For people who value space efficiency, there are few cars more alluring than small, tall wagons. Able to haul both people and cargo in ways that defy their physical dimensions, such wagons merge the best of cars, vans and minivans. Honda’s 1984 Civic was among the best of this breed, showing consumers that utilitarianism doesn’t need to be dull and uninspiring. The Civic wagon inherited a legacy of innovation, and through its clever packaging and versatility, became one of the 1980s’ most innovative vehicles.
The original 1973 Civic put Honda (and Japan, for that matter) on the map for many North American car buyers. Offering a low price, excellent efficiency and front-wheel drive in a well-built package, the Civic became the 1970s economy car to beat. A wagon joined the Civic model range for 1975.
A revised Civic, introduced for 1980, grew in dimensions and power. Honda continued to offer a wagon variant. Conventionally-styled (with the same overall shape and height as other Civics), this car became a big player in the small station wagon segment, and was key to broadening Civic’s appeal.
Meanwhile, an unusual-looking concept car planted seeds in designers’ minds about space efficiency. When Giorgetto Giugiaro debuted his Lancia Megagamma concept at 1978’s Turin Motor Show, the tall, square boxy wagon with a flexible interior generated quizzical reactions. According to Giugiaro, Lancia lacked the courage to produce it – not surprising, since the car was largely panned by the press. Turns out the press was myopic, and Lancia missed an opportunity. Within a few years, several manufacturers offered cars that borrowed heavily from Giugiaro’s concept.
Mitsubishi Chariot (l) and Nissan Prairie (r)
Among the early wave of these new wagons were Nissan’s Prairie (Stanza wagon / Multi in North America) for 1982, followed shortly afterwards by Mitsubishi’s Chariot (Colt Vista).
Dodge Caravan (l) and Renault Espace (r)
Bigger boxes came packaged as minivans. Chrysler’s Caravan/Voyager twins and Renault’s Espace launched on either side of the Atlantic around the same time, ushering in a new era of people-moving.
Honda’s development of its third generation Civic occurred as the above manufacturers (and others) toyed with their own tall wagon ideas. Resultantly, the auto market experienced parallel evolution. These early tall wagons and minivans were developed from similar ideas, yet in enough isolation to make the end result different.
The wagon was called the Civic Shuttle outside of North America.
Launched for 1984, the Civic range included three discrete models. The mainstay four-door sedan was joined by a Kammback-style hatchback, the two-seater CRX, and of course, the wagon.
Honda’s take on the tall wagon concept was more wagon than van. And even though other vehicles of this type were appearing in worldwide markets, Honda’s styling was quite unique. The Civic presents an unmistakable profile with its short, sloping hood, and rear cargo-area windows that extend further down into the bodywork than the other side windows. Unlike earlier Civic generations’ conventional wagons, this new model differed substantially from its Civic siblings.
This distinctive profile covered a vehicle whose small size belied its remarkable functionality. While still a compact car, this model was taller and wider than the ’83 Civic wagon, with a longer wheelbase (interestingly, though, the new Civic was shorter than its predecessor). Stressing verticality over horizontality, the Civic took an unconventional approach to spaciousness. Increased height enabled ample room for adult passengers, beyond what was typically expected from small cars. Additionally, the wagon’s tall doors permitted easy ingress, and all that glass area provided outstanding visibility.
Dimensions weren’t the only key to this car’s versatility. Nowadays, customers expect vehicles to have flexible seating/cargo arrangements, but in 1984 this was quite a novelty. The split rear seat could fold forward to create a flat cargo floor – in whole or in part. Meanwhile, the front seats could recline fully to form quasi beds. As a bonus, a hidden storage bin lay underneath the rear floor. Seating flexibility and copious storage nooks all harkened back to Giugiaro’s Megagamma, which featured similar details.
Despite the high roof, the driving position was 100% car-like, and while the Civic may have exuded some van lineage, it didn’t drive like one. In fact, these wagons were fun to drive. All Civic body styles shared a similar suspension. With MacPherson struts and torsion bars up front and a trailing link solid axle in the rear, Civic wagons handled sharply, with little of the understeer than haunted front-wheel drive cars of the day.
Honda’s smooth 1.5 liter, 12-valve engine provided enough power to propel the Civic wagon to 60mph in about 12 seconds… not bad for the day. The carbureted four-cylinder engine produced 76hp @ 6,000rpm. Our featured example is equipped with Honda’s outstanding 5-speed manual transmission (a 3-spd. automatic was available for $300 extra).
