Back to basics - Tamiya's 1985 Civic!

Anyone who knows me knows I love loser cars. There’s a lot of things that can make a car a loser, though. We know that Pintos explode, and Vegas melt down, Citations fall apart and anything that’s a mid-to-late-70s Ford can slip a gear and run you over in your own driveway. However, there’s more to loserness than just that. For me, a lot of loserness just comes from being no fun. I am someone who likes to drive, and likes to drive cars that are interesting. I have no love of “Soulless personal transport modules” that blandly do little more than move you from point to point.

For that reason, the mid-80s Honda Civics have always been losers to me. They had lots of ugly black plastic, and were these revvy, sputtery little econoboxes that even made Citations look stylish. Thus, when I had a chance to get one, I knew I had to have it for my loser car museum. While it might be mechanically sound, it’s still one of those cars that I hope we remember so we never go back to anything that bland again.

Check out my build of the Tamiya ’85 Civic below, and tell me what you think

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/cars/tamiya-1-24-1984-honda-civic/

Another nice looking Build, I always enjoy reading your pre-build info and commentary.

Thanks Curt!

I thought it was time for another weirdo build! :)

Believe it or not, these were the first Hondas to be imported to Ireland for some reason.

Wow, really? Those were the first? I guess it's a good thing for the British car industry; the '70s Hondas kicked the Big 3's butt, and they, I believe, were making cars a bit better than the Brits. It would have been a slaughter.

On that note, wasn't the Triumph Acclaim just an Accord?

The Triumph was a Ballade if I remember

Those Civics were miles ahead of the other cars available at the time, they were well equipped and were expensive over here, if you had a Merc you're wife had a Civic back in the day.

Agreed the design was mediocre. In some views it reminds me of the Renault R-5"Le Car." But there the similarities end.The Honda was reliable and cheap to own. Anyone wanting something cheap to run that was fairly sturdy (and with good resale value) bought a Honda. And, wow, they bought 'em despite the looks and lack of zing.
Thanx for your work on one of the best selling econoboxes.

Had a few of those 'disposable' cars in my days - very handy work cars.

Nice build.

Hi,
What a cool subject! The build is great!
As for british cars, I think it was a smart move when Rover used Honda 12V engines, quite popular reliable cars.
Cheers,
Nuno.

Thanks guys!

I'm really glad that people like the build. I think it's important to preserve the image of these drab little workhorses. As Mike said, very handy, and a bit disposable, even if not exciting. Most people who see it are like "What? They made a kit of that?".

That's my favourite part of modelling! :)