It’s not too uncommon to find ‘grandma’ cars from the 80s with low mileage and that have led a very pampered existence. But Honda wagons are not common in this genre; more likely a Buick Century or such. But then this is from Amherst, MA, where Hondas probably outnumber Buicks already by the late 70s.
This car really tugs at me, as we had one just like it, in blue. It was mainly Stephanie’s car, but I drove it on weekends sometimes as I really liked the contrast to my ’83 Turbo Coupe. Yes, it was slower, but it handled the canyons beautifully, especially downhill. But most of all, it was just such a brilliant packaging job; perhaps the best in the world at the time.
For such an extremely short car (159″) it was astonishingly roomy inside, thanks to its ‘tallboy’ stance and brilliant design. The seats were a bit small, but I never experienced such lavish real estate around my legs and upper body in a passenger car. This came out two years before the Chrysler minivans, so it really was revolutionary, in terms of cars sold in the US. Never mind the superb visibility through all those tall windows. You wonder why I drive a gen1 xB today? It’s the closest thing there is to one of these; well, it’s actually roomier.
The back seat was even a bigger surprise and revelation. Again, there was nothing like this available elsewhere except perhaps the Mitsubishi/Colt Spacewagon. The room back here, especially leg room, was phenomenal (the front seat is obviously pushed all the way back here). I remember sitting back here in the middle between my two little kids in their booster seats; they were four and two at the time. I just wanted to hang out with them while on a trip, and the Honda’s rear seat made that totally doable and even comfortable, even though I’m 6’4″. Or was. Which means today I’d have even more room back there…
CC reader Bill Stein is trying to sell this, and asked if I was interested. If this had a stick, I’d be tempted, but as I said, my xBox is just the same formula taken even further. But when this came out in 1983, this little wagon blew me away. So much room, so efficient, and so much fun to drive. Honda hit a home run. And if you want to relive it, here’s the ad and tell Bill you came from CC, so that I can hit him up for a 3% commission on the sale. BTW, he’s asking $4700.
Of course, if you’s rather have a more modern version, Honda will still sell you something similar (gen1 Fit shown).
craigslist ad here My CC on the Honda Civic 4WD Wagom is here
The efficiency of these and the Colt Vistas and the Stanza tall wagon were amazing. They were at their heart family cars. As such, properly the wife had the biggest say in the buying decision. It is understandable that they wanted more style to go with the needed space. You can’t expect everyone to just eat their veggies and be happy about it.
The appeal of these is much more obvious to me now than it was back then. Having recently driven someone’s ’07 Honda Fit, the similarity in execution is amazing. I’ve scrolled up and down looking at these pictures much more than I typically do.
And so close in color and trim to one my great-aunt had although I think her’s may have still had halogen headlights. She had a 1971 Plymouth Fury wagon that was wrecked and she then got one of these. It took her some time to adjust.
This generation had sealed-beam lamps when it was released, but the mid-cycle facelift (’86 maybe?) went to composites.
From a ’71 Fury to a Civic…some adjustment indeed!
I had a co-worker who had this identical car. Curiously, I saw a few “plus size drivers” (as was she) who stuffed themselves into this small car. The car tilted when it was occupied by the driver! Life circumstances changed for her, and she bought a loaded Buick Roadmaster 4 door sedan! 🙂
I was in the market for a new car in late 1983 when this generation of Civic was introduced. If I hadn’t of fallen prey to the siren song of the sporty little CRX, I would have bought one of these wagons instead. I almost bought one again when they were offered with AWD and a 6-speed. By the way, the Chrysler minivans were introduced for 1984, about the same time as the tall Civic.
sigh. Another car I’d love to have when I buy the one-bedroom house with the 20-car garage.
I’m with you in principle but you may be needlessly overcomplicating things. Make it a 22-car garage and use a couple of those spots for a live-in camper.
+1!
Or, to contrast Mr. Klein, your affinity for small cars may allow you to place 3 cars into two garage bays, allowing you 30 cars. Or maybe 28 as you might want to get an RV to sleep in. Skip the bedroom and the RV will allow a toilet so you would need nothing but garages and a septic tank.
ROFL!!!!!
The space utilization was shared by the hatchback as well. My little brother had a two door hatchback Civic Si of this generation, and he claimed to have loaded 8 kegs (technically half-kegs) of beer in the car once. I think it was seven standing up in the back and one in the front seat. He’s fortunate that they didn’t kill him in an accident!
I had a base model hatchback, the limiting factor was the height of the hatch opening itself; low overall height plus a high liftover (above the taillights) and squared-off rear end all conspired to narrow it. The wagon obviously didn’t have that problem.
