There’s no denying that the 1984 Honda Civic, while well-built, didn’t offer a lot of performance or excitement. One look at this Civic with its low stance, big alloys, and the boxy fender flares, suggests that this is anything but your average hatchback. Not only is this an attractive looking vehicle, but it packs a punch below the surface that will be guaranteed to grab the driver’s attention. After many hours and dollars spent transforming this meek Honda into a bitumen burner, the current owner has decided to part with this vehicle. It is located in Spokane, Washington, and is listed for sale here on Bring A Trailer. Bidding has reached $35,250 on this pocket rocket. I have to say a huge thank you to Barn Finder Mitchell G for spotting this beauty for us.

Regular readers will know that I have a passion for beautifully preserved and original classics. That doesn’t mean that I have any issues with custom builds, as I have owned and built a few myself over the years. Properly engineered and constructed customs will always interest me, and that is what we appear to have with this Civic. The body is straight and rust-free and is finished in Metallic Grey over Silver. The panel gaps are as tight as you would expect from a car with the reputation of the Civic, while there are no apparent issues with the plastic trim or the glass. The body additions are anything but subtle and include boxy fender flares and side skirts. These aren’t your average plastic or fiberglass add-ons. They were crafted from steel during the custom conversion, and they integrate nicely into the original panels. There are also some additional vents in the hood, and these assist with engine cooling. There are a few minor bubbles and blemishes in the paint, but there is nothing significant that will require immediate attention. The Civic rolls on a set of 15″ Enkei alloy wheels. Not only do these look very attractive, but they should provide some positive benefits in the area of brake cooling.

The 1984 Civic was many things. It was well-engineered, beautifully built, nicely finished, unerringly reliable, and extremely fuel-efficient. The one thing that it wasn’t was an exciting performance car. If you played your cards right, you could find yourself behind the wheel of a Civic with a 99hp 4-pot under the hood. Those ponies found their way to the road via the front wheels and promised a ¼ mile ET of around 17.2 seconds. As I said, that’s competent but hardly exciting. This Honda is a horse of an entirely different color. The engine bay now houses a limited amount of trunk space, along with a relocated fuel tank. Nestled behind the front seats is a mid-mounted 3.2-liter V6 from an Acura CL Type S. The J32A2 engine should pump out around 260hp, which finds its way to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transaxle from the same manufacturer. To keep things as simple as possible, all of the original electronic equipment from the donor car has been used to have the vehicle running reliably. It isn’t clear what sort of performance figures we will be talking about here, but the Acura was capable of covering the ¼ mile in 15.1 seconds. This car will tip the scales at least 1,000lbs lighter than the Acura, so it should be pretty darn impressive. The careful planning of this conversion is clearly in evidence wherever you look. The engine and transaxle have been bolted to a bespoke subframe with an integrated roll-over hoop. The suspension has been upgraded, with adjustable A-Arms on the rear, and coilovers on all four corners of the vehicle. Stopping power has been massively improved with the addition of 4-wheel discs and calipers that were sourced from a C4 Corvette. For all of that information, the one thing that the owner doesn’t tell us is how well the vehicle runs or drives. What he does say is that the car will come with service records, some spare parts, and copies of magazines in which the Civic has featured.

If you ignored the clusters of additional gauges mounted in and below the dash, you would be hard-pressed to see this as anything but a standard Civic interior. Admittedly, the mid-mounted V6 means that this is strictly a 2-seater. However, isn’t that true of almost all great sports cars? The sculptured bucket seats are finished in two-tone grey suede. These appear to be in good condition, as does the dash, carpet, and the door trims. The engine cover is insulated and has been upholstered in carpet that matches the floors. Creature comforts extend to an aftermarket CD player and power adjustment for the driver’s seat. The owner also includes a partial air conditioning system in the sale. The engine compartment appears to be well insulated, but you would have to think that some additional heat could find its way inside the Civic from the relocated engine. With this thought in mind, it might be worth investigating whether this system could be installed to bring some extra comfort on hot days.

I am not ashamed to say that I really like this 1984 Civic. The conversion work that has been performed is very much in the spirit of the Renault 5 Turbo. The design of this car appears to have been carefully considered, and it has all of the hallmarks of a well-executed conversion. The fact that so many production parts have been utilized means that locating spares should not be problematic. What this car potentially offers is some pretty mind-bending levels of performance in a straight line. However, the suspension and brake upgrades, allied to the improved weight distribution, should make it a blast to drive when the roads turn twisty. That makes it a win/win proposition and helps to explain why the bidding has reached its current level. Would anyone like to guess how high it will eventually go? More importantly, do we have any readers who would consider bidding on this custom classic?