Compact Collector: Civic History

Thirty years and counting for Honda’s celebrated Civic

The first Civic sold in Canada is now preserved 1985 Civic S Hatchback. 1990 Civic Si
at the Dalt’s Honda dealership in Toronto.

1992 Civic Si. 2000 Civic DX Hatchback.

Photos courtesy Honda

Brian Early
Brian Early to tighten in 1970, and catalytic converters and the unleaded gas
that they required were on the way. Into this environment came
I t would be unfair to begin any history of the Honda Civic Honda’s revolutionary CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled
without taking a few moments to recognize the achievements Combustion) engine. It allowed owners to use less-expensive
of Honda’s founder, Soichiro Honda. Born in the small rural leaded fuel since it didn’t need a catalyst to meet the standards,
Japanese town of Hamamatsu in 1906, Soichiro left home as a which was good, since many people distrusted the troublesome
teenager and began his working life as a junior apprentice in new emissions technology. Available as a two-door coupe with a
one of the few auto repair garages that were in Tokyo in those “trunk,” a three-door hatchback (or later as a station wagon), the
days. Civic was a “real” car, and, as it turned out, the right car at the
After surviving Tokyo’s Great Earthquake of 1923 and helping right time. Canadian sales started off slow, with just 747 Civics
his “master” rebuild, Soichiro returned to his hometown, where finding homes in calendar year 1973 (though effectively that’s
he ended up manufacturing piston rings – ironically selling only six months on the market). By 1975 sales had jumped from
some to Toyota. The end of World War II saw Soichiro selling 1974’s 5000 to almost 21,000!
Toyota his piston ring factory to pursue other (less successful) Prior to 1973, Honda had sold only handfuls of cars in
ventures. As fate would have it, he acquired 500 small military- Canada, and most of those were through their motorcycle dis-
surplus generator engines. With minimal tools, and operating tributors – some of which operated out of hardware stores or
out of a 12- by 18-foot shack, Honda and his 12 employees backyard sheds! Canada’s first proper “Civic Dealership”, Dalt’s
began converting bicycles to use these motors. With the popu- Honda in Toronto, made the first Canadian sale of a new Honda
larity of his bikes growing swiftly, they soon ran out of engines, Civic, a 1.2-litre four-speed manual hatchback. Its original
and he was forced to design and manufacture his own. It owner, Paul Morgan, ironically now works as Dalt’s general
proved successful, and in 1948, the Honda Motor Company was manager. He hazily recalls that it cost him around $2,500 in May,
officially formed. By 1954, Soichiro decided to take a major risk, 1973. And the car? Having endured Paul’s aftermarket wheels,
investing heavily in a new factory and much needed equipment. exhaust, and minor cosmetic mods, it was later restored, and
The early 1960s found Honda’s motorbikes well regarded and now sits by the window at Dalt’s, surrounded by it’s brand-new
selling briskly – their user-friendly 50cc C100 Super Cub was a brethren whenever it’s not on PR duty for Honda.
sales hit. It would be at the 1962 Tokyo Auto Show that Honda’s Honda’s policy of constant improvement makes keeping track
first serious four-wheeled passenger vehicles, the S500 Sports of early Civic drivelines difficult, but the first generation car
coupe and convertible, were shown. Their driveline was very (1973-79) could be had with either a conventional 1.2-litre four-
motorcycle-like, with 360cc and 500cc DOHC inline fours driv- cylinder producing around 50-55 hp, or a 53-63 hp 1.5-litre
ing a complex rear axle that used aluminum chaincases to pro- CVCC four. These were teamed in various combinations with
vide a form of independent suspension. Later S800 versions either a four- or five-speed manual, or a two-speed
gained a more conventional rear end, and produced 70 hp at “Hondamatic” semi-automatic transmission (there was no
8,000 rpm, with an insane 11,000-rpm redline. clutch, but you had to choose the gear).
Still, Honda needed a more mainstream car, so in 1966 they In addition to other mid-model life styling revisions, there
released the tiny, air-cooled, two-cylinder N360 – a distant pred- was a unique and very rare Canadian-only model, the 1979
ecessor to the Civic, which proved very popular in Japan. Civic Special X, the “X” signifying Canadian Honda’s 10nth
Continuing Honda’s seemingly relentless parade of new models anniversary (now Honda Canada Inc.). All were black five-speed
and revisions to existing ones, the larger but highly problematic hatchbacks with plaid seats, red carpet, orange lettered gauges,
Honda 1300 sedans and coupes debuted in 1969, still using air- and a bold yellow “Special X” decal package on the sides.
cooling, but now with four cylinders. Having learned from the
1300, the next step was obvious. Second Generation, 1980-1983
1980 saw the arrival of the second generation Civic. It was
First Generation, 1973-1979 slightly larger, and the base engine grew to 1.3 litres, making 55
In the early 1970s the headlines were all about the fuel crisis horsepower (the 1.5-litre was now 67 hp). In 1981 a four-door
and clean air – emissions standards in North America had begun sedan joined the hatchback and wagon, bringing a proper three-
56 SCN June/July 2003
 2000 Civic SiR.

