’4″ will tend to enhance that appreciation. And the rear seat was crazy roomy too! Big enough for our two little ones in car/booster seats, and for Nana to sit in the middle.
Or I would sometimes sit in the back with them, just because…that’s how I am.
Yeah, the cargo room behind the rear seat was a bit cozy, especially for the giant Italian twin stroller we had at the time. Somehow we made it fit. Took it on vacation. Blasted through Topanga Canyon flat out. Going up and going down. Well, maybe the down part is a slight exaggeration.
I’ve actually done a full CC on these here, so why repeat my love song to this brilliant little magic box? All I can say is that if I still had it, I’d probably still be driving it happily now; well, having converted it to stick shift after it became mine, that is. The xB is just a somewhat better version of one of these.
Truly form following function, but that’s not a bad thing at all. One of my great aunts had one of these, in about this same color, having swapped in her 1978 or 1979 Chevrolet half-ton pickup for it. Her’s undoubtedly had the automatic also. While I never rode in it, it was always an intriguing vehicle to me.
She would later trade it for a Buick Skylark that was flawless for the 20 or so years she owned it.
Here’s the story about it all: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/the-automotive-journeys-of-three-sisters/
Incidentally, Ruth is still going strong at 94, the youngest of the three sisters. My grandmother, the oldest of the three, will be 99 this coming Saturday.
Two of Mrs. JPC’s siblings owned identical versions to this one, both with 5 speeds and both that same gold color. Her brother kept his in perfect condition, and I have forgotten what he did with it – he may have traded it. Her sister used the heck out of theirs until their family of six finally outgrew it. They sold it and bought a Suburban.
This remains one of my favorite cars from the 80s, even though I keep forgetting about them. Is that possible? I think my Honda Fit is as close as Honda has come to these in the ensuing decades.
I owned a 1990 version of this vehicle, in white with blue interior. I loved the space and the 5spd but hated the automatic seatbelts (remember those?) and found that the seating position was too upright to be comfortable on long drives. A GT touring machine it is not.
I thought automatic seatbelts were cool… but then again I’m an odd duck.
Automatic seatbelts compromise the safety of people who don’t have to be forced to belt up, in pursuit of protecting people too stupid to do it themselves. They’re an instant deal breaker for me. I won’t own a car that has them, for any reason at any price. Rules out a lot of otherwise interesting and desirable cars.
One of our first bad experiences used car shopping in America soon after immigrating was shopping to replace our ’85 Civic Sedan that got rear-ended (which resulted in a frivolous lawsuit by the people in the big Buick my dad got shoved into). We found a 6spd 4WD one of these, in that ubiquitous brown. Left the seller a $50 deposit to hold the car for us. Car got sold, seller disappeared. Ended up buying our ’90 Civic Wagon instead, in a much more boring FWD auto combination, also in Cappuccino Brown Metallic. It ended up being one of our family’s favorite cars and stayed in our fleet for a decade before being replaced by a new 2007 Fit (finally a stick shift!). The Fit was the spiritual successor to these tallboy Civic wagons, but in many ways was a poor substitute. Much cheaper feeling car all around, from the interior to how it drove.
I always thought of the Fit as the successor to these too. I’ve never driven one, but they give off more of a tiny, econobox vibe than these do.
I would have definitely looked at one of the 4WD tallboys if I had been of driving age in the 80s. I would have cross-shopped it with a Subaru Loyale.
Relative to our ’90 Wagon, our ’07 Fit was smoother riding and much quieter, but handled notably worse than the old doublewishbone Civic, and had comically dead “video game” electric power steering, where the Civic Wagon had a really nice informative hydraulically assisted rack and pinion. On the inside, the old Wagon had the craziest lowest dash and 360 degree fishbowl visibility that I’ve experienced in any car. The Fit, while a lot better than most new crossovers and sedans, it was notably worse than the old Wagon. Interior materials more of the same. Cheap hard plastic, cheap cloth where there was padded vinyl and nice tweed cloth. A bunch of grey and black where there used to be a nice mix of brown/tan/black.
Interesting … in the mid-eighties I had several friends who owned these, and loved driving them and riding in them. In 2017 we test drove a Fit Sport, 6 speed, and found it very disappointing (and bought a Golf). I’d agree that the older Civic wagon was fun to drive, and the Fit, despite lots more HP, more gears, bigger tires, etc, just felt dull. The Golf isn’t particularly sporty either (except for the 1.8T) but at least it’s far more refined than the Honda.
Incidentally I test drove a new Wagovan at the Honda dealer in Los Gatos in 1986 but the salesman who accompanied me was obviously drunk and I made it a short drive. Ended up with a Ranger instead. How’s that for cross-shopping?
I don’t think I have ever sat in a car that was this bright and airy on the inside. Sadly, it was too avant gard for the significant other, but I even remember the route we took on the test drive-it was that memorable. How could that much interior space be that much fun to drive? My son’s 2012 Fit has some of the same spirit, more durable fabrics, and it can load a crazy-large piece of furniture from St. Vincent de Paul, but its dash is still hallucinatory to me, and it lacks that cheery interior. You really did have to be there.
One had to be there is apropos. We had a neighbour who owned one of these, it was silver. This was back in the late ’80s I would say. She was youthful, single, tall, and had a habit of mowing the lawn in her two piece bathing suit. All it took was that single photo above to recount that memory. Mrs. Lee and I both found it unusual, and a reflection of the personality I suppose.
As for the car itself, it seemed quite practical with all that storage space in the back. However they were never all that common on the road in my part of the world it seemed, and I have not seen one in forever.
When new, I thought they were ungainly, and the Toyota Tercel version was just unspeakably ugly.