When this generation of Civic hit the showrooms I could see that “little” Honda had surpassed “giant” GM. So much car in such a small package. And the advent of Honda’s lowered cowl styling started with this car, though not the wagovan.
BTW, this is the only car Honda sold in the U.S. with torsion bar front suspension. They hadn’t used it before in the U.S. and haven’t used it since.
My favorite feature? The expanded glass of the wagon versus nearly every other wagon before it.
The lowered cowl reminds me a little of that in the Rover 2000/3500 cars and the rear side windows with the rounding into the roof reminds me of the back tailgate of the remarkable Citroen GS Break/wagon.I have only driven two Hondas,one was the first generation Civic,a car that I found had very low,thin and uncomfortable seats and a new Honda Civic wagon,a 1981 model,which was much better.I like that tall and airy glasshouse in the car pictured here.An exgirlfriend owned a Honda City and every one of those small cars had serious rust problems early on.Were these Civics prone to rust? This wagon appears to be in fine condition and the shape is still modern,simple and timeless.A really nice car.
I’m not sure about other markets, but this series Civic was capable of spectacular rust in New Zealand. My sister has an ’85 1.5S hatch that she bought in the mid-90s. Rust (sills, floor, roof water channels, body seams…) rendered it unroadworthy a decade ago. It looked fine on the surface but hidden rust was growing all over it – the worst was the glass rear hatch – the metal inner goes Swiss cheesy on them – it was hard to find a non-rusty replacement 10 years ago and must be high-on impossible now. But although unroadworthy, the Civic still runs, and oh, that fabulous shape!
A friend of mine in high school learned to drive on his family’s old Datsun wagon and within a year was offered his choice of new car. He was a very practical sort and chose a 1987 Honda Wagon with a stick, just like this one but in blue. At the time his dad drove a, ’85 Camry, his older brother a 1982 Civic S and his older sister a 1985 Honda Civic hatchback. Mom had a 1986 Prelude Si.
We all thought it a bit of an odd choice, but hey, “that’s Eric!”. We had many fun trips to L.A.’s beaches in that wagon, it easily fit all of our boogie boards, wet suits, and coolers. Great car.
I have no idea what he drives now but wouldn’t be surprised if it was something like a Kia Soul or very likely a Honda Minivan, i.e. something extremely practical, reliable, and prividing good value for money.
Fantastic cars, my family was car shopping in 1996 after owning a brown ’82 Civic Wagon (5spd) for a few years followed by a ’85 sedan of this generation in the same exact color. We had a line on a 6spd ’87 RT4wd being sold privately, but the buyer kept our deposit and sold it to someone else. We ended up with a ’90 Wagon (fwd, automatic, metallic brown) from the local Honda dealer’s used lot. Kept it until 2007, by which point it had 167k miles and a fair amount of rust. It was replaced by its spiritual successor, a base model, stick shift Honda Fit which we drove out to New Jersey to pay MSRP to get our hands on.
The Fit’s been doing farm truck duty on my parents’ hobby farm in Central NY, hauling bee hives, rolls of fencing, tools, etc. The back row is permanently folded, and it’s incredible how much fits back there. It’s even more incredible how well it does going up and down their wet grassy, sometimes muddy field, on summer tires. Their old MPV in 4wd+locked center diff on all seasons tears the grass more, as does my 4Runner in 4H. The little leightweight Fit just scampers around easily. Their Fit’s ground clearance is actually not too terrible either, as it doesn’t have the “Sport” plastic trim. One of these old RT4wd Wagovans would be even more perfect! I’ll post a photo later from this past weekend of us working on the farm, the diminutive Fit parked at the top of the slope along side the brutish, muddy 4Runner.
As promised, the little Fit that could!
We had a number of these in the family during the mid 80s-mid 90s: Dad had an ’84 beige two-door hatch, my aunt had a light blue ’86 DX two-door hatch, and mom had a ’91 DX two door hatch. They replaced Chevettes and Renaults and were in turn replaced by Toyotas and Subarus. I remember the Civic horn note especially because my aunt, when leaving after visiting us, would always beep the horn in the same way (quarter, eighth-eighth, quarter, quarter -eighth rest- eighth-eighth).
Those Civics stuck around. They were peppy little cars and well built. Also quite efficient, my mom routinely got 40mpg highway. Now she gets 50 mpg in her Prius, which is progress, but maybe not as much as one would expect. However, we did not find the back seats–in the hatchbacks at least–all that roomy.
yeah if it only was a stick and or closer, still have it saved n my Auto folder on ebay, there is a blue one not far from here, not n the best shape but may b worth saving, think its auto too. prob not too big deal to swap to std 🙂
Paul, I recall we had these as fleet cars back in the late 80’s if I recall correctly they were also called Honda WagoVan, is that correct?
