Dave Garrett

I recently got to thinking about the Hondas I've owned and how the cars
have changed over the years. When I bought my first one, Hondas had a
well-earned reputation for high reliability and economy coupled with
innovative engineering. I still have trouble believing that a top-of-
the-line Civic is now a $20K+ car - it wasn't that long ago that fully-
loaded Accords barely breached that price.

Hondas I've owned:

82 Prelude, bought in late 1986 to replace a '76 Plymouth Duster whose
frame had cracked. I'd gone to a few dealers hoping to find a clean
Civic 1500 S, but there were none to be had, and a salesman convinced me
to test-drive a Prelude instead. An uninsured driver drove right through
a red light in 1990, and I t-boned him at about 30mph, totaling my car
less than a month after I'd had the engine completely rebuilt.

83 Accord sedan - bought for $400 in 1992 when I was short of cash but
also needed a beater for the times when my usual two-wheeled transport
(another Honda, a CB750F) wouldn't suffice. The engine wouldn't rev
above 3000rpm without starting to stutter and then die completely. It
was fine on city streets, but was unsafe to drive on the freeway. Drove
it for about six months as it was and sold it for what I paid for it.

80 Accord sedan - bought in 1993 for $500 for my wife, as a short-term
replacement for her VW Rabbit that was totaled by yet another red-light-
running uninsured driver. I wish I still had this car - it was in that
distinctive shade of light metallic green that was a popular factory
paint color with Hondas then.

86 Accord LXi hatchback - bought in early 1995 for my wife. Owned until
2003 with the only major problem being a broken (5-speed manual)
transmission that required replacement with a rebuilt one. Still ran
well when we sold it, but the AC had quit working a couple of years
previously, and as it was 17 years old she decided she'd rather have a
newer vehicle with fewer maintenance issues.

90 CRX Si - bought in 1993 with roughly 20K miles on it. Still my daily
driver, with just over 126K miles now. Like the 86 Accord, at nearly 17
it's started to have an increasing number of age-related problems that
I'm either going to have to address soon or decide to buy a new car
(probable suspension rebuild, AC quit working a year ago, a couple of
patches of rust on the A-pillar and sunroof, some original rubber parts
decaying, and other cosmetic issues). My favorite out of all the Hondas
I've had.

99 Accord EX V6 sedan - bought in 2003 as a replacement for our 86
Accord. Just recently passed 90K miles, and hope to continue driving it
for many more years (keeping my fingers crossed on the well-known
transmission issues). Plenty of room, very comfortable in the European
sense (stiffer suspension than many other Japanese or American sedans),
more than adequate power for almost every situation.

Hondas I'd like to own: I'd really like to keep the CRX and completely
rebuild it into a serious weekend hot rod (suspension and braking
upgrades and an engine swap for a tuned, naturally-aspirated B-series
motor in the 250HP range). Replacing it for a daily driver would be a
new Fit Sport (the true successor to the older-generation Civics), but I
don't see that happening until the supply increases enough to where
they're commonplace on dealer lots and better deals are being made.

I'd also like to restore a 1st- or 2nd-gen Civic. These used to be
plentiful, but now you hardly ever see one on the street. And every time
I sit in an S2000, I want one, but then reality sets in after I remember
the price tag. Beautiful cars, but like the new Civics, I always start
thinking of what else I could get for the same amount of money or less.

So, how many Hondas have you owned, and which ones would you like to
own?

Dave