Alphabet soup vehicle names have been around for decades. It’s either random numbers and letters of seemingly nonsensical names that may or may not have ancient Latin meanings. Or, words that are meaningful in the country of origin for the vehicle in question but not elsewhere. This 1985 Honda CRX HF is listed here on eBay in Milford, Delaware and the seller has a suggested opening bid price of $6,000 and a $7,000 buy-it-now price listed.
What does Camry mean? And it isn’t just Japanese companies who do that, what about Camaro? It’s literally a made-up name with no meaning, it just sounded cool and still does. CRX? Any time there’s an X or a Z in a car name I cringe, as if it’s supposed to make it automatically sporty or somehow cool. They often are both of those things so maybe car companies know more about it than I do – big shocker. I would love to have a Honda CBX, their six-cylinder motorcycle, but this car would be fun to own, too.
CRX doesn’t have a 100% accepted-by-all meaning, but most sources think it means Civic Renaissance Experiment, and that makes perfect sense now, doesn’t it? Civic, now there’s a great name, Honda has had a lot of great names: Odyssey, Insight, and Pilot among others, but Civic may be their most famous model. They made the Civic Renaissance Experiment from late 1983 for the 1984 model year, until the end of the 1991 model year. The first-gen models (1984-1987) seem to be more desirable among collectors and this example looks like a gem.
Seat and dash covers are sometimes a red flag and sometimes they’re helping to protect perfect seats and dashes. In this case, it looks like the seats are in nice condition, or at least the parts that the seller uncovers. We don’t see the back seat area, not that there are seats there, but the seller does show the rear cargo area and it looks as good as everything else does on this car, even the underside.
The engine is Honda’s HF (more letters), which means High Fuel efficiency. It’s a 1.5-liter inline-four and Honda fitted this aluminum block engine with a 1984 CVCC (more letters) – which stands for Compound Vortex Combustion Chamber – head and these cars are known for getting between 40 and 48 mpg in real-world driving conditions. It would have had 58 horsepower and 78 lb-ft of torque. It sent the power through a five-speed manual to the front wheels. The seller says that this car runs and drives great and it’s been repainted at some point. Have any of you owned a CRX of this era?
Listing Ended.This is exactly the kind of car I’d like
to buy for my daily 28 mile commute,but don’t want to
pay that for one.
One of my resolutions, the last one broken at 12:03, btw, is to not lambaste the Asian cars. It starts the posts out on a bad note, and we don’t need that. America obviously is not a one size fits all in cars, like some countries, and a more varied approach to travel, I doubt you’ll find. Take this,,um, car for example. Personally, I wouldn’t come near it with a 10 foot car pole, however, for what it is and it’s intent, it’s the best there is. My “throwaway” comments still garner some merit here, but once in a great while, these will surface simply because of the sheer numbers sold. We look at a MG Midget today and think how unsafe it could be in todays traffic, this isn’t much bigger. We somehow overlooked that in the name of saving gas, and comfort suffers considerable, IDK, perhaps it’s because I spent most of my life in the biggest vehicle allowed on our roads, but I look at driving differently, and so does America today. We just don’t drive mini cars anymore and for good reason.
My Dad used to call my Hondas throwaway cars, while he had 2 Pontiac Parisiennes in the driveway, and one ended up being a parts car for the other.
Meanwhile, I drove the wheels off the 2007 Fit. 200k miles and the only issue was an alternator at 170k (other than tires, battery, front brake pads. Never touched the rear drums. And a clutch).Then it brought $4800 at the auction, which meant I paid about $11k to drive it 200k miles.
If you want to compare apples to apples, was the Cavalier a throwaway car? :)
Bet you didn’t live in the North East. These cars rusted so fast you could hear them crumbling. They were fun to drive though.
Ha, you made it until 12:03?! That’s better than most people. It used to be scary enough driving a small car once SUVs became popular, but now it’s texting drivers. I wonder if that’s another reason most people are buying and driving big SUVs and pickups, to either be safer while they drive – or while they text and drive?
The driving part for sure is for some people, myself included. A friend of mine in Seattle witnessed a horrible head on crash between an older small car and a new big pickup and everyone in the car was dead but the people in the truck lived, so he bought himself and his family a big Ford (not my first choice for sure) that he called Fordzilla because it was so massive. Long story short it was too big for him so he traded it in for a BMW.
Becoming part of the problem doesn’t solve anything.
I’m going with John on this one and your 2nd response, to be safer WHILE they and others are distracted. Nobody will argue what great fuel mileage they get, or service they get and due to our extended commutes, they do make sense in that regard, but, we, as Americans honor what we like and disregard the rest. In my line of work, I’ve personally seen atrocities with small cars, where a bigger car would have been safer, and what did they save in the long run? With these mega-pileups today, with trucks all askew( another subject entirely) most of the fatalities are from small cars caught up in the mess clobbered by a distracted semi driver(s). That’s the reality of driving today. Despite its shortcomings, ( what shortcomings?) I feel safer in my Jeep than in something like this.