As the past owner of an ’87, I can fill you in. The Wagovan was a decontented version of the Wagon, and sold for a few hundred less. Really, the only noticeable difference I recall was a much simpler one piece rear seatback (the wagon had a split seat with recline capability), more vinyl and cheaper cloth inside. There wasn’t a lot inside those things to decontent to start with.
Ours was an amazing car – it could swallow an enormous amount. I do recall that when you turned on the AC, it was like a 250 lb guy had jumped into the car. By today’s standards, it would be really slow, but it handled superbly. Had it for 5 years and replaced it with an Accord.
Cute little car .
It puts me in mind of a Honda ‘ Wagovan ‘ I was given after the original owner smoked herself to death, such a nice lady too .
I cleaned it up and sent it on down the road , SWMBO told me I should have kept it for a Shop Truck as she saw it with the rear seats down , it’s HUGE back there ~ plenty of space to carry engines and trannies etc.
Not my cuppa tea tho’ so away it went .
-Nate
I’d agree with Paul’s assessment of the Civic. We had until recently a 1991 wagon. The car had more than 283,000 miles when we reluctantly handed it off to a family member (we’d inherited a much newer car). Mechanically the Civic was still in good shape but body hardware was increasingly problematic.
For years I’ve been keeping an eye out for another good-condition 1989-91 Civic wagon, preferably with AWD. Very hard to find one in western Washington, particularly without high miles.
Seems like a stretch to suggest that the Fit is similar; it’s smaller and lacks the Germanic simplicity of the Civic.
Hondas of those years were so honest. Two of Mrs. JPC’s siblings owned these – identical cars in this same color with 5 speeds. I drove one of them, and really liked it. But then now I have a Honda Fit (and agree with the parallel).
This is one of the Hondas that made people fanatical about them. I had no idea that these had torsion bars.
My daughter is looking for a car, but this is a bit beyond her price range, and I would really hate to take something this well preserved for so long and subject it to regular road salt, etc. And I’m not sure I could sell her on the color. 🙂
Nice little time capsule. If it had a stick it would be even better. Although finding people even knowing how to drive a stick is becoming less common, so the automatic may make it be an easier sale. Few months ago I picked up a clone of my ’86 Jetta off Craigslist locally for $700. It’s actually just as clean and straight and well cared for as this Honda. It’s an ’87. A two owner car, the second owner only had it for a few months, wouldn’t start but only needed fuel pump relay. All repair records from the first owner were in the trunk. The exterior and interior colors are pretty close to the Honda as well. It’s the same color and interior as my ’86. The only difference is cruise control and headrests in the back seat are on the ’87, which my ’86 lacks, and no sunroof, which the ’86 has. It did need brakes, wheel bearings, wheel cylinders and 2 tires, so another $300 was invested. It does however, still need a new windshield. No rust at all. Oh yeah, one other little detail. It also has 200k miles more on it then this clean little Honda. But the EA827 engine and wide ratio 5 speed trans are bulletproof. I probably should check the timing belt, but the engine is non interference so it won’t cause damage if it breaks. I may sell it to a family member, but they need to be willing to learn to drive a stick if they want it.
Judging from how many of these I was still seeing on the roads in the 2000s, I’d say these cars had a very loyal following.
And why not? As Paul points out, they were very versatile–roomy, fuel-efficient. While not as quick as contemporary cars, their acceleration is quite adequate.
Unfortunately, they have been legislated out of existence. While there is something to be said for having 20 airbags, and 5-star crash ratings, these do add bulk, mass, and cost, and have funneled cars into a boring sameness, admittedly at a high level of performance and RELATIVE fuel efficiency.
If all Honda did was replace the 1985 1.5 liter 8-valve engine in these cars with a contemporary 1.5 liter 16-valve, fuel efficiency would go up and you’d have a car that got an honest 30-35 mpg in real-world suburban driving and 45-50 on the highway.
It would cost less and be more affordable and useful than a current Civic, though not as crashworthy.
Since it would use less fuel, it would spew less CO2.
It would be nice, in the “land of the free”, to be able to have the choice between an basic, honest car like that, or the current Civic.
But, the law is the law. And the supply of rust-free 80s Civics is dwindling….
Nice car!
Oh, and look at all that glass area!
That Civic has great visibility….we won’t be seeing that again on a fixed roof car…
My wife and I had this car, same year and color, when we got married. Only difference was that hers was the 5-speed manual. She had had an ’86 Civic hatchback, which got rear-ended and totaled when she was a senior in high school. This car was the replacement, and although it was unusual for a college coed to have a wagon, especially at that time and at a BMW-heavy school like ours, it was a great vehicle and we and our friends had some good times in it (it was great for road trips, if you stuck to 4 people). It had just passed the 50,000-mile mark when it, too, was rear-ended and totaled. We still remember it fondly, although we moved to Wisconsin soon after, and it likely would have rusted in short order anyway. Next to our Outback H6 wagon, might be the best car we ever owned.