Despite the Washington license plate, this car was spotted 2,500 mi. away in Virginia. Not a bad road trip for a 40-year-old car!
Capable of carrying people and cargo, while also being enjoyable to drive, the wagon was an outstanding compromise vehicle that could fulfill many needs. Utilitarianism and fun are often mutually exclusive; this Civic proved otherwise.
Looking inside, one sees both the quality materials and the clever design that drew customers to Honda dealerships. The interior was designed to make the greatest use of a compact space. Tall windows produced a spacious feeling, augmented by the lack of a center console and the open under-dash area. Clever touches abounded, too. What looks like a storage bin atop the dashboard is actually a pop-up center HVAC vent. A slide-out tray under the passenger seat, and a coin box for the driver were uncommon for the period, especially for smaller cars.
Lots of small items that were optional on most mid-1980s cars, such as a rear defroster, rear wiper, intermittent wipers, and tachometer, came standard on Civic wagons. Our featured car additionally has the dealer-installed air conditioning, and an original radio – one of six shown in Honda’s 1984 accessories brochure.
In back, there’s decent room for adults. The rear seatback reclines, and – even more usefully – folds, leaving a flat cargo area back to the liftgate. Though not visible here, an additional airy touch were dual narrow “skylights” above the rear cargo windows.
Actual cargo capacity behind the rear seat is somewhat minimal. This could really be considered a 5-dr. hatch as much as a wagon. As noted in this earlier CC article, this Civic is not too different from the later Fit/Jazz – in fact, exterior dimensions are very similar to the 2007 Fit.
Honda may have provided US consumers many things in the mid 1980s, but ample options and colors weren’t among them. 1984 Civic wagons came in just three colors – Greek White with a red interior like our featured car, and also Suede Beige with a beige interior and Stratos Blue with a blue interior. Aside from an automatic transmission, all other items that would be factory options from most manufacturers were instead dealer-installed accessories for Honda buyers. Honda accessory brochures were extensive, including not only interior niceties like air conditioning, but also exterior embellishments. This car’s black mesh wheels were straight from Honda’s accessory lines and a nice replacement for the standard steel wheels.
Small cars eventually lost their appeal in North America, so it’s easy to overlook the Civic wagon’s innovations. But this was among those vehicles that attuned car buyers to versatile, easy-to-drive, cleverly engineered vehicles. While versatility is often equated with dreary pragmatism, the Civic transcended that dichotomy.
Such a combination of qualities was mighty rare in 1984, and the marketplace success of this Civic and other tall wagons and minivans pointed to the future. This car demonstrated that practicality and fun can coexist; that’s a formula that changed the auto market forever.
Photographed in Fairfax, Virginia in October 2023.
Related Reading:
1987 Honda Civic 4WD Wagon: The Automotive Swiss Army Knife Paul Niedermeyer
My parents had an 83 , wasn’t so boxy .
These things were great. My ex-‘s parents had one when we were teenagers in the late 80’s. It was a lot of fun to drive, did everything very well, the ’82 Thunderchicken I was (s)addled with at the time was a sick joke by comparison. My ex- currently owns a 2023 HR-V which she feels is the contemporary equivalent to these Civics.
We had one, and I was absolutely in love with it, despite it being an automatic (it was Stephanie’s daily driver). I have a huge thing about space efficiency as well as fun-to-drive qualities, and these incorporated both to an unprecedented degree.
The back seat was a revelation, among other many aspects; so roomy for such a small car.
Obviously my current xB is very much in the same category, although it has even more room thanks to its taller and boxier body. But it lacks some of the little fine details such as the drawers under the front seats and such.
That back seat was a novel feature – both because it was split, and because it folded out of the way to make for a low and flat cargo floor. I’m not sure if any car had that feature before the 1980s, but I noticed that the Megagamma concept had that style of folding seat (though one-piece, not split), so I suspect that was one of Giugiaro’s interior innovations that was widely copied.
1984 Civic Wagon w/ 69 miles
I had the double of that in ’84; 5-speed, white w/ red interior. I kept it for 8 years, the longest of any car I’ve owned. Saw us through the infancy/childhood of both our kids. Wonderfully versatile, lots of fun to drive. I hauled TVs and fence posts with it, too. We liked it so much that we added an ’87 with 4-wheel drive to our garage. Our cars were often panned for their odd looks, but anyone who was in them soon appreciated their roominess and fun-to-drive factor!
