As a 90s kid, when I watch movies from the 70s and 80s I associate the cars in them with the old junkers I'd see past their prime in my childhood. But at the time these would've been clean, new, possibly top of the line cars. It's similar to today how the main character will probably drive a brand new car, especially if there's some brand deal with a manufacturer. Maybe in 20 years we'll see a 2024 Civic and think it's junky.
You saw these cars throughout the 90’s all over college campuses. They were cheap for parents to buy for their kids, cheap to insure, cheap to fuel, and cheap to maintain. The Civic was like the Top Ramen of cars. These were some of the best cars Honda ever made.
And now modern Civics are wanting to be a Type R and are blinged up to be nicer than a Corolla and priced out for parents to do the same. Oh technology and wanting to be the "cooler" car.
My first car was an ‘86 Honda Civic with 6,000 miles on it back in 2007. The previous owner was an elderly lady that only drove it to church on Sundays and the grocery store each Monday. Maintained immaculately. It had 13 oil changes in those 6,000 miles. After she passed it sat in the sons garage for several years and then I got it. I drove it for 9 years, got it up to 140k miles before it got rear ended on the freeway. I miss that car to this day.
Guys, please. Cars are far safer now. And regulations aren't to blame here. Consumers have chosen SUVs... This Civic wouldn't stand a chance in a crash with the F100 of the day...
@@santouchesantouche2873True. And the consumers only chose the SUVs because the automakers marketed them so heavily, because they could make more profit selling them as "luxury" vehicles, and the bullshit "light truck" loophole increased their profit margins even further.
There’s something so charming about old cars, essentially a metal box with a motor! My dad wonders why I want a car that’s from 1990 or older, and that’s exactly why! No computers or anything! Just wires, and mechanical goodness!
I've a theory: Safety is always constant; people collectively increase or decrease risk and adjust their driving habits based on perceived safety. People will always drive a safer car in a riskier way and an unsafe car in a safer way.
@@fr0xk you obviously haven't spent any time on the road in Detroit, Atlanta, Memphis, Tampa, or any southern or rust belt city then have you Salvage title Detroit steel from the 70s, baby momma altimas on bald tires with no trunk or brake lights, on and on and on All weaving in and out of traffic at 100 brake checking everything in sight lol It's like mad max out there dude Then you've got things like the CyberCuck out there being made brand new as an unsafe coffin on wheels ready to fall apart or explode... Also doing 100mph or 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, ready to mow down the kids in the crosswalk
My grandmother just passed away and she had an 86 Civic base hatchback, No a.c. , radio or passenger side mirror either. The car has only 47k miles on it and it was left to me. Not a single dent or scratch on the car.
Sell it. Enjoy and destroy a more modern Honda like an 03-07 Accord "the best car ever made". Sell it on cars and bids or something you'll get enough money for a beater and a down payment on a house.
There are plenty of cars that you can buy for a good price which are around nowadays still. You'll rarely encounter this specific model in this good a shape, but, there's a lot of fantastic Mercedes from this time which run like literal tanks, regularly getting over 1 million miles on them with no problem. Same for Volvos of the era.
My Papa died 3 months ago and I can totally imagine him buying this car without a radio. I can just picture him going “what do you need a radio for? You buy a car to drive. Not dance.” 😂😂😂 I miss that old man…
@@Supremepikachu it was nice when we didn’t have power windows and power locks and power seats and so on. It’s just more shit to break. Speaking from experience.
@@Seashellsbytheseashore21 I hate manual windows. They are the worst! Power locks are better and much safer. But power seats is useless, never optioned that on my cars. I have never seen power locks fail nor window regulators on my 1999 BMW M3 so you're really being delusional with that. 95% of the people would not want a car with 1970 specs.
@@SupremepikachuWhere did you get your bs statistics? Just ask Russia and India, most people drive boxes with wheels there. You are delusional into thinking that just because your car never needed a power window replacement that there is never something wrong with comfort electronics. Audis & BMWs are among the crappiest cars even with maintenance.
