1988 Honda Civic DX

Description

You might glance at this 1988 Honda Civic DX and elect to move on, but you'd be making a mistake. Because for this very, very reasonable price, you'll be getting not only a handsome and uber-reliable 'modern' classic, but one that will challenge newer imports in its spare time. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that it's stuffed full of Acura power, a 5-speed, and razor-sharp reflexes atop it's upgraded suspension. Got your attention now?

We'll get to the engine swap in a moment, but first let's talk about the eye-catching blue metallic this Honda's wearing today. In person it presents like a solid driver, with a few signs of use that you'd expect from a car that's this much fun to drive. The angular 4-door Civic bodywork still looks contemporary today, despite being 32 years old, and thanks to high-quality workmanship at the factory in Japan, these cars hold up incredibly well. Honda is basically a synonym for reliability. The Vehicle History Report proves that this car has never lived near a snow belt area (lifelong California and Texas car), so everything's quite clean, and despite the miles on the body you won't find many dents or other damage to the sheetmetal. There are black accents everywhere including a vinyl-wrapped roof, painted body trim that wraps around the car, a chin spoiler, a blacked-out tail panel, headlight tint, wind guards on the windows, and dark tint on all the glass, and the dark contrast really helps the light blue paint pop. Other than those additions and a set of cool 4-spoke Enkei wheels, the former owner resisted the urge to add any goofy parts-store gimmicks, so there's no silly spoiler or obtrusive ground effects that you'll have to apologize for. Just a clean presentation that's been made a bit more sinister.

The durable Honda interior was already a pretty nice place to spend some time, so they didn't waste a lot of effort trying to reinvent the wheel there. Grippy yet plush cloth bucket seats hold you in place and help keep you cool in the sun and the original gray carpets are still in remarkably good shape, protected all these years by the OEM Civic floor mats that are still place. The original gauges are still in place and working as they should, the dash has been protected by a carpeted mat so it's in great shape underneath, while the door panels and headliner look incredibly well for their age too. Cool additions inside include that woodrimmed 3-spoke steering wheel, an Illinium shift knob and teal skirt, and if you take a closer look you'll see that the knobs for the window cranks are actually converted skateboard wheels. How cool is that? They also added a Kenwood AM/FM/CD/AUX stereo system ahead of that slick shifter, and along with cold R134a factory air conditioning, the cabin of this little import is a very comfortable place to be. Out back, the trunk is surprisingly spacious for a compact sedan, and it's outfitted exactly as it was in 1988.

It's not all that surprising how easily the Acura 1.8L DOHC 16V (B18B1) slides under the Honda's hood without any external modifications, but it still took very skilled hands to get mounted and fit in a way that looks like it always belonged. Kudos to the builders. It's basically stock aside from the upgraded polyurethane motor mounts, an added strut tower brace, an AEM cold air intake tube and filter, a set of block-hugging headers and an aftermarket Dynomax exhaust but that means bulletproof reliability and lots of added horsepower and torque. It starts and runs beautifully thanks to factory-style fuel injection and there's a newer radiator up front to keep it cool. Neat wiring, an efficient belt drive system, and an effective cooling system all help with reliability, so you can enjoy this car without worries. The 5-speed manual shifts beautifully and powers the Civic's original rear end that has been further stiffened with a sway bar, so handling is much approved. Power front disc brakes ensure this little import will stop on a dime, and a beautifully crafted Dynomax exhaust system with dual tips provides a great note to the peppy 4-banger. Finally, the sporty look is completed with a set of Enkei 4-spoke alloys wrapped in performance Hankook radials.

Available for pennies on the dollar, this upgraded Civic represents one of the best blends of modern motoring with '80s style, all wrapped in a great-looking sedan. Call today!