1985 Honda CRX Goes for a Drive 

Every time I see a classic car review with velour seats I wish manufacturers would use it again. So much better than the cheap easily marked fabrics used in most cars these days.

that's the cleanest CRX I've ever seen, dang

I had one of these in 1994, it was an amazing little car, it just revved and revved like it would never end. I had to deliver some boxed goods to a friend once, I dropped the back seats and filled as much space as I could with these boxes and arranged to meet him half way, he turned up in a rover that looked double the size, but he struggled to get the cargo that I took out of the CRX into his car..so they are more spacious than they look.. I had loads of fun with this, my friend drove it once and begged and begged me to sell it to him, so I did.. then he got three speeding tickets within a week and ended up losing his licence. You have to drive one of these to understand it.

Literally one of my dream cars, I'm so Jealous! The interior of that one looks like the absolute best place in the world to be! -Matt

Looks remarkably fresh design for 40 years ago. Little beauty.

I had a Civic 1.5GT with the same engine. The engine makes a brilliant growl when at full chat! Traded it in for a 2.0 Accord Aerodeck with pop up headlights. Two of the best cars I have ever owned!

It's something about this car that makes it desirable

I was in Japan in 1983 when this car was first released as a Ballade. It was quite a revolution at the time. All new platform, engines, everything. Shortly followed by the Civic and Shuttle versions. I remember there was a funky optional flip up vent thing in the roof; a sort of super-sophisticated version of the one on the Mini van.

This is THE one car I wish I had never sold. I had the 1,6 125bhp version and it was fantastic. Comfy, sporty and practical. Car designers seem to have lost the skill of designing cars like this today. Brilliant review, I've just brought a camper but now wish I'd seen this a couple of weeks ago :-(

This makes me want to cry…I moved to San Francisco for 3 years, parked mine behind my mom’s house…came back and jumped it off in about 3 minutes and it was purring, but dragged out a bunch of blackberry weeds with…drove it for 2 more years before i sold it. Damn i miss that car.

I bought this model in 1988 living in Germany - a pocket rocket ! Hyper reliable and an unburstable engine. My biggest regret in my life was selling it !

Had one as my first car, 2-tone flat red and grey, same wheels, black interior. Absolutely perfect, regretted selling it ever since.

This is the Blista Compact from the GTA series. I love the way it looks

My late wife Velta in Australia owned a 1986 white Honda Civic Wagon and the frontal styling was identical right down to the black plastic bumpers. The interior design was similar and also blue! However, it was a 5 door and had unique styling. There were side windows behind the C pillar which extended below the belt line and also small windows in the roof behind the C pillar! My brother in law called it the "Pope Mobile"! Honda vehicles have always been reliable and she drove it for about 10 years.

I had a 1985 CRX, and loved that car. I would often get over 40MPG on local roads, and 50 on the highways. It was rear-ended and totaled after only 5 years.

I'd call those back seats mother in law seats😁

These are serious rare now! I think 90% where used in the tuning scene and trashed. This is a beautiful example, hope it goes to a good home. Great review!

I tried to buy basically exactly the same car (same year, same color) in about 1989, but because it was a 2 seater, and I was under 18, insurance was very high in the US with the insurance company my parents used, and I could not afford the insurance. I am still sad about never getting to own this fun little car.

In the mid-80s, a 10-12s 0-60 for a car with a sub 2.0l displacement is damned impressive. The challenge was getting sufficient torque to get the vehicle moving off the line, and a sub-2.0l engine simply didn’t produce a whole lot twist to get the wheels going. A quick comparison, this CRX compares favorably with both the 84 Toyota Celica GT-S, and the AE-86 Corolla GT-S (which both clock in somewhere around 11s). Even by today’s standards, 10s 0-60 is still respectable, and a lot of “regular” cars sit in that range. … and as the narrator says, the little Honda feels ‘spritely’ - this was a period of time when Honda was coming up on making their cars “sporty” (somewhat like Mazda’s “zoom-zoom” campaign in the early 2000s?), and they improved the overall performance of their lineup enormously between 1985 and 1990.

