One of the most interesting things about the collector car hobby is that there is literally something for almost every budget imaginable. If you have between $10,000 and $15,000, you can buy an excellent example of an interesting and collectible car. In a way this is much like watch collecting, where you can get an interesting and desirable watch, say an F.P. Journe, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, or you can get a Grand Seiko for as little as $5,000. Both are well made and collectible, just at different price points. My Pick of the Day is a show-worthy example of a car at the lower point of the spectrum, a 1975 Honda Civic CVCC coupe. It is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in North Hollywood, California.
The Honda Civic, the car on which the Japanese automaker built their brand, is not only the most important car in the history of Honda but also one of the most important Japanese cars of all time. While economical, it was also very well built and fun to drive. The Civic literally defined the economy car segment of the market.
The thing that really made the Civic CVCC remarkable was that it delivered 42 mpg on the highway and at the same time met the stringent government emissions regulations without the use of a catalytic converter.
The way it did this was with a new cylinder-head design, the CVCC. According to Honda, the term CVCC stands for Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion. “Compound” represents an engine mechanism with two combustion chambers. “Vortex” refers to the swirl of air and fuel generated in the main chamber, caused by a jet of flame from the pre-chamber. This increased the speed of engine combustion. “Controlled Combustion” denotes the engine’s ability to precisely control the speed of combustion. This allows the CVCC engine to use less fuel while at the same time delivering better fuel economy.
The car featured here is an all-original 1975 Civic CVCC painted in its original Caroline Yellow with an original houndstooth cloth and black vinyl interior. It has covered only 33,855 miles from new and is the cleanest example I have seen in 25 years.
The seller states that this Civic has a five-speed manual transmission, factory air conditioning (rare in these cars), and is in mostly original and very well-kept condition. The car also features its original AM/FM radio/cassette deck, manual door locks, manual mirrors, a trunk privacy shield, fold-down rear seat, power steering, and power brakes.
A look at the photos reveals a true time-capsule example. Keep in mind these Civics were so good they were usually driven for hundreds of thousands of miles – meaning that finding one this clean is almost impossible.
It is really fun to get behind the wheel of a Civic CVCC; it has great handling and an interior that, while spartan, is very well-finished, the controls are all in the right place, and it will fit just about any driver regardless of height. Despite only having a 53-horsepower 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine, the Civic can easily keep up with modern traffic, even on the interstate. I say this with certainty, having owned and used one as a daily driver.
This Civic is truly a great find and I honestly feel that with an asking price of only $13,995, it is a fantastic buy and will not last long. It is the Grand Seiko of the car world.
If you want to purchase an example of the first generation of the Honda that changed the car world, I advise you to consider this one.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com