@@edzamper5803 Mate, you clearly have no clue what you're talking about. I owned 3 old bmw cars never had any electronic problems... You're just seeking reasons to deny that electronics like that hold up good and barely go defect. Also Audi and BMW are high class luxury cars and you simply sound exactly like someone who never owned one in their life or couldn't afford. Or you just sucked ass in maintenance. Go fool around somewhere else with your deep digged up bullshit
This isnt that basic interestingly. It has a soft touch door panels. Other economy cars had metal door interiors, or even cardboard. Some has chokes like a lawnmower.
What a way they have come.. currently sitting in my 2018 Civic type R. I love the interior. Lots of red and black. All the features. Charging ports, touch screen, etc. I love this car
My first car was a hand me down 1980 Civic. I had to have a passenger mirror installed aftermarket. Then I tinted the windows and added a sound system with 2 12" subwoofers in the back. I have a video on it in my channel.
Reminds me of the car I daily drive to work- 1986 Camry. Power nothing but does have a radio, 2 mirrors, and AC. Milage is at least 750k miles, everything works, and its still getting 350 miles per 10 gallon tank. It's also like driving a go-kart.
I had a baby 85 blue Civic as my first car in high school in the 90s, and Not having a right-side mirror was insane to me. I used to hate always having to look back. 😅
My first real car was one of these! I think mine was an 82 but you know. Mine was fancy though - mine had a passenger side mirror and A/C. No radio though! I LOVED that car - it was so tough and amazing. I drove it for like 10 years with practically no maintenance, and then the front brakes finally went to metal and I parked it for A YEAR in the parkling lot of the apartments where I lived. When it was finally time to move on (finished grad school), I sold it to someone for $200. I was amazed and strangely proud when the guy came out, paid me, doodled around with it for about 20 minutes and got it running. Drove it away after all that! I still love that car.
People complain about car prices but no one wants a base model stripped down car anymore. I just turned 18 and I wanted something like this but it’s impossible to find on a dealer lot. Everything is loaded with power everything, touch screens, sensors everywhere….
You can always order a base model. But it will still have hundreds of pounds, and thousands of dollars, worth of "safety" and "driver assistance" stuff, whether you want it or not.
If you have the budget for a decent sort of stripped-ish new car, I think 2023 is the last year you can buy a Subaru WRX with no driver aids, a manual transmission, a basic stereo… yes it has a touch screen for the backup camera, but for the most part it is still stripped down. As for nobody wanting a base model, I think a lot of the driver aids/touch screens have been more of a “requirement” that has been built upon, if you know what I mean. I’m not making excuses. But the Subaru for example, the government mandates a backup camera, so if you already have to put a screen in the car you might as well make it part of the stereo and give your stereo some features. But I like the WRX, it still has mechanical seats, the base model you can still get with a key for the ignition, you pop the hood and you can still sort of see the engine. It still has a cable parking brake instead of these weird electronic parking brakes.
These are all fun thoughts until you think about reality and daily driving a vehicle like this today would be pure ignorance. One small accident in this car and you could be in for all kinds of injuries you could have avoided because it was "cheap and looked cool"
@@state0fmind126first these car aren’t cheap anymore … in good condition and second put a cage in it , if your so scare of having an accident what’s your point ? It’s still better than all the new appliance that comes out
@@state0fmind126 I've heard this argument endlessly and I always say the same thing: motorcycles exist. It just sucks you have to deal with rain if you want automotive freedom
I had one of those back in the day, they actually did have the wiring harness for the radio so you could install speakers and stereo with very little effort. That car would get 56 MPG, it was a great car! I wish I could buy one now!