These are great, but the 1988-91 versions are even better, primarily due to the fuel-injected engine. 1988-89 is the one to have, as it still has the proper 3-point belt system. 1990+ has the auto-strangle motorized shoulder belt.
Ive never been a fan of Hondas. That said, these cars were absolutely brilliant for family rides or just plain useful cars in their day. With the available AWD, theyd handle weather or the occasional dirt road to a camping site. If you don’t quite need a minivan and a sports utility is the wrong fit, how could you go wrong with one of these or the similar Colt Vista? No CUV made now is as practical as these are and are no better at going off pavement. Too bad these didn’t catch on in those days instead of SUVs. These could have evolved into even better sub-minivans and sports utilities could’ve stayed more true to form for us roughnecks who like them 2 door and truck based.
I think our 13 Mazda5 is the closest modern clone. Too bad no one else bought one.
Had to Google it. Wish they sold that in my country.
That car is in great shape! Must have been garaged as it would have fallen prey to the rust monster long ago.
What’s that green car parked in front of it? I don’t recognize it.
Early ’70’s Corolla, maybe?
Looks like a 75-78 Corolla to me
Just seen one today in the same color, but a Sedan. In excellent shape, considering I live in Ontario (Rust Belt).
When I was 16, I had a Spanish teacher who would come by my house once to twice a week to tutor me. My brother had recently passed away and she had two kids of her own right around the same age. I had always enjoyed our cultural and political discussions in class, and I still fondly remember talking in Spanish with her while sitting on a blanket in our front lawn. Languages always came easy to me as the son of a food importer.
She had a white version of this particular Honda. I remember telling her out of the blue in Spanish, “That thing is so beautifully designed it almost makes me want to cry.”. She looked at me like I had grown a horn out of my forehead and suggested we stop focusing on conjugating verbs.
It was right about that time I realized my love for cars wouldn’t follow the same trajectory as other people my age. Horsepower in and of itself was a crock of shit as far as I was concerned. I had this love for quality and designs that, in my teenage mind, would endure the ages.
That old Honda was one of the unusual designs of the time that unfortunately didn’t get a second life within the Civic family until recently with the Civic-based HR-V. The 1st gen Fit is definitely a descendant of this beautiful creation.
The wagon was sold in New Zealand as the Honda Shuttle, used to be plenty around but I haven’t seen one for a long time. This series is my favourite Civic – fantastic design inside and out in all the body variants, and great to drive (well they were in the 90s when I last drove one!)
Very cool little cars, and I agree that the space efficiency is nearly unparalleled. And while I remember thinking at the time they were a little awkward-looking, I quite like the look now. An old friend of mine owns one of the following generation, I think an ’88, and uses it as his daily driver currently. Not sure how many miles are on it but he keeps it in fantastic shape. (Very little salt use in central North Carolina, so no visible rust). It’s in good company, too–his other vehicles are an ’87 CRX, early 80’s FJ60 Land Cruiser, and early 90’s FJ80 Land Cruiser.
The idea of a small tall wagon was first thought up in Italy. I remember seeing a prototype in a magazine during the 70s. It was something that looked like a VW Rabbit , but taller. It sure caught on.
We had both a 85 and 89 wagon. Really loved them. Drove both 130,000 miles in 10 years. They were both pretty used up by that point. Have not seen many until last week when I saw 2.
Thank you for the side-by-side with the Fit. You are helping with my buying decision:-)
Would like to purchase call me.
My 1987 Honda Civic Wagon was the smartest car I have ever owned by a long shot. Tons of inside pocket storage. Even a slide out tray beneath the passenger seat! 3-tier glove box. Plenty of room. Cool accessories tray over the spare tire area. More storage on the sides. Big view front glass. Fault of car was no plastic under shields, which driving in Michigan winters, was tearing up boots etc. Car needed a little more horse power. Heater blower coil kept burning out. Easy getting in and out as the seats were high. Plenty of headroom. Faultless motor and transmission. Maintenance for the do-it-yourselfer is easy. Bring this car back with the improvements and I will buy it no question.
I’m pretty sure I just bought this exact car! It had roughly the same mileage on the title, 5 years, one deer and 36,000 miles later it has a new home in Worthington, MA. It does have a idle issue that I just can’t pinpoint, he carburetor was totally rebuild recently so I’m guessing it’s one of those 101 vacuum lines? Happy to add it to the farm!
My 87 wagovan is the only car I want and need. Just the other day, I fit a dryer, 6 cats, some minor
kitchen supplies and a passenger into the car for moving day!
Amazing!!!!