Many of us have been around a family member who owned a special car, or at least a vehicle that was special to them. For whatever reason, the vehicle stopped being used and went into storage, only to be forgotten about until the storage bill stopped being paid or the owner passed away. It still happens to this day, which blows my mind. That’s the case with this very clean 1986 Honda CRX here on eBay that belonged to the seller’s father and was recently pulled out of the garage that he left it in.
CRXs are one of the hotter import models over the last few years, with some notable sales pushing the final bid price well into the $20,000 range for top-spec cars with low miles. While Honda made a lot of these, many were modified (poorly) and still others rusted away. A CRX that has been hidden away is a car that has escaped both of those plights, and this example demonstrates this phenomenon with its rust-free rockers and bone-stock drivetrain.
They weren’t fast but they were light, and the limited horsepower output was more than compensated for with its spartan construction. This is not a model I would want to be in during a collision with a truck, but it would be the ideal specimen for a backroads cruiser. The seller’s car does show some signs of having lived in the northeast, with the flash surface rust on the air cleaner assembly, but the bodywork appears quite sound – it would just be nice to get some photos from under the car, too.
The cloth bucket seats that are often torn up from years on ingress and egress are in great shape as well; if you have ever checked out old CRXs in the junkyard, you know how it is near impossible to find these seats without the surfaces torn to shreds. The seller has a Buy-It-Now of $8,800 on this clean CRX with an opening bid of $7,500. There is a reserve, but honestly, the asking price seems fair given how much a good CRX can sell for when the stars are all aligned.
My first CRX was an 86, just like this one, purchased at a repo auction in 1997 for $975. What a fun little car!! I only kept it for 10 days, reselling it for $1,900 to a kid that worked at the Honda plant in Marysville, Ohio. It needed new CV joints, but they have a maintenance shop at the plant where employees can get their cars worked on at bargain rates. In the 10 short days it spent with me, my girlfriend managed to get 2 speeding tickets while driving it, one of them for going 55 in a state park with a speed limit of 20.
The first car my bought. We drove it from Chicago to Mesa AZ after we got married. She got hit, a driver took the front off of it.
It really is the perfect car in which to rush Pam Dawson to the hospital with a broken arm, in.
I believe this is one of the models with plastic fender/front end and the 3 barrel carburetor. Honda improved these care in later years with fuel injection and mild-steel fenders.
The VIN doesn’t appear to decode to the HF(High Fuel Economy) model that you are referring to. It looks to be just the base model CRX for that year. The HF was intended to get the best fuel economy and one way they did was the plastic fenders. I do recall those and have sold the plastic fenders during the 16 years I worked in a Honda Dealership handling the wholesale shop accounts as the assistant parts manager.
Not sure about ’86, but I had a few ’84/5’s, including an Si, and all of them in those years had plastic fenders.
I had an ’86 HF and I don’t remember plastic fenders. I do remember that incredible gas mileage, though. #1 on the list of cars I wish I’d never sold.
I had a girlfriend back in high school that had the Si version of this CRX and I can tell you from experience that they are a blast to drive. They’re so lightweight that they don’t need big power to be fast and handle great. If I bought this one I’d swap in a 8k rpm B16 from a ‘99-‘00 Civic Si, some adjustable Koni’s and better brakes and enjoy the heck out of it for years to come. These cars are fun and get phenomenal gas mileage, just don’t buy one from a teenager and you will be very happy with your purchase.
I purchased one new in 85… Had a 1.5 litre a was a fantastic car.. I had to trade it after getting married and raising a family… I took it on vacation from Florida to Missouri and got about 40 mpg… Great little car..
I sold these new and had never was able to keep a demo for more than a couple weeks!!!! The Si models could get up and scoot and were a blast to drive. Did a couple SCCA gymakas in one and they are a blast to throw around the corners!!! Plus even a model like this got excellent fuel mileage!!!