An 86 Accord was my first car passed down to me by my grandfather. It had power locks, windows, and a cassette player. I loved that car and my sister and I ran it for nearly 280,000 miles. The power locks started making a vibrating noise at around 159,000 and the windows went at 185,000 when I passed it to my sister. The storage compartment broke into plastic pieces at only 120,000 miles. I got 38 mpg in the city and 42-45 on the highway. My grandfather got the car for $10,000 fully loaded. We definitely got the use out of that car.
This takes me back. I got my license when I was 15 yrs old. I drove a manual 1977 Honda hatchback. It was the standard color of khaki. Seats 💺 were a dark orange. Carpet light yellow. lol The memories. The car was a little tank. When cars were made tough as hell. And easier to fix. My dad thought me how to tune it up myself. Distribution cap, spark plugs, engine running timing screws you name it. So what did I drive? I’ll start with my fav. 1985 Camaro. 1985 Firebird. ( black on black with metal sun block shades on rear window) 1977 Honda hatchback 1990 Chevy z28 T top My dad in the early 70s bought his first brand new car. It was his pride joy. Our first rich spending. 1970 Ford Pinto Mom said he used to take me for rides when I was still in a diaper! So yes . The memories and nostalgia will never go away. 😂❤
Great car! Loved the civic and the CRX was the bomb. My parents bought me a 1993 wrangler for graduation in 1993. At that time the passenger mirror was standard equipment. The only option it had was a back seat. It did 0-60 in three hours, downhill
This was the EXACT model my dad bought when I was a kid, even down to the color and lack of radio. I learned to drive on this car and my dad drove it daily up until the late 90’s or very early 2000’s.
@@april1st183 the 80s was a different time. What was a lot more dangerous (in retrospect) is that seatbelts were not mandatory and there certainly was no reminder chime going off when you didn’t use them. We almost never wore them. 20 miles per hour or 70 miles per hour, didn’t matter
Now back then many of those cars didn't come with a passenger side mirror. I think some time in the 90's it became mandatory to put mirrors on both sides
I had an '86 Wagovan base model. It didn't have, fuel injection, or even an automatic choke for the carb, you had to set the choke yourself. It also didn't have power steering. Mine at least had the radio though. It was a truly great little car
I was 17 years old, my first car was a 4 speed 84 Honda Civic it was light blue black bumpers . Mine had a radio and it was great on gas milage 😂 $10 filled the tank I loved that lil car .
My brother had this car. Legit one of the funnest cars to drive. Super light and nimble. No side airbags or anything 😂 felt like driving a tin can down the road. I loved that car
But it has no power. When I lived in hilly upstate NY, my 4-speed manual 1986 Honda Civic hatchback would lose a lot of speed going uphill on the freeway even though I'm in 3rd and floored. I'd need to go 75+mph downhill so I'd be 55mph when I crested the hill. People were pissed at me. You know how NY drivers are. 75 is the "flow of traffic".
My first few cars looked like this. My ‘82 Civic sedan had no AC and was a manual. It got 30 mpg and I could get up to 102 mph. I fueled up once a month! Best car ever.
I still have my 84 Honda. Exact same one as shown in the video, same colour and everything. The only thing I added to the car was a passenger side mirror. I went right from the dealer to a rustproofing company and had it rustproof every year. To this day no rust after about a little over 1,000,000 miles I had the engine rebuilt the transmission after about 600,000 miles. I had to have it rebuilt, but other than that great little car.
I am 77 years old and remember when the 1953 model cars came out. For over 100 years, the cars operated with a Carburetor, mechanical gasoline pump, (Not inside the gas tank) Distributor and points, Cable operated, Heat/Cold/Defroster Vents/Mirrors and NO COMPUTERS.
@@juans6639Completely agree with this cars are no longer made with users in mind! Nearly impossible for your average joe to diagnose and repair all the electrical issues that come with these new cars.
@@jupiterproductions6644 Yeah, those longtime mechanics are probably lazy and/or dull-witted and like how cars diagnose themselves now. “The computer says it’s one of these three things. I’ll replace this one, and if it doesn’t fix it, I’ll charge you to fix one or both of the others too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go read the instruction guide for how to remove and replace these doohickey’s on your model of car.” Auto repair by trial and error has reached the 21st century.
