Ok, I’m not deliberately trying to fan another “Has Honda has lost the plot?” shit storm, but I couldn’t resist these two sitting together; they do rather represent part of Honda’s current dynamic. The 1984 wagon was part of the brilliant pioneering family of four distinctly different new Civics, including the new CRX. The Prius-wannabe Insight is a dud (419 were sold in July) that just doesn’t deliver the goods. What’s more, it CR-Z stablemate is giving it a run for the money as another dud (330 were sold in July). Obviously, that’s hardly the full picture–July was a strong month for overall Honda sales, led by the Civic. But pioneering is not exactly what’s driving Honda sales these days; maybe that’s just as well.
In the 80s and 90s, I could identify Hondas more readily than Toyotas and other Asian cars, which all looked very similar to me. Their looks didn’t appeal to me, but they stood out from the competition. I guess that’s mostly true still today. The latest CR-V and Odyssey certainly have a unique look, as did the recently departed Element. However, the Insight is obviously aping the Prius, and the Crosstour looks a lot like the the Toyota Venza, except the Crosstour’s roof slopes down lower at the back.
Hondas distinct from Toyotas, you say?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/curbside-classic-1984-toyota-tercel-wagon-built-for-the-really-long-haul/
(I mostly agree with you, though.)
As an avid car spotter, there were little details that allowed me to pick these apart pretty quickly. I haven’t looked up stats, but I think the Civic wagon was smaller than the Tercel, which also would’ve helped ID them in person. I agree that they look VERY similar though.
The overall shape and greenhouse may be similar, but upon closer inspection, the Tercel wagon appeared completely outdated next to the Civic.
Actually just about everything did. The 1984 Civic and ’86 Accord looked so fresh, sleek and modern next to the competition at the time. Only the Taurus and Audi 5000 were more radical. The Civic was at least 5 years ahead of every other compact in every way until the 1996 car.
Corollas and Tercels, as anvil-like as they are, have always been some of the frumpiest cars in their class.
The thing about the Toyota wagon was it was a ‘normal’ wagon with slightly unusual styling, as opposed to the Civic wagon being a tiny MPV.
There was one elegantly styled Corolla that I can think of, the AE92 liftback
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1989-1991_Toyota_Corolla_%28AE92%29_CSX_Seca_liftback_02.jpg
” The Civic was at least 5 years ahead of every other compact in every way until the 1996 car.”
As one who cross-shopped the Civic when buying new cars in that era, I’d agree…except for two areas: Noise, and ride comfort.
In those days, the “seat-of-the-pants” perception was that the Corolla’s handling was more biased toward a smooth ride, while the Honda’s was tuned more toward crisp handling. Unfortunately, in the ’80s it seemed that “good handling” often meant “rough ride.”
And even to this day, smaller Hondas are sometimes noted as being slightly noisier than the competition. The last generation Fit is a good example of this; my sister bought a new Fit a few weeks ago, and it seems to be vastly improved in that area.
‘Unfortunately, in the ’80s it seemed that “good handling” often meant “rough ride.”..’
amen.
still sore from that ’95 Capri RS 5.0 I rattled around in; they also thought rough ride was the way to get ‘G’s!
The Terd-cell 4WDs disgusted me mainly because of that ONE backup light. Seriously…ONE backup light? Unforgivable.
I didn’t word that totally just right. I really meant the whole pioneering ’84 Civic family, which included the CRX. And I will add to the other comments that although the Tercel was a tough little wagon, it didn’t have quite the packaging brilliance of the Civic wagon.
To my eyes (as well as some others posters on Jalopnik) the Crosstour taked lots of design cues from the Chevrolet Citation and we wondered if Honda had taked some blueprints of a aborted plans for a 2nd-gen Chevy Citation? Lol.
My memory might do me a disservice, but wasn’t it the Nissan Prairie, that was the first of these compact tall wagons with AWD? Making the Civic hardly a pioneer in this fad.
The Prairie/Stanza was (at least) one class larger than the Honda wagon; more like a mini-van.
I guess if I really cared what they looked like I wouldn’t be driving a cube. I do care that they are reliable and economical. Thats a reason to drive japanese in general or at least that’s my experience.
What’s interesting to note is the increasing height of the beltline on the newer vehicle, as well as the growth in the tire size. Plus, is it just me, or does there appear to be less actual room in the newer car?
No doubt that the wagon has substantially more head room, and rear seat room. It was a little limo in the back.
I do remember when I first spotted the new 1984 Honda Civic hatchback (3-door) — it was at the Panorama restaurant/gift shop on Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park (Virginia).
I’d say it’s among the top 5 cars that were true head-turners for me with their advanced design. At that time (and to a certain extent even today), Honda and Toyota remain secretive about their new designs until they are very close to production, unlike some others, such as the cartoon Camaro we now have.
“Has Honda has lost the plot”
Yes. My 2002 Accord is far better than anything they have built since.And, I used to own a 2003 as well.
The new Prius C is much more economical than the Insight and costs almost exactly the same. No wonder Insight isn’t selling.
The current version of the Civic Shuttle is the CR-V, which is what the market demanded. Shuttles were as common as Porsche 911s. CR-Vs have been best sellers for years. That’s the plot.
What a funny comparison. The new car seems so much “higher-waisted”, like it pulled up its pants too much! Honestly, the old car doesn’t even look that out of date. Sometimes I imagine what cars would look like to someone from a culture without cars, or a visitor from another planet — silly, I guess, but in this case, I don’t think they would even be able to tell (from the outside at least) which one was newer.