The 4wd versions were terrific; probably the best daily driver car of its era.
I loved this era of small car. These were Swiss Army cars – they could do most anything. After the designs of the Vega, Beetle, Pinto and Gremlin, these cars shows us that small didn’t mean cramped and crowded. Even the marvelous Corollas of the 1970s didn’t measure up to these tiny super cars. My Festiva LX was one of these designs, originally a Mazda 121.
It is sad actually, that this era had to pass. But as dopey looking as these appear today – they were quite a fashion statement after years of bloated road floats, cramped car designs and fat sleds. These were modern – the Mies Van Der Rohe of cars.
VanillaDude: So true. We really need a re-set in this country (USA). The addiction to over-sized gas hogs that clog up our roads is beyond terrible. Bring back the small cars!!
I absolutely love my 2023 Bolt EV. It’s my second one. I ordered my first one back in November of 2022 and picked it up in early January of 2023. Drove it almost 16 months and 15,200 miles. Loved it so much and with the great deals on the remaining few left, I sold that one and picked up another new 2023 Bolt EV in the higher trim and with some features.
Small cars just aren’t selling. I went from that Festiva to ever larger vehicles due to paternity. As to SUVs being gas hogs – not really. So many of our large vehicles get amazing gas mileage. I always rode alone in the Festiva, getting 40 in the city. Now I usually ride five around in the Explorer, that gets 25 in the city. You break that down per person, and if one really needs the people hauling abilities, big SUVs aren’t gas hogs.
Also – the Explorer is a safer vehicle. Love the ecoboxes, but my Festiva only weighed 2000 pounds with the a/c and me in it while the Explorer weighs in at 4600 pounds. Again – break that down by the number of people using it.
Kid’s car seats are as as wide as an adult. They take up an entire seating position. I could not fit my twins and toddlers into a small car, along with my wife.
Understand that about the room and all. The problem is that way too many “families” of two or three drive around in a Suburban or Tahoe or Expedition that doesn’t get 25 mph city. And if you are getting 25 mpg in the city, then you are doing something much better than most. If you take the Honda Pilot, 4 Runner, Blazer, Explorer, etc, they seldom can get anything close to that. I work as a Volvo/Mazda store. The CX5 with the non-turbo and now AWD standard isn’t getting 25 in the city. Most customers claim they are getting under 20. Bump that to the turbo and it goes down.
Bottom line is that probably 60% of the people running around in these huge SUV’s don’t use or need them. And I don’t consider 25 mpg good by today’s standards. My parents used to drive big Buick sedans (PA and then Lesabre) with the 3800 V6 and would get 22 to 25 city on a good day and could do 31 to 33 highway. That was over 30 years ago. My how we have not progressed.
When I first got into sales in 1988, it was with Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda. So I sold a few of these used as well as the next gen Civic Wago-van I think it was called.
Two things: First, look at the visibility out of that thing!! Now compare that to many of today’s vehicles which can be horrific. Example: Mazda CX30.
Second, these were good little vehicles and very useful for space, etc. But where I lived in the mid-west, you were lucky to get 3 years before you had rust holes big enough to put your finger through. After 5 years, you could usually put a fist through the holes. Boy, did we sell a ton of Ziebart on those things.
I like the overdrive of this white model created by the front tire diameter greater than the OEM one and those of the rear . It is immensely practical car : already fit in the back a 900 L domestic oil tank in a friend’s car.
This is the kind of car I would buy immediately. The American HR-V is pitiful and Honda has lost all its ‘magic’ of packaging. Honda nevertheless continues to offer “a few” intelligent models elsewhere on the planet.
I like a car who offer maximum cargo for a minimum footprint on the road, which is no longer the case today with all these pick-ups and SUVs which only have empty space under their big hood which is only there to falsely reassure the consumer .
The tall wagon is such a great, usable concept!
We have something like this as our “dog/MTB car” in the UK. It’s a Skoda Yeti and it’s combination of compact footprint/narrowness for the tight Devon lanes and vertical rear end to fit a rather tall dog crate are ideal. 4×4 versions are pretty good off road, too. In fact, since ours is getting on, replacement is proving a problem – nothing this compact has the room we need.
