This was another one of the few cars that we bought new. In many ways, it was my favorite of all the cars that I have ever owned. It was one of those cars that just did everything right.
Compact and handsome, This is exactly like my car.
All photos from the Web.
I had been doing my research, studying the various automotive magazines. Besides the Civic, I was considering the somewhat similar looking Dodge Colt, the sporty GEO Storm, and the Volkswagen GTI. The newly introduced Acura Integra was also another consideration, but those were at a higher price point. This was back in the “hot hatch” era and this type of car was very popular.
Hot Hatch is right.
The Dodge Colt was a good looking alternative, but the lack of opening rear windows eliminated it from my consideration. I wasn’t planning on getting a car with a/c, and I still remembered my Astre. The Geo Storm was a bigger coupe. Somewhat like an Integra, but at a lower price point and not up to the quality and styling of the Acura. The Integra would have been great, but I was really looking for something a bit lower priced. I had admired the Volkswagen GTIs and had checked out a few older models at a local consignment lot, Wheels and Deals. I had read many road tests and had been impressed by their performance. But I really preferred the Japanese cars.
Once I settled on the Civic it was just a matter of finding the right car. Due to their popularity, these cars didn’t remain on the lots very long. I was very clear with my wife, that it had to be the SI model, the other models were not acceptable.
Unknown to me, my wife had located a car and collaborated with one of my buddies to buy the car, bring it home, and spring it on me as a surprise. I was at home when my wife told me to take a look outside. I went out front and found a Honda Civic SI with a bow on the hood. This was the first and the last time that has ever happened!
Such comfy seats.
Honda knew how to make a low priced car look like a million bucks. Quality!
The Civic fulfilled my desire for a basic car, with no power assists; no automatic transmission, and unfortunately no a/c either. But it did have a moon roof and those opening rear windows. In some ways, it reminded me of the 1980 BMW 320i that my older brother had bought ten years earlier. A simple but high quality vehicle. The seats were “Recaro like” and very comfortable. Being a hatchback with split folding rear seat backs, it was very flexible in its utility. As an SI, that meant that it had the more powerful 108 hp. engine, with bigger tires, disc brakes all around, and firmer suspension. The moon roof was standard – I like Moon Roofs, all of my current fleet, except my F150 are so equipped. It was a great handling and driving car, and it had superior fuel economy, as high as 42 mpg. on extended highway trips. Mixed use mileage was reliably around 36 mpg. I haven’t owned a car with such high fuel economy since then.
I do love a Moon Roof!
I liked Hondas. I’d already had many Honda motorcycles and even a couple of older model Civics. I was impressed by the quality and the thoughtful engineering that was used in building this car. This generation had the famous double arm front and rear suspension. The cowl was low with great visibility over the short sloping hood. All of the materials used in the interior were of appropriate quality and were assembled perfectly. The ergonomics were spot on.
What was wrong with the older system?
This car was built before air bags were mandatory. I was satisfied with a three point seatbelt/shoulder belt combo, but Honda had to come up with a passive system. This was accomplished by having the belts attached to the door. The driver was required to slip in under the attached belts and was a cumbersome setup. I got around this by unfastening the buckle that was next to the center console, like a normal setup. This worked out well and was much more convenient.
That cargo area was surprisingly useful.
The car had very great utility. Our oldest daughter was in high school, and I drove in the carpool for a couple of years. The car carried a load of five passengers comfortably. I found that I could carry long objects inside the car by folding the rear seat down. I would then slide the right front seat forward, and by laying the seat back as far as possible, I could carry an object that would stretch from the back of the car into the front floor well. I replaced all the plain interior doors in our house with panel doors. I carried them home from the hardware store in my Honda. It took several trips, but it got the job done.
The Civic was white with a gray and black interior. A very crisp, no-nonsense looking car that made me feel smart, just driving it. It was very satisfying to drive and I enjoyed it immensely. I taught my wife how to drive a manual transmission with this car. My wife usually drove the Caravan and I either drove the Honda or rode my motorcycle. Usually my motorcycle. When we went places with the family it was in the minivan, so mileage was accumulating very slowly on the Honda. There was no reason to keep the mileage so low, as it wouldn’t really make the car any more valuable at trade-in time. Once my Wife learned to drive stick, we started doubling down on driving the Civic. She left for work in the morning, and when she came home, I’d drive to work in the afternoon.
We used the car for regular commuting and errands. One weekend we drove up to Gualala, near Mendocino, to spend our anniversary at the Whale Watch Inn. I’d also driven it up Sacramento and down to Southern California. It was comfortable without a/c except in the middle of Summer.