speed automatic into the Civic family at last. The final year of Fourth Generation, 1988-1991
second-gen production (1983) saw a sporty 1.5 “S” version of the The fourth-gen Civic, sometimes referred to as the “ED” Civic
hatchback on offer, with red accent stripes, firmer suspension, (for it’s most common chassis designation), arrived in 1988. It’s
and better tires. probably among the most popular versions, since this is where
the Civic’s famous double-wishbone front suspension first
Third Generation, 1984-1987 appeared. The styling was clean and modern, and the chassis
The third generation Civic was a bit of a departure from the and drivelines were stout and modification-friendly. Several ver-
past. Despite having the same displacements (1.3 and 1.5 litres), sions of two displacements were available: either a 1.5 or a 1.6,
both engines were new for 1984, and the 1.5 now had three now designated as “D” series engines. Canadian production of
valves per cylinder, making 76 horsepower. MacPherson Strut the new hatchback models began in Alliston, ON, part of an
front suspension gave way to a strut/torsion bar arrangement, effort to keep up with sales that now exceeded 30,000 per year.
and the rear “lost its independence” to become a coil-sprung There continued to be hatchback, sedan, wagon, and CRX ver-
beam axle with a panhard rod. Larger yet again, the hatchback sions available, with the CRX Si now having a 102-hp 16-valve
and sedan remained, but the wagon had awkwardly gained version of the 1.6-litre four-cylinder.
height too. As if to apologize for that, Honda released the small, The second generation 1990 Acura Integra was again based on
sporty, two-seater (in North America anyway) Civic CRX. the current Civic chassis, though it now sported an unrelated B-
The wagon got extra weird for 1985, gaining optional part- series 1.8-litre engine.
time four-wheel drive and a six-speed manual with an ultra low
“creeper” first gear. Seemingly as a result, the CRX 1.5’s excite- Fifth Generation, 1992-1995
ment level jumped a notch with the addition of fuel injection The predictable Civic redesign in 1992 wasn’t as radical as the
(becoming the “Si”), pushing horsepower to a frenzied 91, with previous model’s. In fact, despite growing in size, much of the
tire and suspension mods to match. In 1987 the wagon gained “EG’s” suspension was carryover, which was not a bad thing.
the first application of Honda’s “RealTime 4WD” system. The oddball tall wagon went the way of the Dodo. Sadly, it
As a footnote, the highly successful first generation Acura appeared to have taken the spunky CRX with it. Honda would
Integra coupe and sedan, launched in 1986, were heavily based atone for that decision in 1993 by launching both a new sedan-
on this version of the Civic, and shared much of its chassis lay- sized two-door coupe, and the pseudo-roadster del Sol. With a
out and basic design. wheelbase nearly 20 cm shorter than the CONTINUED ON PAGE 58...

June/July 2003 SCN57

hatchback, the two-seater del Sol featured a removable targa 2003 Civic SiR.
top and roll down back window that provided a near-convert-
ible experience. Not content to rest with that, in 1994 Honda
went after the Miata with the del Sol VTEC, packing a 160-hp
1.6-litre B-series engine (compare that to the 102 or 125 horse-
power that the remainder of the Civic family received from
their D-series engines). The hatchback continued, but the new
coupe had already begun stealing its sales.
Much more radical than the fourth to fifth gen Civic, the
(1994) third generation Integra’s front-end styling was a real
departure from its predecessor. Its use of a Civic-based chassis
was not.