But 20 years of CUVs have changed my view, at least on this Civic. Now I can see the roots of the modern crossover. AND another validation of the “sitting upright” mindset that Paul’s pointed to over the years, only in a subcompact yet roomy form.
proto-CR-V
How do you reckon the similar-year Tercel tall wagons compared? I recall those being very well liked when I was a kid in Denver.
I see way more period-same Tercel wagons than the Hondas, so I’d say they did really well. A true cockroach of Eugene.
Our first car was an 85 Civic Wagon, with 5 speed. Fabulous little car, a blast to drive and always faithful. Even drove it to Alaska! Stupidly, sold it to friends in 1991 with only 87k miles, should have held on to it. Bought a 91 Civic Wagon, more comfortable but also heavier, slower, and those automatic seatbelts! 🙁 Finally replaced it with a 2007 Fit 5 speed, replaced that with a 2013 Fit 5 speed. Notice a pattern?
Was the ’91 Civic an automatic? I can’t imagine that it’d be slower at all than an ’85, they went from 76hp to 92 in the throttle body injected 1.5L for the FWDs. The RT4WD wagon got the “hot rod” CRX 1.6L making 108hp with port fuel injection.
These really were impressive vehicles. They’re sort of the automotive equivalent of a really intricate roll-top desk or a railroad sleeper compartment, where an impossible amount of cubbies and equipment fit together just so in a compact package. Great work by the designers.
I haven’t seen one of these in ages.
I wouldn’t have given it a second look back then, with it’s minier-minivan looks, but the old-guy-me digs the higher seating position and what I assume is great visibility as well. Did these have a double wishbone suspension?
I bet it’d be fun to drive with a manual.
The thing that sticks with me about these was that they were referred to as the “Civic Shuttle” in some markets. With the space program being the big thing at the time, combined with the futuristic “tall wagon” styling of these cars, they seemed to embody “the future” as I perceived it as a kid when these were new.
Well, now. I drove a friend’s ’85–same color as Paul’s example–for a couple of weeks while sitting their house; I liked it. When the FIAT 131 wagon I had was rear-ended, I was ready for something new. The ’88 Civic Wagon was just out, and just what I had hoped for in the new model: Much more sophisticated suspension and engine management, much better looks (though the earlier model was fun and funky). I bought the first one I encountered in the local showroom, an Almond Cream/brown FWD. I still drive it daily.
It’s been a very satisfactory 30+ years, now; the car just turned 175,000 miles and got its third clutch. Japanese cars (of that era, at least) had no “soul”; they were dependable servants with good manners. But this airy box has the underpinnings of a very decent sport sedan; I have a favorite couple of twisty bits of the Coast Highway north of San Francisco where I can go to feel her dance—which she does very handily, thank you. A lasting pleasure is the shifter, which so help me is copied from the best Italian examples: sprung exactly like the ones in my FIATs, anyway, and crisp, operated via a two-rod linkage.
The view is spectacular, marred only by the complete invisibility of fenders or hood from the driver’s seat. This has somehow compromised my ability to judge distance to curb–though a very tight turning radius is fully predictable in city U-turns. (For the record, the automatic belts were introduced in ’89, so this early bird got a lucky worm, buying when I did.)
The car suffered the mystery fuel-pump relay fault that was eventually diagnosed correctly; the sheet-metal pedal support collapsed and was replaced–and as we speak two parts cars (in the same body color) are awaiting me, at the two nearest Pick-n-Pull yards. I’m still a happy camper . . .
Here’s an early publicity shot of the corresponding gold ’88. The painted bumpers identify this as the four-wheel-drive version.
That’s awesome Stephen. Our ’90 was suffering from typical Upstate NY body rot, despite my annual spring time amateur highschooler efforts to grind back rust and repaint. The rear bumper support rotted out (replaced with pressure treated plywood and bumper cover reattached) and the rocker panels were swiss cheese underneath the full length plastic covers. It will go down as one of my favorite cars ever, in-spite of ours being hampered by the automatic transmission and the less than ideal throttle response of throttle body (DPFI) injection. I literally have dreams where I go back to find our old Wagon sitting in a shed in my parents backyard and it fires right up and I take it for a drive.
I high school friend of mine got an ’87 as a new car, after spending his first year driving the family’s old “dog-wagon”, a circa 1980 copper colored Datsun 510 wagon. His Civic wagon was the dark blue color, stick shift, and he loved it, drove everywhere in it, heck, he probably still has it. A Honda family with two of his brothers and sister all having regular Civics, his mom had a Prelude Si, but somehow his Dad lost the faith and got a Camry.
Great car, only Eric could pull off getting a brand new Civic wagon as a high school kid and loving every minute of it.
One of my wife’s favorite cars was her ’86 Civic wagon. Hers had the AWD that was turned on and off with a switch on the dash. It was a twin of the one in the picture.
If I could find one that hadn’t rusted to death (which is what happened to ours), I’d get it for her.
We had an 85 5 speed and it was a great car. I loved the large windows and low dash. It replaced a BMW 2002 as our daily driver, but I still enjoyed driving it. I used to make regular trips from Toronto to Montreal and it would cruise nicely at 135 to 140 kph. We kept it until 1998 when we gave it to our nephew who was in dire need of transportation. The body stood up quite well to the Ontario weather, but the upholstery did wear out. The tailgate rusted out around the wiper, but a brand new replacement was quite cheap. The only other areas significant rust were 2 holes, one in the spare tire well and the other in the drainage area under the wipers, which was hidden by the hood. Mechanically there were no big repairs, just the normal brakes, shocks and exhaust. The Canadian version did not have a catalytic converter.
I think the most fun I had with it was when I was renovating a bathroom. I showed up at the plumbing supply to pick up a toilet, pedestal sink and small tub. The guys at the loading dock were sceptical, but it all fitted in. An amazingly efficient design.