[arvi86]

Few cars have done this to their manufacturers like what the Civic did to Honda. From 1973, when the 'Civic' brand was apparently launched first, to the latest 2012 Civic that has just been launched in the international markets and soon to be launched in India, the Civic has found a mind-boggling 19,000,000 customers worldwide. Unlike many other cars that sold in similar or more numbers (like the Corolla, Camry, Beetle, etc.), the Civic was not just a mass market, point A to B commuter. It had a gem of an engine that loved to be revved hard, a superb chassis that makes you smile when pushed to the limits and proved to the world that you need not pay through the roof to enjoy what enthusiasts may call 'spirited driving'.

Now, its time for Honda and millions of customers, enthusiasts and well-wishers worldwide to cheer and celebrate the 39 years of existence of the Civic. Honda - The Power of Dreams!

Check out this link and the celebratory video that Honda has released in Autoblog.
Honda celebrates 39 years of Civic heritage

[libranof1987]

Note from Support: Please include the source of pictures when you grab them off other websites. Thanks!
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic




Thought I'd upload these!

1st gen


2nd gen


3rd gen


4th gen


5th gen


6th gen


7th gen


8th gen


European version


2012 version

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Thought I'd upload these!

Thanks for adding those pics libran. I was thinking of doing it as a follow-up of my previous post, but you beat me to it. Personally, its from the 6th gen that I started liking the Civic. IMO, it had one of the cleanest design of it's times and the fact that it came in NFS UG & UG2 only helped matters. In India though, the Civic well and truly arrived with a bang with the 8th gen model.

[libranof1987]

Well, 6th gen onwards has "modern" designs. I'm sure the earlier ones were hot property of their time.

The EU version looks like DC has had a hand in it's design!

PS : Did you notice how the Civic has had the mirrors bolted on the driver door right since the 1st gen! (Barring 4th, 5th and 6th gen though)

[metrozipper]

These pics are great libran! Just looking at how innovation took place... the 'pull' handles became part of the Civic only in the 8th gen!!

Not quite sure how the handle worked on the 5th gen! Somewhat like the W201 now

[princemanatt]

Great Car. But now a days they are diluting the very essence this car stands for:

Unlike many other cars that sold in similar or more numbers (like the Corolla, Camry, Beetle, etc.), the Civic was not just a mass market, point A to B commuter. It had a gem of an engine that loved to be revved hard, a superb chassis that makes you smile when pushed to the limits and proved to the world that you need not pay through the roof to enjoy what enthusiasts may call 'spirited driving'.

The 2012 car seems to be all about fuel efficiency. There is no increase in power for the 1.8 L engine and the super high revving 2.0 L engine is replaced by a 2.4L engine that makes just 3 bhp more(although with a lot more torque).

All is sacrificed at the altar of fuel efficiency

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

PS : Did you notice how the Civic has had the mirrors bolted on the driver door right since the 1st gen! (Barring 4th, 5th and 6th gen though)

Great observation there mate. I did not notice that at all until you said that. Design wise, I would say there is nothing to beat the 8th gen model. That is the pinnacle. As someone else mentioned in this forum, once you reach the top, the next thing is to come down and down only.

Originally Posted by princemanatt

Great Car. But now a days they are diluting the very essence this car stands for:

The 2012 car seems to be all about fuel efficiency. There is no increase in power for the 1.8 L engine and the super high revving 2.0 L engine is replaced by a 2.4L engine that makes just 3 bhp more(although with a lot more torque).

All is sacrificed at the altar of fuel efficiency

Yes, Honda seems to be following Toyota, be it in design or be it in driving dynamics. But, the saving grace is the Civic Si, which still retains the looks, grace, poise and power of its predecessors.

[srishiva]

Having owned a Lx and Ex from 6th gen and current version, they are such hassle free cars to own and are not really boring to drive.
Hope Honda introduces new models for the sporty conscious people(with turbos). The Si's are good but are underpowered compared to competition.

[mallumowgli]

Nice thread and photos. But, has anybody got the photos of cars of each generation as it looked when launched? The above are of old cars, and hence dont look the part (No offence Libran, we always want more, wont we?). Am sure each was 'modern' as per the generation it was launched

[Latheesh]

I had taken short drive in 6th, 7th gen civic, and I like coupe version of 8th gen.

I think he pulled those pictures from wikipedia. It is better to mark the source.

[Maverick1977]

My neighbor had imported a Civic in the early 80's. It was a hatchback & I still remember all the details of the car. It was a silver colored car with brown upholstery and had reg. no. MAR 353. I was super excited when I had sat in the car for the 1st time.

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I had taken short drive in 6th, 7th gen civic, and I like coupe version of 8th gen.

I think he pulled those pictures from wikipedia. It is better to mark the source.

Originally Posted by Maverick1977

My neighbor had imported a Civic in the early 80's. It was a hatchback & I still remember all the details of the car. It was a silver colored car with brown upholstery and had reg. no. MAR 353. I was super excited when I had sat in the car for the 1st time.

This is what Honda says in the end of that celebratory video - One Brand, A Million Stories. How true, isn't it?

[sgiitk]

I still remember the days when they used to say,"Will the Civic be the only legal car in America". Remember the pioneering CVCC engine.

[noopster]

Great thread. Amazing how the Civic generates so much passion among its fans here on T-BHP. From a dedicated service thread to a series of incredibly engrossing ownership reports and now this! Matter of time before dot, mdsaab, Ace355, GTO etc. make an appearance!

The generational snapshot posted by libran is excellent. Anyone notice how much the original M800 (released nearly 10 years later in India) resembled the G1 Civic?
I have seen G5 onwards on the street growing up in Mumbai (imported ones by the rich folks of Juhu and Bandra!) and there is no doubt they are getting better-looking over time, culminating in the absolutely gorgeous current generation (the Euro spec is a tad overdone, and the 2012 I will reserve judgement till it actually launches).

[libranof1987]

^^ Agree.

Though surprising how the 6th gen was 2-door after consecutive 5-door models.

Don't know how it would look in actual but the 10th gen looks like the current City.