@Scotty: You would think the brilliant (?) minds that make the Smartphones could install a program that would disable a phone once it was inside a running car. Any IT geeks out there that could invent the software needed to do it? You might become a $ billionaire!
This seems like an odd place to have this conversation, but what the heck. Semi drivers are professional drivers and are held to higher standards by regulations, and their employers (in todays world). When they are involved in accidents, it is often because cars and light trucks do not respect the additional space and time that a semi requires to stop or make other maneuvers. While a larger vehicle puts a little more metal around you, it is still no match for a much larger vehicle. Physics 101, action and reaction. A false sense of security is part of the problem. Those who focus on their driving are much safer on both sides of the equation. The most frightening thing that I experience on my (daily) commute are the business men & women who attempt to use their car/SUV as a rolling office. Most of the newest safety feature have only empowered them to pay even less attention to their driving. I apologize for the rant, but the argument of “keep buying vehicles bigger than the next guy” is a never ending battle. Maybe I should get a truck from Oshkosh?
America leads the world in auto deaths. Five times the level of Scandanavian countries and Britian. Three times that of Canada. One reason being the need for people to drive the most massive vehicle they can find. Another is the level of texting/screen usage while driving. Put the two together and it’s a recipe for death on the road. Fuel costs must be too low that so many feel it’s practical to buy a 90K grocery getter that also could haul a complete construction crew. It’s a kind of psychosis that leads people to just keep buying bigger and bigger until everyone is driving Hummer-sized vehicles where one tire costs more than 5 years of maintenance on my Honda.
It’s only going to get worse & worse as more & more vehicles get:
1. a lot heavier because they r electric powered
2. Tesla type touch screen only controls
3. larger videoscreens – & more of them
4. darker & darker window tint – espec windshields! lately to the pt 1 can not see inside many vehicles at all! & the cops at least in my area do nothing. Great 4 pedestrian & biker safety, espec at night.
Thick windshield pillars, small side glass,& less & less subcompact cars r not helping matters either.
I find it hard to believe drivers outside the USA use phones less while driving.
Howard. While I agree with you on the safety factor ( or lack there of ) with small cars. There are Americans that do drive cars smaller than this Honda. I was just passed by a SMART car on the Interstate a few day ago. He had to be doing 80. I wouldn’t be caught dead in one.
I suppose bigger cars are safer, but the mentality, and the safety testing is all short of short sites. Yeah, big car beats little car in a crash, big car with bad visibility also more likely to get into a crash particularly with bikers and peds.
Japanese cars of the ’80s raised the bar for cars world-wide, not just in the USA. (Including Germany, which produces the diminutive VW Golf. Seen everywhere.) You should be thanking them for helping to lead us out of the malaise years. Now you can drive a new American boat with better performance, fuel consumption & build quality than you used to.
✔️✔️
These things were the gotta have cars for the preppy girls when I was in high school some boys had them and lowered them in their back yard so they looked ridiculous bouncing down the road. I don’t recall if they had the 5 or 6 digit odometer but the seller states 136k so if that is accurate this will make someone a good commuter for many years you just need the start lockout because this was the years you could steal it with a screw driver. Or now USB cable
I have owned more Hondas and put more miles on each than any other brand. They seriously do hold up for 300k miles without rebuild. Honda engines respond very well to minor tuning upgrades. A friend did have a CRX HF which repeatedly exceeded 50 mpg. Yes, she did drive it very easy occasionally hypermiling over 60 mpg. Another friend had a later model CRX Si which he drove hard. His opinion was that it was the most fun car you could drive on the roads on a daily basis. His other car was a (race prepped)1968 Datsun Fairlady. Great find, and no surprise that it sold quickly.
I’ve had my 2017 Civic for almost 4 years now and I average over 45 MPG driving back and forth to work 58 miles one way and occasionally hypermileing it to break my old records for fun and my best so far is 64 mpg in 58 miles and that was with my best drive with one tankfull of 702 miles. I’ve posted pictures of my records on the Honda Civic forum “Hypermileing”
Camry means crown!
No one was uncomfortable in these. They were built like a good watch, fuel efficient and fun to drive like a little go cart. So few exist because they were simply driven into the ground. Would look nicer with some of the several Honda accessory alloys you could get for these. Too bad it’s not an Si.
You are correct, sir. I was just using it as an example of a word that most Americans had never heard before, like Mustang, Impala, etc.
Mustang? Impala? Really? What Americans were likely to never have heard those words? Can’t get much more “American” than wild-roaming mustangs of old-west frontier cowboy lore (it’s even part of the Mustang badge). The fleet-footed Impala African antelope has also been an iconic image of speed and agility apart from and prior to being applied to the Chevy of the same name.