You have had some special cars on lately with the 505, Mk1 Alto, Crx.... its quality content. You are really good at what you do keep up the good work and ill keep hitting that like button and sharing with other car mates

Nice video, Matt. Love this era of 80s cars, trip down memory lane 👍😁

Great vid Matt. What an iconic little pocket rocket.. Those SCC boys certainly know how to find these tasty, time-warp gems!

Wow. I've got exactly the same car in the same color combination. Mine doesn't have rear speakers but it has seat belts for the rear bench. I absolutely adore it. It is nice to see it being reviewed!

"Have a hoot on your daily commute"................a new catchphrase is born!

I’m 17, in 1 year I am going to make 5 to 6 grand (euros) and get myself a 2nd gen Honda crx (1988-1991) for a daily, I’m pretty sure I’ll love this thing, that classic look and design makes me feel I want to drive it all day

If Honda made this body style again, 5 speed manual transmission, 30+ mpg WITHOUT all the high tech stuff of this century, they would sell out before they hit the showroom floor. So many people adore this car. It

What a great little video!! Thank you for making it and sharing it!! I own one of the first Gen1 crx made in Japan in 1983 (production number 29) and a 1984/85 Si with the ZC motor. Couple things I have picked up which perhaps need a clarification but nothing major: the Japanese models in 1983 had the EW5 Pgm-fi motor already (mine has one), and the wing as well. The car tested didn’t have a lower steering, and also I noticed the lack of an AC button or pulleys in the engine bay. Other than that amazing little car and overall condition, with those kms - wow, someone will be super pleased and hopefully treats it like the classic is has become. I am definitely not a fan of the blue interior, something the Ballade Civics shared - im glad both my crxs have black interiors.

Really like you channel, mate. Keep up the good work !

I had a 1986 CRX HF and it was one of my favorite cars I ever owned. The HF was the High Fuel model and had a 5 speed transmission and got around 45 to 47 mpg around town yet still felt zippy. Mine was also the white exterior with blue interior. In mine, the area just behind the seats had a lockable lid that opened to show a storage area underneath. I was really upset when it was totalled. I hope to have another '86 or '87 someday. Preferably an Si. Thanks for this blast from the past!!

Great find Matt. I love these things too. Vtec version? Oh hell yeah. Thanks so much.

Good to see one again, remember a few knocking about back in the day. Nicely packaged car and looks like a decent amount of fun to drive without the filling loosing ride of todays stuff

Always loved these. As a schoolboy in the late 80s, my bedroom wall sported three car pictures: Peugeot 205 GTi, Lotus Esprit, and Honda CRX. I believe a certain Mr J Clarkson had one of these as his personal car back in the day. A compliment to the car's greatness indeed.

I miss my 87 CRX. Such a fun car to drive!

What a beautiful car!! Awesome video, thanks for sharing that to us!

I always enjoy a vehicle review that you enjoy. Thank you for this review. Pete 🇬🇧

Oh, thank you for this,Matt. I want it! This car looks so nice it would almost be worth buying and importing. One of the best small all arounders ever made. USA cars were strictly 2 seaters. I came close to buying an ‘86 Si from a co-worker years ago but went for an Integra instead - Another car I dearly loved. Always regret never owning a CRX though

Memories, memories... best car I had in many ways was a 1985 Civic Shuttle, single-carb 1.5, 12-valve engine (85bhp), faster than an XR3 (but not quite as fast as an XR3i). After 18 years and over 120,000 miles it still didn't leak oil or burn any between annual services. Dash was similar to the one in the CRX, but the central bit of my car's dash had pop-up airvents instead of a cubbyhole

What a lovely clean CRX. I remember back in 90's a work mate owned the VTEC version which was fast

What a stunning example. Wonderful. They'll have no problem finding a new owner for that little beaut. Thanks Matt.