It was completely reliable. There was one issue that occurred in my early ownership. The ignition module was known to go bad intermittently, but that was fixed under warranty. We never added a lot of mileage to the odometer during the time that we owned it. The only modification I made was the addition of a folding cup holder to the dash.
The engine compartment was neatly laid out and nicely detailed.
Even the wheel covers looked great.
Overall, the Civic was the perfect combination of sportiness and practicality. While it didn’t look like a sports car, it sure drove like one! I’m sure that my experience with this car was the precursor to my acceptance of smaller cars. At one time I had told my son that I’d never own a small car! The Honda changed my mind.
We sold the Civic to a young woman who had been looking for this specific model for some time. She was looking for a clean, low mileage example, like ours. She told us that she was going to have the dealer install a/c, and then the car would be perfect.
The Acura Legend had been introduced around this time and I felt that a Legend would be my next move up. I was never dissatisfied with the Civic, I was just tempted by the Legend. I thought we could keep our minivan and trade in the Honda. After planting the seed, my wife started thinking along the same lines.
My wife liked the Legend also, but she knew that there were other cars that I was interested in. The ’92 Cadillac Seville had been introduced and the Cadillac lover in me was very interested. After the NorthStar engine was introduced in ’94, I was totally hooked. There was also a new Buick Riviera introduced in 1995, and I’d had a few Rivs in the past. Even a used S-Class Mercedes was a consideration.
My wife had told me to think about what I really wanted. I might as well get something that I really wanted. Within reason of course.
Of course!
A high school friend got one of these while we were in college, they were everything you say there were (and more). Simply brilliant to drive and so refined, Honda at its pinnacle of lightness vs solidity vs enjoyment.
Was that the Wheels and Deals on El Camino in Sunnyvale/Santa Clara? That’s where I found my ’93 Audi S4 back in the late ’90s, what a great lot, a huge selection of mostly good/nice cars, a step up from BuggyBank in Berkeley.
Yes, it was on the El Camino, unfortunately they closed, and condos are being built on that site. I was told that the business was going to move near the Santa Clara fairgrounds in San Jose. That hasn’t happened yet.
I was a weekly visitor for many years. The cars offered there were usually better quality vehicles. I imagined that they were sold by the owners that had been disappointed by the trade in value they were being offered by new car dealers. Most cars had been well taken care of mechanically and cosmetically. There was such a diverse selection of models, from the low end to the high end. This was where I got to closely examine Porches, Mercedes, and even an Aston Martin. Best of all, there were no salesmen, and no pressure. I bought three cars from them over the years.
My sister bought a ‘91 Civic hatch new. It was pretty basic, but she was quite happy with it and she really enjoyed driving it. I took it for a spin once and really liked the light, easy-shifting 5-speed – much better than the clunky shifter in my Cavalier or my mom’s Plymouth Sundance. She had to sell it in 1995 when her and her husband moved from Ontario to Michigan but once they were settled in she bought herself another Civic – this time a 4-door – and she was quite happy with it and the other Hondas they’ve owned over the years.
In 1990, I bought my first Honda–a bright red base model hatchback Civic. ,4-speed, no AC, just AM/FM stereo as an option. Ran me a flat $6,000. out the door! I paid cash. Cheapest car sold in the US that year. Also the best performing, most comfortable to drive in it’s class, and gave me over 30MPG around town in Chicago. Most trouble-free car I’ve ever owned to this day. So see this Si gets my blood flowing. And looky there!! Crank windows!! Makes me want this car all the more!! To this day, I still only drive Hondas.
A friend owned one exactly like this. Peak Honda in my opinion. Accords may have had their virtues, but to me a Honda car is small, potentially sporty (especially in Si form) with the motorcycle genes, and simple. This one ticks all the boxes.
Stupid passive restraint legislation.
Why certain Hondas (and certain Nissans) had to copy GM’s death-trap seatbelts instead of using the motorized shoulder belt – probably to save a few pennies?
What else to add? It was perfection in its time.
I still get a grin on my face when I take Stephanie’s TSX wagon for a brisk spin every once in a while. Bigger and heavier, but the sound of its four hitting 7000 rpm is intoxicating, and it handles brilliantly. It was the last Honda with the dual wishbone front suspension.
My favourite Civic is the more edge-shaped 3rd genereation (see image below). Gimme the mine in ice blue metallic, please.
“.. 3rd generation.. “, of course.
Our ownership experiences mirror each other. We owned two, an ’89 DX hatch and a base ’90 hatch with the 1.5l engine. We sold the ’89 when we learned we were expecting our first child (wife “retired” from school teaching to be a full-time mom). Despite being a base model, the ’90 was absolutely fun to drive, and very hoonable. The only quality issue we had, well, two, actually, was failure of the ignitor (fixed under warranty) and a stress crack in the windshield that happened within a month of purchase, also fixed under warranty.