Jasper, you are correct. Toyota has used the “crown” theme since 1955. Here is a summary borrowed from Wikipedia. “The Corona, introduced as a smaller companion to the Crown means “crown” in Latin and was initially exported as the “Tiara”, while the Corolla took its name from the corolla (“small crown”) in Latin. The Camry’s name is derived from the Japanese phrase kanmuri (冠, かんむり) meaning “little crown” and the Scepter took its name from the sceptre, an accessory to a crown. The Avalon (the Crown’s North American counterpart), while not named after a crown, is named after a mythical island from the legends of King Arthur.”
I’m 6’2, and was around 225lbs back then. My friends girlfriend had a CRX. She got too drunk one night, and he couldn’t drive a stick. I volunteered to drive the Honda back to her place. I could barely fit in the thing. Everything seemed to be designed for a small, tiny person. I had a Triumph Spitfire around the same time, and had room to spare in that little thing.
My wife and I owned a red 1987 CRX. We bought it new and it was a blast to drive! We drove back and forth from Atlanta to Jacksonville FL many times in it and even carried a Christmas Tree from Jax to Atlanta one time (it hung out the back hatch a bit). It had a lot of room for two people. was quick off the line and still got ridiculous gas mileage.
I worked for a Honda dealership years ago and found old sales literature regarding the CRX. It’s actually Civic Renaissance Model X. HF stands for High Fuel Economy.
liked the late 80s/early90s civic 2dor. Probably 4th gen? This thing, altho probably better performing, doesnt have the look. Put a 2.4 or other in the DX (w/the other needed upgrad brakes, wheel, etc
I remember the hot hatch, tuner boyz, the chipers’n so forth. The civic (DX?) hada even beddah matchin wagon – the RT (standing for 4WD) w/big boxy storage. This is one of the things I call the pre-mini van vans so very desriable in my mind (Eagle Summit, Mutsu MPV, mazda 6, 1st/2nd gen stanza wagon (also 4wd) & more
Although the wagon was “cool” in a utilitarian sense, it did not have the handling and road feel of the other Civics and CRX cars. The rear suspension was entirely different. In the Honda realm, the 2.4 is more of a “truck motor”, whereas the 1.5, or 1.8 is much more lively in the reasonably light chassis. CRX and Civic suspension varied significantly depending on generation. My 1989 Civic DX 3-door (proper term for 2 door hatchback) had dual A-arm in the front with control-arm-link & upper camber link in the rear. Coil-over shocks all around. Yes, that was the factory set-up. Tokico blue shocks transformed that car, along with other minor modifications. The lightest wheels (on a budget) were modified pilot diameter donated from a Miata.
Grammar getting better,,,
We are glad to hear that your grammar is improving.
If you need help diagramming sentences, please PM them to me.
Happy New Year!
Must be a New Years resolution.
I had 2 CRXs- a 1984 CRX DX (first gen) and a 1988 CRX DX (second gen), both with 5 speed manuals. They were EXTREMELY fun to drive. Mine were mid grade models- not the HF or the Si. But they both got well over 40 mpg on the highway.
Never had a CRX, although a friend did. What I did have was an 85 Civic Hatchback with the transplanted motor and transmission from an 85 CRX. Put 100,000 miles on that motor in four years (it had just over 37K when we swapped it in) and it never once even coughed. Ran like a top. Only got rid of the Civic because by 1994 it had over 200K miles on it and the quarters were rusting out due to the salt in NJ and PA.
These are one of the most under-rated cars of all time. I had a CRX Si, 1987, same body style as this car. I’ve had all sorts of cars over the years (the primary cause of my lack of great wealth). I’ve had Lotuses (Lotii?) and Spridgets and B’s along with a couple of early (68 and 69) Z/28s. I even owned a 12 cylinder E-type (BIG mistake). To this day, the Si remains my favorite car to drive. It was fun and reliable and cheap. I drove it 277K miles, most of it playing boy racer (although I’m old). It took me from the East coast to the west coast and back twice. I did the “four corners run with it one summer (Maine to Seattle to LA to Austin to Key West and back to Wash DC. it never missed a beat. At 250K or so, it began to burn oil and I traded it for Mr2. I missed the Si before I got home from picking up the Mr2. CRX’s have personality. If it was a girl, it would be the kind you’d marry.
My Ex had an 85 CRX just like this and although they were small on the outside the inside was fine. It also had a 5 speed and loved 80 MPH on the highway and the mileage was insane. All in all it was a hell of a good car.
Seconding all the comments about how good a car these were. I got mine second or third-hand from my girlfriend’s father, who had loaned it out to her brother for him to hoon around for a while. Even though he put it away wet it still got 45mpg on average and made it to about 180K before the rings started really going. A solid little car that was a ton of fun to drive even though it was an HF. The hatchback was larger than it looked; I could fit two mountain bikes back there with no problem. I sold it to a guy who was going to use it as an SCCA race platform. I regret selling it to this day.
Never seen a hood prop rod as short as the one on this car, let alone sitting so far back – not a bad idea, IF the hood is aluminum or lightwt steel.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/b7IAAOSw90xljXQ6/s-l1600.jpg
The hood on mom’s ’60 compact merc comet (with prop rod up front ) was heavy as hell.