The CRX (aka CR-X) was a sporty, yet economical FWD small car sold by Honda in the U.S. between 1984 and 1991. It featured Kammback styling and was popular with youthful buyers who liked its combination of good performance and responsive handling. The seller has the HF edition (High Fuel Efficiency), which was sold in smaller quantities with a 1.5-liter inline-4 having multi-point fuel injection. The seller’s edition from 1988 is like a new car with just 12,000 miles and looking as though it’s hardly been driven. Located in Elberta, Alabama, this hot little car is available here on eBay where the bidding has been brisk at $15,300 and counting.
Earlier in its lifespan, the CRX was also marketed as the Civic CRX. While there is no official definition of what the car’s name means, many link “Civic” to the words “renaissance” and “experimental”. The vehicle was treated to one redesign coming in 1988 (the year the seller’s car was born). The little auto was offered in three variations related to the engine, the DX, HF, and Si. The latter two only came with one transmission, a 5-speed manual. The CRX was named Motor Trend‘s Import Car of the Year in 1988.
In 1988, nearly 50,000 CRXs were produced for the U.S. market, with 12,000 being the HF model. Sales of the HF never exceeded 25% of the overall population before the car was discontinued in 1991. We’re not sure of the history of the seller’s CRX or why it has been used so little in the past 35 years. The seller says it’s a “stunning car” and we’d be hard-pressed to disagree with that from the photos provided. The seller goes as far as to say it might be the lowest mileage CRX left in the country.
The tires are brand new, likely replaced because of age, not a lack of tread. But the auto’s original tires and wheels will come as part of the deal. It has air conditioning, which was only available as a dealer add-on, and we’re told it blows nice and cold. Apparently, a lack of space has prompted the sale of this car, so why else would you let a goodie like this one go? Besides being sporty to drive, these cars are said to be great on gasoline, too.
In my neck of the woods. The Latinos love cars like this. Big stereos loud exhaust most likely to leave the wheels the way it is and they Cruise a lot in different towns. Most likely this will sell for big bucks around $25,000 . You can’t find vehicles like this in mint shape anymore. Either they are rusted out or the engines blown up. Good luck to the seller. 🐻🇺🇸
Someone I used to work with had 300,000 miles on one of these. He used slick 50 in the engine oil, and it was mostly highway miles. He gave it to his son after the 300k mark, and I don’t know how long it lasted after that.
The HF is the no-frills edition of this iconic “hot”hatch. It won’t scare you with performance but it will give very good fuel economy.
Wow, really?
The HF was an amazing machine for it’s time, achieving nearly 49 epa mpg. I routinely experienced 42 mpg in regular driving and 52 mpg in ideal conditions in my ’87.
The car was sportier than the later Prius. It had better build quality than a Metro or any American car at the time. It achieved better fuel economy than just about anything, including most motorcycles.
Cool cars 🚗 😎 fun cars. Almost all were stik shift too it seemed. 🙌
Civic comes from the the phonetic spelling of the first generation of the vehicle… CVCC on the trunk lid (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine
The Civic came out three years before the introduction of the CVCC engine. In fact, the Civic had to be reengineered ahead of the firewall to fit the CVCC engine in 1975, and you for a while you could continue to buy the version released in 1972 as a less expensive option to the Civic CVCC.
I owned Honda and Acura for over 40 years and never had a problem with any of them. The Honda/Acura dealerships were very good about customer service as well. And, all of them were assembled in the Marysville Ohio area..
I bought an ’89 white HF model like this brand new and it was my first new car. It got 50 mpg around town and 53 on the highway. It was a blast to drive and never met a corner it didn’t like. The down side to the car was having to have someone else drive when a group of us were going somewhere. I have a Honda CR-V now and I do a lot of chauffeuring of family and friends in it. I do miss rowing the gears and zipping around sharp curves, but I have another one with the legendary reliability that Honda is known for.
So these CRX models were great cars, no doubt…..trouble free, excellent gas mileage (I owned an 86’ CRX model, but with auto trans. and carbureted)….I like the low mileage & condition, but no way in hell would I pay what it is bidding for…..those bids are crazy……again, a great car, but not with my hard earned money!……..
Had an 1986 Si model, loved it wish I has it back as a fun weekender!!
This one looks great!
Four days left and the bidding is up to $19,000. Wow.
The only vehicle that I’ve ever purchased from a dealer was a 91 CRX, white and blue just like this one. It was December 99, and I paid $3,500 for it. I had previously owned, for all of 2 weeks, an 87 CRX, which
I bought sight unseen, from a repo auction for $975.00. I loved my little CRX, drove it non-stop from Milwaukee to Ft Lauderdale and back twice in the fall of 2000, and then it got wrecked in Florida in July of ’01. I dearly wish I still had that car, but I probably won’t ever own another one because the price on the remaining survivors just keeps climbing. I think that the Toyota 86 might be a worthy successor to the CRX, and will begin shopping for one in a couple of years, after this used car price bubble finally bursts.
Those cars were less than $10k new, ours got 55mpg me driving, 60mpg my wife driving. Adjusted for inflation that would be less than $20k now?
I worked at a Honda dealer as reception in the late 80s. The desk I was placed at had a big binder of salesman literature. Being the car guy I am, I read everything that was there. I came across the CR-X material and it was described as ‘Civic Renaissance Model X’. 🙂
Neat little cars, those Honda Cruex’s. My friends girlfriend had one, back in the day. She got a little too drunk, he couldn’t drive a stick. So I drove it back to her place. I felt like Andre the Giant in a Shriners car.
As a retirement gift to himself, my father bought a new 1989 CRX DX 4 speed automatic with his credit card. He wanted a red sports car and his wife’s only request was an automatic so she could drive it. He passed on in 2002 and my Mother is now 97. When he stopped driving, we bought it from him for a second car, so it’s still in our family driveway today and has 89,000 miles on it. I drive it about once a week for local errands in our small town. Another resident of our small town has a yellow SI of the same year that I understand he bought new as well. We headlight flash when we see each other. We’ve had many inquiries to sell, including our mailman, UPS man and many Latinos working in our neighborhood. Even though it’s harder to get in and out of it, just can’t bring ourselves to part with this fun litttle go cart. Just wish it had airbags so we could pass it on to our grandson who’s about to be licensed.