Great car. Had one when I graduated high school. Metallic beige hatch back no AC too but with a radio. Very revy engine and super lightweight. I improved the brakes and tires and that thing used to give far more expensive cars a run for their money in twisty b-roads. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy one to collect.
The harness for the radio clips into the back of the plastic block off plate, the speaker wires are also hiding in the door cards and other speaker locations. I found it amusing and ultimately quite pleasing when installing a factory radio into my base model civic.
Back in the days when the price you paid for a car was actually dependent on how much it cost to build that car instead of the price being entirely dependent on the badges glued to it and how greedy the dealer is lol
@@Three60Mafiayou could actually haggle a price considerably pre-pandemic. now prices are firm, if not altogether inflated by a few thousand, as in the case of the type R.
Took my drivers test in a friends Tercel. Great car! I remember it always having trouble with cold starts, and upholstery that I think was made from cactus.
@@bilbojenkins5276 Yes, cold starts were horrible. I worked less than two miles from home and had to drive the car for at least five miles to get it warm enough that it wouldn't stall or refuse to start later on. It was a get you A to B car.
I had an 84 Sentra XE Hatchback with a 5 speed transmission up until 2020 when I gave it to my cousin and he drives it to this day. I bought it in 92 with my lawnmowing money and upgraded with it to delivering pizzas. Those late 70s to early 90s Japanese compacts were such game changers. No air, no radio, no power steering, no head rests. Best car I ever owned.
Car companies would get so much respect from a lot of people if they started remaking old cars while keeping the old design but improving the quality of life, safety, and details of the car. A great example of this is the electric Ford F-100 Eluminator concept from a few years ago. Kept the same design of the original Ford F-100 but made it electric and improved the interior. Honorable mention to the
Fun fact: all the wiring for the radio and speakers are there. In that era, most Honda options were dealer-installed, minimizing the number of unique cars shipped from Japan. In my father’s case, he decided he did want air conditioning about a year after he bought his 86 Accord. The dealer installed it in an afternoon. (Update: I have no idea if it was retrofit in an afternoon, or morning, or 6 hours, or a full day. Those arguing over this (you know who you are) really need to find something productive to do with their time.)
My dad did kind of the same thing. Bought a new ford in the 1980s and ordered it without a radio just so he could put a better aftermarket one in himself.
There was AC in that car. It’s the blue color above the red. You slide the lever to the left and air gets cooler and to the right makes the air hotter. I learned to drive in a ‘82 civic hatchback.
Clutch too, but a radio was needed in 1984 as the Walkman was new, cds were only for the user rich, analogue channels ( well in europe anyway )and Bluetooth hadn't been invented yet, so would have been boring ride to your destination.
@@UKKC80s Well yeah, haha, dont want to forget that, kinda hard grinding gears going down the road without the clutch, unless you are the ultimate master of rev matching.
But imagine how lovely that car is to drive 😮😲😍 I love these 80's cars! Like the Peugeot 305 and Ford escort. I always wanted a mazda 626 coupe with the 2.5l V6 or the Ford XR4X4 😊
For a lot of people it was either something like this or nothing. My first car was a 1967 Opel Rekord sedan that was on its last leg in 1978, always near the point of coming apart at the seams. It had rust holes, never ran quite right in the cold and it drank more than some contemporary sports cars...but it was mine.
SADLY because of safety regulations they would hardly let these exist but I like where your head is at. I want cheaper cars that purely serve the purpose of "A to B" with a couple bells and whistles like AC.
@@Outlaw_Official They exist. Nissan Versa, etc. They're just boring chiclets that nobody cares about. They don't have the kitsch-value of the 84 civic.
I owned one of those. I miss that car so bad. I would trade any of the cars since then for another. The simplicity and ease of maintenance, one of the very best cars. Mine died 26 years old, 370k on the clock after going three years with a blown head gasket from a warped block.
