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Retro drive: Honda Civic ('SG' first generation). Image by Honda.

Retro drive: Honda Civic ('SG' first generation)
Going back nine generations from the present, to where the Honda Civic’s story started.

   



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Honda Civic ('SG' first generation)

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

For: it's the originator of one of the longest-serving hatchback lines in the motoring world

Against: good luck finding one today

What is it?

The original Honda Civic, once a Far Eastern oddity on our roads, but now an adored little darling, because it has something on its side that no modern can hope to match - time. Whatever it is in the human psyche that makes us, rightly or wrongly, reckon that 'it were all better in't old days, like' apportions itself to the automotive world as well. Cars like this Civic, harking from way back in 1975 - making it, incredibly (if you've seen this writer's ugly mug), older than this author - suddenly assume a cool status that they never had when they were new, or nearly-new.

But is that fair? Are we right to laud a car, Civic or otherwise, simply because it has survived for a long time? Such a skill might be truly worthy in a zombie apocalypse wasteland, granted, but for a mere machine to simply still exist after 43 years is hardly the most astonishing thing in the world. After all, the Egyptians lobbed up the pyramids - made of limestone and granite, and erected in a desert, with its nagging, sand-laden winds blasting away at the edifices for millennia - 4,600 years ago, so four decades for some tin and vinyl to hold up to the rigours of garaged ownership is hardly record-breaking stuff.

Aah, but where would the human race be without romanticism, eh? And everyone who goes to Giza stands there and gawps at the monuments to Khufu, don't they? Just like we gawped at the Carnaby Yellow beauty before us. By crikey, it's an attractive little thing. With 'little' being the key adjective, but we'll come back to that in a moment. The Civic Mk1's curved rear was something of a daring move by the company, because originally it was going to be an affordable three-box saloon - until the designers decided to 'sacrifice the trunk space' to minimise the car's footprint and give it a distinct identity, in and amongst early 1970s competitors.

It was a good decision, as the Civic was a quality supermini that appeared well before the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, using a transverse, front-engined layout in a manner not dissimilar to an Issigonis Mini. This brings us back to 'little' - at 3.65 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, MLA 993P (which was, incidentally, the very car used for photographs in the original UK sales brochure) is tiny. It's a fact reinforced when it's parked next to its most recent descendant, a Civic Mk10, which looks utterly gargantuan in comparison.

Sure, we all know cars get bigger every year, for various boring reasons, but it's still startling to see the incredible compactness of this clever Civic. Because it also featured some advanced technology for its age, like a water-cooled, aluminium, overhead-cam 1.2-litre petrol engine with a cross-flow design. And independent suspension all round. And servo-assisted disc front brakes (drums on the rear, though). And an energy-absorbing, collapsible steering column. Plus, of course, what made the Civic such a success is that, unlike its European contemporaries, it didn't throw a hissy fit and break down every other hour; it just kept on keeping on, its front wings that were notoriously susceptible to rust notwithstanding. It was really the first sign of the enduring Japanese assault on the UK, European and US automotive markets, that would force each to rethink 'buying local' when it came to cars.

Why are you driving it?

Well, why not? When presented with the chance to give something this pioneering a spin, would you turn it down? Nope, thought not. Also, this was the sort of first car that put our parents (or, if you're a Millennial, your grandparents, most likely...) on the roads. Time to see if things really were better in the past, or whether we're all simply wearing the most rose-tinted of spectacles...

Is it any good these days?

Yes, it's wonderful - with the caveat that, in the searing heat of north-eastern Spain in summer, Honda's technicians felt it right that the old-timer would just do a gentle amble along the seafront and back, to prevent it from overheating on more strenuous mountain roads. The support team even electrically bridged the Civic's cooling fan, to keep it running permanently during the scorching day.

And yet, you wonder if Honda UK wasn't being overly protective. While we're not here to talk about steering feel and cornering grip, given we never went above about 50mph in the Civic, there are things you do notice about the classic hatchback. Like the easy way the 1.2-litre engine catches and fires into life, without any histrionics. The even, flat idle of the four-pot. The wonderfully light controls, that make driving the Civic oh-so-civil. Furthermore, the entire lightness of mass of the vehicle - which clocks in at a mere 680kg and results in 74hp-per-tonne; not much less than you'd get from a 100hp Ford Fiesta EcoBoost these days - pervades everything the Civic does, so while the brakes need a firm prod to get them going, the car stops a lot better than similar 1970s machinery ever could. And it rides beautifully, too, a direct corollary of having mere 12-inch steelies at all four corners. Yes, it's an automotive sweetheart, this one.

Is it a genuine classic, or just some mildly interesting old biffer?

It's a dyed-in-the-wool classic. Of course it is. Not just because it's 'more than 25 years old', which seems to automatically confer such status on any car these days (if some ludicrously inflated used prices are anything to go by), but because it begat a line of cars for Honda that has gone on to sell the best part of 20 million units worldwide, a line of cars that now features a 170mph example with in excess of six times the power of this yellow original. And when you're in the granddaddy of them all, it's nigh-on impossible to remain unimpressed. Similar to the Great Pyramid of Giza, this humble Civic Mk1 is a wonder of the automotive world.

The numbers

Model tested: Honda Civic 1.2 Deluxe 3dr manual
Price: when new in 1975, £1,284 (circa £10,240, inflation-adjusted for 2018); used examples from £6,000 today
Build period: 1972-1979
Build numbers: exact number unconfirmed, but almost one million sold in US alone
Engine: 1.2-litre four-cylinder water-cooled OHC petrol
Transmission: front-wheel drive, four-speed manual
Body style: three-door supermini
Combined economy: 46.6mpg (estimated at 56mph)
Top speed: 90mph
0-62mph: 15.1 seconds
Power: 50hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 79Nm at 3,500rpm



Matt Robinson - 12 Aug 2018



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1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.

1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.1976 Honda Civic. Image by Honda.








 

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