Our Tacoma was recently loaned out and without any other cars at the moment, Julie was kind enough to let me borrow her CRX for a few days to get around.
Turns out they reviewed the 1984 Honda CRX on Motorweek back in 1983 or 84, and it’s exactly the same spec and colors as my loaner car:
Julie and I went up to Portland to get her a Honda Civic in February 2011. We wanted a 90’s Civic HF, the super economy model, but even by 2011 these were in high demand because they really were 50+mpg cars. Unfortunately we ended up looking at 3 cars that morning, none of which were HF models, and all were in terrible condition and repair. Embarrassingly so in fact. But we decided to get a late breakfast and take a quick look at Craigslist for new entries before leaving town. That’s when we spotted her CRX for less than half of what were planning to spend. A quick test drive revealed it was by far the nicest car we had seen that day and we quickly paid the asking price, leaving with the same car she drives everyday nearly 10 years later.
After mostly driving the Tacoma since last Thanksgiving, piloting this tiny car is quite the contrast. But it is absolutely hilarious. You are always the smallest car on the road and you sit so low I swear you could reach past the steering wheel and touch the pavement in front of the car. No power steering or brakes actually makes it really easy to understand the car’s capabilities. And the first to second gearing, combined with the super low weight of 1,800lbs, still makes it really fun to whip around town under the speed limit.
Her car shows a mere 160k miles now and is a real time capsule being nearly all original. It was a fun time machine for a few days. Thanks Julie and Nick!
dc