What a great survivor I hope it goes to a good home it deserves to be preserved. My father had a 1984 mk1 Honda Civic Shuttle from new. From what remember I it had a lot of the same parts inside and out and a very blue interior with blue and white checked seats. It was a very reliable car .😎👍

Loved that dash compartment as well

The original CRX was actually related to the second generation of Honda Ballade, the one we mostly saw as the SD3 Rover 200. We did get that generation of Honda Ballade in the UK, mostly with the same 1500cc engine used in the CRX, with a carburettor rather than PGM-FI, but I believe later on there was also a 1600 fuel injection version, though I've never actually seen one on the road. Even the 1500s were pretty rare in the UK as a lot of the, often more mature, people that would buy a car like that would rather buy the "British" Rover instead, but that generation of Ballade did feature both in early series of One Foot In The Grave and also Keeping Up Appearances. Those basic engines did continue into the R8 generation Honda Concerto, with the 1500 being the standard engine and the 1.6i-16 being the higher version, a car that managed to be both quite sporty, even with the optional automatic gearbox, and actually quick with the manual, and yet very comfortable too. I racked up a lot of miles in one of those Concerto 1.6i-16s when I worked for a Land-Rover dealer in the late '90s as we had an auto as a courtesy vehicle and runaround, and it was interesting to be able to directly compare it to an R8 as we also had a manual 216GSi for the same reasons. My personal feeling was that the Honda, despite the auto box, was a lot more fun to drive than the Rover, having better suspension control and a much more punchy engine, perhaps not surprising as it was the same engine that appeared in the first generation face-lift CRX 1.6i and also the 1.6 Del Sol. The Honda also had superb air conditioning, far superior to that fitted to the Rover (the dealership was in a plummy area so a lot of the vehicles we saw and which got traded in were rather higher than normal spec and we often delivered courtesy cars and collected vehicles for maintenance and repair from houses that were comfortably in the £5+million bracket even back then, other than the police vehicles...) which always seemed rather odd being as, bodily and interior-wise they were basically the same vehicle, which made the Rover a lot less popular a choice on hot, sunny days which made the leather seats rather tortuous. Getting into work early so you could grab the keys to the Honda and the paperwork for the collection from the owners that required automatic transmission in their courtesy car became a major battle during the summer, something that I found fairly easy to win as I had a straight shot into work on fast A-roads and motorway from where I lived at the time... You could have rear seat belts in this generation of CRX, you can see that there is a slit in the bottom "cushion" ready to take the buckles, but they were only ever a dealer-fit option, which is no surprise as the rear seats were essentially completely useless for passengers, though the shape of the squab did make it rather useful for shopping bags as you'd have to be trying really hard on the brakes to get the shopping out over the lip of the trough and onto the floor... The performance and power figures for UK cars are a bit better than the figures you found for US-market ones as the UK cars didn't have catalytic converters and other Federally-mandated emissions equipment. The UK cars were in the 9s for 0-60 and about 10% more horsepower due to the engines being much freer-breathing. They weren't astonishingly quick, but they were never intended to be, but they were pretty light on fuel and they could be more than decently comfortable when you weren't in a hurry and very quick over the ground when you did want to press on. One of these was more than capable of showing a clean pair of heels to more powerful and faster cars like the XR3i, XR4i, Escort RS Turbo and even the Capri 2.8i from point A to point B over give-and-take B roads. These also had very popular one-make race series in a lot of countries where they could set very surprising lap times for what were basically stock vehicles, so much so that they were basically banned from a lot of touring car championships around the world as they were viewed as being, effectively, an unfair advantage in the times when such series were run on a class system...

love that car, a great 80's icon. want one.

I like your videos. You describe everything with such knowledge and enthusiasm. And you don't seem to be threatening to break out in uncontrollable belly laughter, at every switch, knob and dial, because of the "ludicrous" design decisions of the "insane" manufacturers. Like Doug Demuro does.

