Topic: Curbside Classic – When Honda’s Mojo Was Working: 1980-1983 Honda Civic

[Bubba]

How timely!  I was just thinking about my 1982 Civic 1500 GL 3-door today and recalling how great a commuter car it was.  I kept meticulous records and know it never got less than 32.9 mpg (imp) and recorded over 60 mpg on a few occasions.  It was fun to drive, too, with a 5 speed manual and gearing that placed the 3,000 rpm torque peak right at 75 mph.  It came with cloth seats, a tach and an AM/FM radio!  How I miss it.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/curbside-classic-when-hondas-mojo-was-working-1980-1983-honda-civic/

[rrocket]

We had a 1978-1979 model!!!  It was a poop brown colour...LOL.

[footlong58]

I learned to drive on an '85 Civic.  I can recall starting the car and having to pull the manual choke lever on the dash on those winter mornings...  If thats not mojo, I don't know what is!

Just like this one:

[Loudpedal]

Man, one has not lived unless they have owned a Civic...maybe that's the pints talking...lol.    I'd love an old Civic to take on Sunday afternoon drives thru the country. 

[Erik]

While my fav, and the one I had was two generations later, all of these cars were just bloody brilliant.

[Schmengie]

A friend of mine had a '76 Civic, also 'poop brown'. It was a stripper, nothing in it but an AM radio but boy, that little bugger sure was a hoot to drive. The engine was smooth as butter compared to my agricultural '76 Datsun B-210, and I remember how it zinged to the redline almost like a motorcycle. They were nifty, fun little cars and it seemed like eveyone wanted one but they didn't last very long. A couple of years on our salted winter roads and that Civic's rocker panels were rusted right through.

[Bubba]

I learned to drive on an '85 Civic.  I can recall starting the car and having to pull the manual choke lever on the dash on those winter mornings...  If thats not mojo, I don't know what is!

Having a manual choke was a wonderful thing for a Manitoba winter. 

[Mike]

I never got the chance to drive one of these.  Closest I got was driving in my friends 86 Civic Hatch in high school.

My family did have its direct competitor growing up though: 1982 Toyota Tercel 'Coupe'


in this colour:

[quadzilla]

That 1500GL was a great car. I had the chance to drive a 1500S (?) and it was a blast. My parents had a '83 wagon and it was awesome...like this one but also in poop brown.

[CatsEye68]

They were nifty, fun little cars and it seemed like eveyone wanted one but they didn't last very long. A couple of years on our salted winter roads and that Civic's rocker panels were rusted right through.

They were terrible rusters, even the early 90s models had that problem though not quite as bad as the earlier models. A young lady who was a former co-worker won a few thou in the lottery in '84 and used the proceeds to buy her first new car, a Civic 4-door. Between the rust caused by the road salt and the stench inside caused by her cigarette habit, it wasn't worth much when she tried to unload it in 1990. She loved it while it lasted.

[triuman]

How timely!  I was just thinking about my 1982 Civic 1500 GL 3-door today and recalling how great a commuter car it was.  I kept meticulous records and know it never got less than 32.9 mpg (imp) and recorded over 60 mpg on a few occasions.  It was fun to drive, too, with a 5 speed manual and gearing that placed the 3,000 rpm torque peak right at 75 mph.  It came with cloth seats, a tach and an AM/FM radio!  How I miss it.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/curbside-classic-when-hondas-mojo-was-working-1980-1983-honda-civic/

That is a sweet looking Civic  And in my opinion, Honda's mojo is still working thru the Civic...

[dkaz]

I miss my Honda Civic wagon... all three of them. An 86 Wagovan I bought when I was in high school, my first standard transmission car, an 85 Wagon DX which is my favourite because it has the chaise mode seating (front seats go forward then recline all the way back to form foot rests for the backseat, ultra cool), and a 88 Wagon RT4WD, the predecessor to the RT4WD system that would go into the CRV which senses slippage and automatically transfers torque to the rear wheels, I never got to try it because someone ran the red light and totalled my car 12 days after I bought it.

But it had the non-VTEC D16A6 Si motor in it producing 93HP 105HP and requiring premium gas (the only car I've ever owned to date that's required premium gas) and had a 5+1 speed transmission, that +1 gear being a SL (super low) gear to the left of 1st gear that was even lower than first gear for getting out of hairy situations, never got to truly try out the SL gear but I did redline the D16A6 good a few times so I guess I had my fun.

I do miss all three dearly. I don't mind the current gen Civic Si (I like the CSX Type S) but they just don't hold a candle to the basic but super fun to drive Civics of the past. Now people just want creature comforts, or at least they're suckered into thinking so. Now my Mazda 5 is the new Civic wagon, great car, but unlike my first two Civics (not the third one lol) I will never get 55mpg on it ever. Honda like Toyota have had the ability to make super fuel efficient cars for the longest time but now they're just cancelling any efficiency gains out with weight gains.

[safristi]

ACCORDing to each his own....................... ...................I could hear the RUST....cackling and challenging me to deny it daily.........

[Scaerio]

My Mom had a red 1978 Civic hatch - what an awesome car.

[tpl]

I think the Fit is the nearest they make now. Sad.

[dkaz]

The Fit's a door stopper on wheels not a car.

[Bubba]

I think the Fit is the nearest they make now. Sad.

The Mazda2 is the spiritual successor to the 80-83 Civic, I believe. 

[tpl]

Quite likely...  but it is not a Honda.

[TopGun]

I think the Fit is the nearest they make now. Sad.

Agreed.  Mine was an '80 purchased in '90 that I had for several years before it rusted out.  Great MANUAL steering car!

[Erik]

I think the Fit is the nearest they make now. Sad.

Agreed.  Mine was an '80 purchased in '90 that I had for several years before it rusted out.  Great MANUAL steering car!

Yup, Hondas manual steering was delightful. Never too heavy, and always communicative.