Someone loves them some good old classic Hondas. Are these the two best generations of their kind? There’s no doubt about that in regard to the Civic; the fourth generation was the peak Civic experience before it got fatter and dumpier. I absolutely loved these little sedans; in EX form, with the sweet-revving FI engine, this is just about the best small car ever built. The Accord?
It’s a bit of a toss-up between this third generation (CA) and the subsequent fourth generation (CB). I’d have to give the latter the nod, for being a bit more refined and for its all-new 16 valve FI engine, which made a healthy 130 hp in the EX. Now those two, a gen 3 Civic EX and a gen 4 Accord EX; that would really be the peak classic Honda experience.
the honda fit is todays civic. as always the later generations of any great car always get fatter and heavier. miata same deal. the first gen miata is still my fave.
Earlier Civics were torture in back & hundreds of lbs. lighter than the Fit, which is more “fit” for adult human beings & all that Jazz.
If one still prefers the old Civics, the MINI is more of an equivalent, except in reliability.
My Gen 3 4-door at least was quite roomy in the back.
When I met my wife in 04, she was driving a 91 Civic 4dr with the automatic that her grandmother had purchased new. It was ok, but it did start falling apart at 140,000 miles and we sold it in 08. Saw it around town for a few years, then it disappeared.
Oldest son still drives his ’93 Accord, now approaching 200k. It needs some work but he’s able to drive it to work and his other obligations.
And it’s still fun to drive. But it’s approaching the point where he should replace it when he can afford to do so.
Funny seeing the Third Gen Accord on the same page as the Ferrari 400 in nearly the same color – it’s pretty obvious that Honda must have been aiming for a sedan variation of the same basic crisp, angular look.
’88 Accord DX hatch was a wonderful drive even with carburation. I have a 8th gen Civic now, but it hasn’t displaced that Accord as my favorite car ever. It did everything well with no quality issues, except carry rear passengers in comfort (a rare problem).
These cars represented the REAL “Happy Honda Days.” I agree this generation was peak Civic, while the Accord was next-to-peak, with the champ being the CB.
Although regrettably I’ve never owned or driven a Honda, I’ve always liked the 1st and 3rd generation Honda Civic, and the 2nd and 3rd generation Accord. 🙂
And peak Civic wagon for me was the 1988 Wagovan. Why 1988? It was the last year with proper 3-point seat belts, without the auto-strangle motorized shoulder belt that was used 1989-91.
The visibility out of one of those Civic wagons is second-to-none. I owned a couple of them, and the roof height was taller than the sedans. The windshield was more upright (so swapping side mirrors between the sedan and wagon? no can do). The dashboard also was unique to the wagon, even though you would never know this until you tried to swap in a sedan part (ask me how I know this).
No doubt, the 4th gen. Accord is and always will be my all-time favorite. We had a ’93 EX 5-speed wagon for over 10 years and loved it. About 220k on it when we sold it. My wife is still sad about selling that car to this day – she misses it so much! Those cars were like having a Prelude in a sedan/wagon body! They handled like no other car and were a joy to drive and a pleasure to own. The huge windshield, low cowl and true 4-wheel wishbone suspension made those cars drive like nothing else. I remember one of the auto magazines stating that your neighbors will never know your Accord is like a sports sedan in family car clothing.
Owned a ’91 Accord LX and I’d agree that in terms of the overall package, it’s definitely peak Accord–but I do prefer the styling of this CA generation with the pop-up lamps, so unusual to see on a sedan. Make mine an ’89 SEi with the FI engine, unique alloys and subtly bronze-tinted glass.
The only Civics I’ve ever driven were much more recent, but I have a lot of passenger time in a ’90 DX sedan that belonged to a high school friend. He was quite fond of his car, and it seemed for good reason. My next-door neighbor has two Civic hatchbacks, a ’93 Si and a ’99 EX, and looking at them together, and mentally comparing them to this generation, it’s easy to see the slight size inflation and softening of focus as the generations progressed. Though that ’93 Si is still pretty cool in its own right.
I also have good memories of our 1992 EX 5-speed sedan; its wonderfully flexible drivetrain and solid feel will always endear it to me. We kept it for around 220K as well. The last two Accords I’ve had, a 1999 and a 2009, have been good cars as well – our daughter is still driving the 99, which does really need to be replaced by now; it had 200k on it when she got it in 2010 – but they didn’t make the impression on me that the 1992 car did.