Love it! It's the only car missing for my ultimate garage (I already own a 87 Civic and 88 Integra here in Portugal). And that CRX is so minty. They are extremly rare here since 99% of them were imported with the DOHC D16. And those wheels.. as a 80s Honda enthusiast and living in a family that has ties with Honda since 78 - that gets me drooling hard!

A very attractive little car. I think its looks have aged well. A good video too. Lots of enthusiasm and info. Thanks.

one of my favourite retro cars!

My old man had a late 90’s early 00s rover 45 which was still using the same boot and fuel cap release,great video and cool car 😎

I had a Datsun Cherry in 1982 with that exact colour of blue memories

Saw a few of these in the late 80's and 90's chopped/modded very untastefully but as this shows originality is best. Thanks great video.

Nicely done review - from the 1984 CRX owner on the other side of the pond.

Sign o/t times: 1985, I pop out the door, freshly shaved, coffee & Kellogs in my tummy, ready for work. What is this strange nonsense of having trays in the car for cups of tea while driving to work? You are driving a motor vehicle on a public road, you are not a Hobbit on a horse's trail having Second Breakfast traversing the Shire. I would like very much you do not block a pump while underpaid teens are preparing an overpriced morning drink for you. The cars used to be for driving, for serious business. This CRX remembers.

Bought one new in 1986 (1987 model). I loved that car. Was so sad when I sold it. Wish I had it now.

My second car aged 19, half a lifetime ago, somehow convinced my parents to buy it, was awesome. The wine of the engine had an almost turbo like feel, felt very quick and was reliable. I upgraded to a rotting 1.6i dohc example, felt super quick but it rusted out beyond economical repair. I miss those cars.

Lovely little car and review, one of the leaders at my boys brigade used to have one of these as he used to work for Honda at the time

I had one of those Mk1’s in red in the 80s, kept it till it succumbed so much rust that I really couldn’t be bothered to have it welded yet again, but absolutely loved it... because it’s so light it’s as quick as #!$*, surprised many a car. Even kept in front of an eagerly but poorly driven RS2 once in some twisties 👍

Wow, that looks practically brand new! Even the steering wheel looks like no one ever laid their hands on it! I had a Citroen BX with an interior in the exact same shade of blue as this CRX, another very 80s thing. 😀

What a car , amazing condition , in the US here it would be almost impossible to find one in this condition, wow !

Absolutely love these Matt 😍 Ive occasionally been tempted by a late reg CRZ, its modern cousin.

The late, great Paul Frere's autobiography is a fascinating read. He acted as a consultant to Honda and had each variant of CRX on long term test so that he could tell them how to improve it. The final Vtec version he liked so much that he bought it and I think he kept it for the rest of his life. He said it was the most reliable car he ever had.

Perfect little car, great sporty shape, great interior and seats and that lovely little fuel injected Honda unit. I want one!

Damn it’s sold already

I love watching your test drive videos. This CRX is more closely related to the Rover 213 shape Ballade than the previous one rebadged as the Acclaim . The steering wheel and instrument binnacle are very similar. It's amazing how a really cool car like this could be derived from such a plain saloon. I want one.

I love it - Honda have made some great fun to drive cars. Love engines that like to be revved, they're supposed to have good gearboxes and this car looks so cool and different. Never driven an old, (or any), Honda - that must change!

I love 80 and 90s cars, they are all unique. Todays cars are all a bunch of electronics and plastic. All of them look same...

Great video Matt,nice review on the CRX,it's a clean car and not many of them,best kept OEM for classic shows.

I own a CRZ the grandson apparently of the CRX and after 5 years it has been brilliant . Would still have the CRX first though

Another superb video! So rare to have a mint CRX and an early one. I'm sure National was National Panasonic then Panasonic so a quality unit!

IMHO one of the nicest cars ever designed, I would LOVE to own one. If this example was LHD I would have bought it! There was no VTEC of this generation though, only a 1.6 16valve which did about 130bhp if I remember correctly. This is the one which, although equal in appearance, did have the updated suspension.