Here’s a Yeti….not available outside Europe, but very popular there…
I straight-up love these. But then I am the guy with the 2007 Honda Fit. 🙂
There were two of these in my in-law family, both identical beige 5-speeds. One was owned by my brother-in-law, the same guy I bought the 83 Colt from. The Civic wagon was his “good car” at the time. I am trying to remember how it was that I didn’t try to buy the Civic from him, but thinking about it, it was probably 1993 and we were in prime kid-bearing years, in which I anticipated a growing family. We would have outgrown it quickly then, but it would have been perfect for me a decade or so later when I finally figured out that I did not need to be able to fit the entire family in each of our cars.
I drove the other one once, one owned by my wife’s sister. It was a blast!
Fit Jazz those cars sail under two flags depending on where you buy it a mates daughter has dumped her Jazz at home while she travels he tells a six monthy goo injection is needed to keep the transmission functioning as normal, old Hondas were dependable before the lost their plot.
Here’s a Yeti….not available outside Europe, but very popular there…
Seen a Yeti or two in NZ so some have escaped, Skoda is becoming a common brand again here, the Police have Skodas now.
“Here’s a Yeti….not available outside Europe, but very popular there…”
They stopped production in 2017. No real successor in sight.
Eric, excellent article on the Civic Shuttle. I learned a lot of new things about it, including how its dimensions compared to the wagon it replaced, and many of its features like the reclining rear seats. I can’t recall having ridden in any of these, but I can imagine how its tall, glassy body would make it a comfortable place to ride or drive.
I remember goofing on its looks when they were new, but looking at it objectively has made me really respect it.
It’s funny – I remember not liking the looks of these (and the other tall wagons at the time). But now I really appreciate them and the ingenious packaging that they pioneered.
Funny enough Ive seen a “kid”(okay early mid 20s) driving around in a brown tall boy Civic wagon like this. His might be the next gen body style introduced in 1988 they look pretty dang close. They were very different under the skin though, that was the first Civic to use the double wishbone suspension design and ditched the rear beam axle.
Anyways dude keeps it clean, still has the stock 13″ or 14” steelies on it. It really stands out in traffic being so small, so boxy and SO BROWN. And that its a really clean survior, most Hondas aroud here meet their fate being driven recklessly by idiot young males. Or nobody bothers changing the timing belt and bam blown engine, go straight to the junk yard, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Yep, even Skoda has not replaced it – I wish they had as ours is getting on. I think Skoda nailed both package and style with the Yeti and its popularity bears this out.
Not quite sure – but I think, it’s Volkswagen who makes the rules. May be they are afraid to be overtaken by Skoda. When it comes to style as well as when it comes to “value for money”.
We had a 1985 that we bought new and kept until 1999 when we gave it to our nephew who got another couple of years out of it. One of my favourite cars.
We were living in Toronto which is definitely in the rust belt, but it was not bad. I had Rust-Check done annually. After many years the tailgate rusted badly around the wiper. I decided to get it fixed, and it turned out a replacement tailgate was exceptionally cheap so we just did that. The body guy said the cheap price was effectively a warrantee without admitting liability. The rest of the car was actually pretty good for rust. There was a hole under spare tire and another in the plenum under the grill in front of the windshield. Not bad after all that salt.
I went to the annual car show in 1984 and my wife said she knew the that I wanted to get one. I loved the vision and the flexibility. We were renovating a bathroom and I was able to carry a tub, toilet and a pedestal sink in one load. I admit it was a 4 foot tub, and I could not carry a passenger, but I managed it in one trip.
Excellent find and biography Eric. I too, have new found appreciation for such an innovation design. The simplicity and meekness of its styling, is a huge appeal.
This wagon is one of my favorites, and I almost got one after I graduated and got a real job in early 1990s. I was looking for more reliable used car, and found a 1989 model with 90k miles, but the seller kept postponing my request to see the car. So I moved to get a 1987 4-door Accord.
One question is what are other similar vehicles since the two Civic tall wagons. Mitsu Spacewagon, Toyota Matrix, Kia Ronodo, 2nd generation XB, Prius V, Ford CMax or Suzski SX4?
Another great informative article about a now rare yet well designed car .
I was given one of the later ones, called a WAG-O-VAN on the tailgate, it was big inside (I’m 6′ tall) and with the rear seats folded flat the cargo space was immense and weather protected .
My Sweet gave me a hard time for not keeping it, I like to own & drive what I like no matter how good the competition may be .
I sold it on cheaply to a work mate’s goofy then wife, she let her unlicensed son drive it and he crashed it repeatedly over the few years more it lasted, what a waste .
I still see these in the So. Cal. area, rust isn’t as bad an issue here .
-Nate
‘Brand new’ 1984 Civic wagon.