Friday, December 17, 2021

Monday, December 13, 2021 -- 1986 Honda Civic Si in the American Honda Lobby



My first new car was a 1984 Honda Civic LX Hatchback.
That was the first year  for this body style.
So, basically the same car as these pictures except not the "Si"
Mine was a dark metallic red with a matching red interior.
Mine had black bumpers.  The Si's painted bumpers are much nicer looking, as well as the alloy wheels.


The other noticeable difference from the rear was the panel that says CIVIC in it was black plastic on mine whereas on the Si, they used a red reflector type of plastic to better match the tail lamps.

This generation civic was a pretty small car.
Probably smaller than nearly everything sold today (except for maybe the Chevy Spark).  I think it was about the same size as the first of the "new" Minis that came out about 20 years ago.

Very light weight (less than 2,000 lbs), nimble/easy to drive and easy to park.   But, could still fold down the rear seat and be able to carry a lot of cargo.

 

Monday, December 13, 2021 -- Dark maple leaves...


 

Sunday, December 12, 2021 -- Long Beach Car Swap Meet -- Part 4

They cleaned up OK...
The VW cap is "patina' d"...






 

Saturday, December 11, 2021 -- Pelican Parts Cars & Coffee - Part 6

Air Suspension...  Kinda ridiculous to me...


Terrible steering wheel & wood grain applique in the 914.
The wheel in particular is out of place.
A nice Momo or Nardi wheel would be OK, if not a factory 911 or 914 wheel...
The extra gauge on the left of the steering wheel is an interesting adaptation, using an appropriate 911 gauge...

The front end on the 60s Mercedes are pretty much the same throughout the decade.
The rear end styling is what really changed from the sharp fin-tails to a more softer fin then essentially no fin at all, just a small raised section...

The dip between the hood bulge and the fenders is pretty dramatic for a relatively "modern" car.
Mercedes was serious about the bumpers too.
They wrap around and are substantial.

The smaller bumperettes above the main bumpers are an effective design piece to lessen the size and the amount they stick out from the body...

The round gauges are nice (better than the vertical strip speedo in my car).  This car got a corvette small block and MT conversion.
The floor shift is better than the column shift on my car.

I was surprised to see that the wood grain on the top of the doors and around the door windows are fake.  They're real wood on my car...

Porsche 944 interior.  Not the worst Porsche steering wheel ever but pretty close...
Also, not a fan of the ovoid gauge cluster design.  Styling over function...

Wouldn't want to work on this...

Or on this...