Honda Civic (third Generation) - History

History

The sedan and hatchback shared the same dashboard, but the CRX and wagons both had their own unique dash (CRX having a covered cubby in the middle of the dash, the wagon having a pop up set of vents which could be used or retracted into the dash). The hatchback adopted a flatter roof over the rear seats, drawing influences from a bodystyle known in Europe as a shooting-brake, that seemed to blur the definition between traditionally defined hatchbacks and the shooting-brake. The flat roof, three door hatchback appearance was also used on the supermini Honda City, and the Honda Today, the car that returned Honda to kei car production. This appearance was also used on the Honda Accord Aerodeck. The Honda CR-X was the only three-door hatchback that adopted a fastback, sloping rear hatch, demonstrating a performance car appearance identified with Honda Verno products during the mid-1980s. In Europe, the sedan model was also marketed as the Rover 213/216, while in Japan it was marketed in parallel (through "Verno" dealers) as the Honda Ballade. Both the Sedan and Hatchback models were also sold in Indonesia under the name Civic "Wonder".

A new 12-valve (three valves per cylinder) 76 hp, 1,500 cc inline-four engine was introduced. The base hatchback and CRX 1.3 used the 1,300 cc 8-valve engine giving 60 hp (45 kW). The DX and 1500S model hatchbacks shared the new 1,500 cc engine with the sedan, wagon, and CRX 1.5. The 1500S model achieved over 50 mpg (4.7 L/100 km; 60 mpg) highway.

European cars received a 1,200 cc engine at the bottom of the ladder, with 62 PS (46 kW). This was only available in the hatchback, while the sedan range began with a 1300 with 71 PS (52 kW). The Shuttle was only available with the 85 PS (63 kW) "1500", while the CR-X received a fuel injected version of this engine, producing 100 PS (74 kW). All of these engines have three vales per cylinder. The three-box sedan was not intended for sale in the European common market, initially only being available in EFTA markets such as Sweden and Switzerland.

In 1986, the Civic got flush-mounted headlights, revised tail-lights, new wheel cover designs and other minor cosmetic updates. The optional 3-speed automatic transmission also gained O/D (overdrive) making it a 4-speed automatic.