We drove it about 160K miles, then sold it to my youngest brother, who ran it to 220K (after running it into the back of a Ford Expedition). He sold it for what he paid us!
Much like you Jose, I swore I never own a small car like this. Up until 2016, the smallest car I’d ever purchased for myself was my 2007 Mustang.
But then it was time to get a new commuter car, and I decided to be practical, and bought the one pictured below to retire the old Mustang from her daily driver duties.
I am now a Honda Civic covert. This has been the best commuter car I have ever owned. I bought it brand new out of the box and have since put a little over 118K on the clock. Its turbocharged 1.5L inline 4 still runs as smooth to 6,000 RPM a a high end Husqvarna Viking sewing machine. And like Paul says above, the sound is intoxicating.
With the Continental Extreme Contact tires I put on it, the car handles like it’s on rails. And it isn’t even the SI model.
42+ MPG on a trip, and an average of about 33 or so on my commute, which in the Baltimore/DC corridor is not for the faint of heart, it is quite economical, even though I splurge on 93 octane to maximize its performance (and yes, I feel a difference – I know the extra money is wasted on a normally aspirated car like my Mustang or CX-5).
And say what you want about a CVT (I too was a detractor once too), on this car, it works very well.
The Cougar, Chrysler minivan, and this Honda… All solid, and astute choices!
I never had a Civic of this generation, but have cycled a handful of Hondas of the late 80’s-mid 90’s through my driveway. Everything you say resonates with me – there was a special feel to Hondas of that era. I feel like my 07 Fit is kind of the end of the line for Hondas of that general kind. Sadly, I have never owned one with a manual transmission, though. I can only imagine how much fun one would be!
I also understand the “let’s use this car as much as we can” philosophy of driving. We have been doing that with our Honda Fit for awhile, mainly because it is the oldest in the fleet and we may as well use as much of it up as we can before the rust makes it go away. The consequence has been a minivan in the garage that looks nearly new.
I love this particular model of the Civic. Good looking car, great autocross car. I should find one of these before they all disappear forever.
My daughter bought a used 88 Civic 4dr sedan auto trans and A/C. It was a great car. Only issue was extreme cold starting. Had a tendency to flood for some reason. I don’t recall what the fix was. However this car stayed around a long time. I ended up with it for awhile, used it as a daily driver, car pooling with 4 people. Then the car went back to the daughter, she passed it on to her mother-in-law and it eventually ended up with her son. Five different stages as it moved thru the families always dependable. Someone should build a new version of this great car.
I believe the automatic transmissions in these was a manual gear type transmission shifted by hydraulics and a torque converter instead of a clutch. The unique signature of this trans was the slight crunch noise when engaging reverse, especially on a cold start. The solution was to engage drive first and then shift to reverse to eliminate the crunch.
Great suspension on these instead of the strut crap.
My mom’s favorite car ever was a Civic (the regular kind) of this vintage. She loved the sporty handling, and drove it like a maniac. I mean genuinely a little alarming.
Nothing else ever matched up.
Car that did everything well pretty much sums it up.
Back then Honda vehicles were with the fresh, modern and open air looks. Other manufacturers just couldn’t make. I was impressed by the 42 mpg on highway, assuming that you kept under 70 mph. Around 100 hp output from the engine was no match with regular Interga engine that put out 140 hp, but the Interga had much worse mpg.
I actually owed a used 1992 Interga GS with 5-speed until 2003, it was good except I never really drove it very hard it could only carry 4 people including the driver, it had two minor annoyances, windshield washer did not work with wiper operation, that was two steps, washer and then wiper in a separates operation. I drove the car in Toronto winter, it was a annoying task to wash the windshield. Strangely, according to the owner manual the Canadian version had a one step operation. Other thing in my car was whenever air conditioning compressor activated, my headlights dimmed. My guess was its generator output was weak due to age or poor design? And the ultimate problem for the Honda in that vintage was failure of ABS module, expansive unit to replace, no one did the rebuilt unit. Luckily someone developed a bypass kit. So vehicle could run without ABS.
Amazing to stop and thin this car is now _34_ years old yet still looks modern to me .
-Nate
Yeah. A car with usable stuff. Not a “tech, destined to fail, gizmo” that isn’t intended to be an actual “car”.
When I was living in Portland I referred to moon roofs as overcast roofs because Portland has grey skies for much of the year. I have never had a moon roof and only two cars with sunroofs.
The “breadvan” style Civic Si is a one of Honda’s great cars. I’d consider doing one up as a classic.
Peak Honda. Superb engineering, excellent quality, and no-nonsense styling.
Nearly bullet proof reliability!
A great example of one of the best looking Hondas ever. My opinion. Imagine having crank windows!