The Civic

In the early nineties the original Honda Mayat (”hearse Honda”) started to gain the attention of street racers. Duly named because of its long roof and distinctive straight tail, it was unbeatable at the traffic lights. Then came the VTEC Honda Mayat (EF). Once VTEC mode came into play at around 5,000 RPM, it would leave its opponents in its screaming wake. It was a natural at drag racing.

The next generation Civic Bullet (EG) had great looks coupled with an even better VTEC engine. When it was first introduced, its modern styling made it really stand out. Until today its design doesn’t look a day old. Driving one would make your coolness factor go sky-high. The Civic reigned supreme.

After that came the Civic Dolphin (EK). In my opinion this is when Honda’s designs started to not look so good. With its weird big headlights, Honda had pushed the boundaries too far. Furthermore its pricing put it out of the range of most people. Those who could only afford the Satria and the Wira branched off into the world of turbocharged Evo engines. Meanwhile the serious enthusiasts took the Civic to the racetrack and completely dominated the normally-aspirated 1.6 category.

The Civic lost all street cred with the introduction of the 2001 model. Its front looked bland and the rear was simply unattractive. Moreover, people were no longer interested in front-wheel-drive, normally-aspirated cars with the sudden popularization of drifting. Thus the Civic went back to where it started - a reliable and economical Japanese family car.

22 November 2007 | Cars | Comments