Sixth Generation, 1996-2000

Just like clockwork, after four years the Civic received yet
another redesign, although the del Sol continued on mostly
unchanged. 1996 marked the first time that the hatchback
shared its wheelbase with the coupe and sedan, which made
for some odd proportions, but at least now all Civic models 1.6 EL. It replaced the Integra sedan in Acura’s Canadian line-up,
had a 16-valve 1.6-litre engine under the hood, providing 106 and was manufactured in Honda’s Alliston plant. This would be
to 127 hp. This sixth generation, the “EJ,” introduced the large the only way to get the VTEC motor in a “Civic sedan.”
triangular-shaped headlights that are now a Civic styling cue.
The slow selling del Sol said goodbye after 1997, and it Seventh Generation, 2001-
would not be until 1999 that North America would again see a Purists cried, woman and children ran into the streets scream-
B-series engine in a Civic. That occurred with the release of ing... Well, okay, not that last part, but a lot of sport-compact
the B16A-powered SiR coupe (the U.S.-market’s “Si”), an enthusiasts were surprised and even outraged by Honda’s deci-
understated 160 hp screamer with the chassis mods to match. sion to revert back to MacStruts for the front suspension of the
In a move that was almost the inverse of the past, a new “tall seventh generation Civic. The long-acclaimed double wishbone
wagon-ish” SUV was our apparent consolation for losing the setup had been determined to be too space consuming for the
del Sol. The Civic-based CR-V arrived in January, 1997 with a 2001’s overall design goals, and crash performance was said to
2.0-litre B-series engine and optional RealTime four wheel have been a factor as well. Whatever the case, Honda felt that it
drive (first introduced in the 1987 wagon). was a necessary compromise. The evergreen D-series mills
Honda Canada once again had their own unique model in received a bump in displacement to 1.7 litres in search of some
1997, this time a near twin of the Civic sedan called the Acura torque, finding an extra seven lb.-ft. The sole remaining body
choices were a coupe and a sedan, with the Si coupe again adding
VTEC to the base motor (115 hp) to produce 127 hp.
It would be no surprise that Acura’s Canadian Civic twin would
also be redesigned, becoming the 1.7 EL. It would essentially still
be the only way to get a four-door Civic with VTEC though.
Lo and behold! A new SiR arrived for 2002. The only version of
a UK-built three-door Civic hatchback that North America gets, it
shares more with the all-new 2002 Acura RSX than the Civic fami-
ly, having an unrelated driveline, the 160-hp 2.0-litre K-series
engine that (gasp!) rotates clockwise and is found on the passen-
ger side of the engine bay – both Civic firsts (the new CR-V and
CR-V based Element also share this architecture).
Soon after launching the SiR, Honda announced their answer
to the Toyota Prius, the Civic Hybrid. Using a second generation
version of the Insight’s IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) hybrid dri-
vetrain, the new 1.3-litre four-cylinder pairs with a DC electric
motor and onboard battery pack to provide 93 hp (85 by itself)
and 105 lb.-ft. of torque (87 alone). A CVT (Continuously Variable
Transmission) is the only transmission choice. It’s interesting to
note that it too is on the passenger side and clockwise rotating, a
decision based on Honda’s desire to sell their engines to other
manufacturers, most of whom have used this configuration right
from the start (the Saturn VUE will be the first, receiving a Honda
V6 next year).
The SiR hatch, listing at $25,500, is perhaps not a real bargain
(at least it’s available), but at just $16,000 for a DX Civic coupe or
sedan, they offer a pretty good value. As such, the Civic has held
the crown as the best-selling car in Canada for the past four years,
and it seems likely to do so again this year. With a Civic restyle
occurring every four to five years, most competitors just can’t
keep up. It’s clear that for a variety of reasons, the Civic has found
a place in the hearts of Canadians – Honda Canada sold their
one-millionth Civic in early 2002.
Happy 30th Anniversary, Honda Civic! SCN

58 SCN June/July 2003