Stunning example of a great 1980s cutie

Cracking car in fabulous condition. Always loved the look of them and I would have bought it too had it not have already been sold...

What a super little car - and no rust, amazing! Looks like it is sold already too!

That transmission whine is delicious. I miss that so much.

Yes! I’ve always loved these! 💕

Definitely a Rover design theme in there. My friend had a later CRX. Love the front of the Aerodeck/Accord. What a great video of a superb car... thank you Matt

Nice one. I remember best the next generation which was a dream for us 20yrs old back in early 90ies.

Girlfriend iend had a 94 crx vfi 1600 in black with raised bonnet was very pleased to see this review thank you

Marvellous stuff. Pleasure to watch that. What a desirable car.

Wow! Excellent video.

Great small CRX👍

Had the type 2.. Probably the best drivers experiance I ever had.

A absolute beauty

The Builders were masters of the small space, and the ergonomics taught lessons to other makers. Few of those survive because they were so well built and practical, the cars were driven to pieces.Now, for a small fortune, you can buy something similar. True irony. Hindsight is 20/20.

What an awesome motor!

Great video 😃

My friend had an imported Mk2 Sir Crx with a B16 VTEC engine, the same engine that ended up going in later bigger Civics and the 1.8 version went in the Integra Type R, albeit with some different cylinder head valve profiles on and more aggressive cam shaft on the teggy. 1000kg with 165 ish BHP and Tein Coilover suspension that thing was a go-kart. If you can find a VTEC MK2 to review you will adore it. Its the perfect combo of the Mk1 and the Del Sol. the quickness and lightness if the Mk1 with some of the comfort of the Del Slow.

Good cars the crx I had the 1.5 12 valve ballade and my friend had the mk1 crx they were cracking cars to drive good road handling well built

Nice car and great review. Love those 1st gen. CRX. The chassis is not the same as the Acclaim but its successor: the Rover SD3. it also shares the suspension components with the SD3, as well as a lot of interior switches, and obviously, the steering wheel.

Great video, couldn't have said it any better than you did here. It's a tragedy that they rusted out so bad, because they're virtually flawless, mechanically. The only problem I ever had (aside from rust) on my old Hondas was brake parts; they all went through pads, hoses and master cylinders quicker than any other cars I owned. But that's small potatoes, easy and cheap to fix.

Miss mine, such a fun lil car.

Never mind all the parts sharing, this thing has got the same colour scheme as my old 1991 214SLi. Gorgeous little thing (the CRX that is, not the Rover...).

Classic little baby car.. so adorable..

Can I say what a delight it is when your videos pop up on my phone, really enjoy all the various cars and car repairs you do, I would love it if you ever get a Fiat strada ( my first car)the first car to be built by robots apparently!

Friend of mine had an 86 I think. It was a genuinely fun little roller skate. Sure, no real power, but it was a heck of lot of fun. He replaced it with a del sol - which I suppose was more upscale but boring as heck. That went for a succession of Miata's and the guy was in heaven.

That is incredibly clean given it’s age! I guess the designer of the interior didn’t drink tea! ☕️

Such a solid car.

I haven't seen one of these in a very long time! I cannot remember if and when the CRX got FI, I do remember the Si was fuel injected, wider tires, rear wiper. The HFE had the 1.3 which was entry-level, fuel mileage champ, and I believe the was a carburetor model, as well as the next model, which had the 1.5. I might have to do more research online! Extremely enjoyable video!

At one of the garages I worked at the apprentice of the bodyshop next door had a CRX, it was a later car which looked a bit more sporty You could see people of the older generation and very young people had alot of respect for the CRX, a bit like a old Golf GTI

I can never get over the fact how narrow alot of the roads in your videos are!

You don't need horsepower to have fun, this car look so much fun to drive! You seem to have got a good time in it, my Fiat is 45 hp and I loooove this revving engine! Same for all old Hondas!