My mom’s 88 Volvo 240DL has AC, cassette radio, power mirrors, and power windows but has no power locks. A Volvo 240 is a car for the middle working class at the time. A 1984 Honda Civic that is a step above the base model has a cassette radio and AC but, it still comes with crank windows, manual mirrors, and manual locks.
even cars that came with a sound system would get it ripped out and replaced pretty quick with a much bettet audio system. It was great fun finding the ultimate sound system for your car
A/C and radios were dealer installed on a lot of Japanese imports well into the ’80s - reduced the number of different variations that needed to be shipped across the ocean.
I bet that 84 Civic is more reliable than many cars on the road today. I had an 86 Honda CRX that lasted 425k miles, and got 62MPG on the highway. No hybrid or ev needed.
@fuarkstyle No, the engine needed a new head gasket at 425K miles and I had another car anyway, so I sold the CRX to the mechanic for $100 and he was going to fix it. Who knows, it might be on the road today lol
@jeffa847 Yeah, they were pretty fast, plus at the time they were a "cool" car to have. I also had an 86 Dodge Daytona turbo. Only like 145HP, but when the turbo guage started showing boost and you knew it was about to kick I'm, and when it did it pushed you back into your seat...Wow. Very cool car to have as a 17 year old. And the girls loved it lol 😆
@@guytansbariva2295 for such durable car that's what I was guessing, very probably it's still rocking on. Also cool price 😀 I would have bought it too blinking fast.
My father first taught me how to drive when I in 10th grade. I learned in his 1986 5-speed manual shift Honda Civic. I hated it but I kept learning until I finally mastered the clutch/gas/brake. Dad said that knowing how to drive manual would save my life one day. Thanks, Pop ❤
We are lucky. Back in the 90s, everyone had "The Club" for anti theft. Now, all you need to do is swap out the automatic for a manual transmission. I worked at a mechanic shop, and 3 mechanics (all under 25) could not drive manuals.
@@chucknorris3rdnut okay so instead of being supportive and understanding of the fact that they haven’t had the means to learn yet and trying to teach them yourself, you instead would rather choose to belittle them over something that they have literally no control over? Yeah, makes total sense lol. There’s far too many people already that are bitching and running their mouthes about “everything that’s wrong with the world nowadays” and not enough people taking action to change it. Be the change you wish to see man, lead by example. I never learned how to drive stick, not because I’m a brain rotted Gen-Z Tik-Tok tide pod eating kid that’s incapable, but because I never had the MEANS to learn. I didn’t have a manual car just readily available for me to learn on, nor did I have a father or anyone to teach me how. Y’all always wanna act like it’s our “choice” or that we’re “too stupid” to do it, when that honestly couldn’t be further from reality
@@chucknorris3rdnut makes sense that they don't know how to drive manual, there's probably much better access to autos when they're learning. They can worry about learning manual later.
I wish they made basic vehicles like this these days. The cost of cameras, automatic lights, push button rear and sliding doors, extensive sound system with large information screens and apple play, heated seats and streaming wheel, electric seat adjustments with memory settings, etc. are all items that are completely expensive 'wants' that are expensive to fix when they break. This is part of the reason why basic cars can cost $40k these days
My parents bought an 85 corolla brand new with no options. My dad went and had some stereo and speakers installed and they only worked half the time. I ended up driving it at 16 in 1994 with 330k miles on it. I jumped it, 4 wheeled it, you name it lol. It never broke and I sold it to someone that drove it for another 4 or 5 years probably
That's actually part of a template that modern cars SHOULD use. For the most part, I don't want (or need) the sound system. Give me space to install ELECTRIC heat/AC (like the old Lancer Evos) and my own damn sound system and drop the price tag a bit.
@@hitchslap8254 Imagine forming a entire friend group around the owners of a 4 decade old car and then passing the torch down to new members as they join