Interestingly enough, I did test-drive a new Accord V6 coupe a month or so ago, and it drove so similarly to the 2009 car, which is also a V6 automatic, that I would have ended up keeping the sedan, which after all had just over 90K miles on it.
Instead I made a clean break and bought a 2017 Mustang GT 6-speed. I’ve wanted a Mustang for a long time, and at 77 I pretty much figured it was now or never.
I went in the OPPOSITE direction as you when I needed to ‘retire’ my daily driver.
I kept the 2007 Mustang (like you, I always wanted one) now with 172K it’s just my pleasure vehicle with occasional drives to work on nice days.
My new daily driver is the 2016 Civic EXT pictured below. It’s high-revving 1.5L Turbocharged I-4 is as smooth as a high end sewing machine* and propels the car from 0-60 nearly as quickly as the Mustang (mine’s only a 4.0L-V6).
* The sewing machine reference is appropriate here. It takes 0W-20 oil in its crankcase, which is the thinnest viscosity I’ve ever seen for a car.
I hope in several years hence that this 10th generation will be considered “Peak Civic”, but only time will tell.
9th generation Civics also tale 0W-20.
Yeah, my stepson’s Mazda 3 also uses 0W-20, and his is a second generation, 2012 if memory serves, so that thin stuff’s probably been around for a while. My Dad’s 2015 Acura RDX uses it as well, however his 2014 Mustang uses 5W-20 like my wife’s 2009 Lancer. (My Mustang uses 5W-30)
It would seem that oil is just getting thinner and thinner every couple of years. What’s next? 0W-15? Negative 5W-10? A light salad vinaigrette?
I find it fascinating.
My first Honda was this (purchased new) 89 Accord SE-i which I regret giving up due to a major tranny fail.
Try as I might I find the new models to sanitized for my tastes.
As Chris M. points out… this one was my fav too
That’s the one. Very nice indeed, shame you had to part with it!
BTW, I still own this 93 Accord SE (also purchased new) which has been a great car and now at only 129k miles is relegated mostly to occasional driving status…
As for the tile of this thread “A Classic Honda Lover Lives Here,” I guess there is one who lives here too…
Though to be fair I’m not sure if our 00EXV6 will ever rate as high as the others but with only 72k miles I’m willing to wait and find out.
Honestly this one is only around because of sentimental value since I purchased it new for my dad before he passed.
It actually is great long distance cruiser but not a sport sedan handler.
Love my ’99 Accord EX. 203k miles – runs and drives great!
Lastly, while not officially an Accord my ’04 TSX 6-spd is the most fun of the group to drive. Ordered it new as well and waited several months in ’03 for it to arrive.
With about 62.5k miles it’s my daily driver…
Is that a true A-spec, or just the body kit and wheels?
I had a beautiful charcoal grey ’90 Civic EX back in the day. Wonderful sightlines and an open and airy cabin. The hood was not in one’s sightline and looking forward provided an expansive view of the road ahead. Too bad that experience cannot be replicated in today’s tanks.
The most beautiful generation of Accord. Here in Australia, Hondas always commanded a premium during the 1980s and early 1990s over the other Japanese makes. So, you were far more likely to see an Accord with luxury features like a sunroof. While the following generation still exists in surprisingly large numbers – perhaps the older buyers took better care of them, as even 626s of that era are becoming hard to find – I haven’t seen this generation in years. Stunning cars.
The Civic is bland in comparison. Also, I always thought the second gen Prelude was much better looking than the third gen.
Hondas were fully imported in Aussie which pushed the price up, they were an older persons car and Civics with a smoking tailpipe were a common sight, both these Hondas are rare sights in NZ common not long ago due to used imports replacing the rusted out local production cars but rare sightings now.
Same in the UK, a Honda like the two featured would have been the kind of car Victor Meldrew (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Foot_in_the_Grave) would have owned. The only models with “street cred” were the Aerodeck hatchback wagon and the CR-X with the V-Tec engines, but they were few and far between on account of being fully imported (unlike the British built sedans) and hence more expensive than the European equivalents.
The Honda car brand has completely collapsed here, especially after 2009. In that year more than 10,000 new units were registered. Last year: just over 1,000 cars.
To put things in perspective: in 2015 Volkswagen sold 18,105 Golfs in the Netherlands.
I’ve had Hondas for many years but don’t know about generations. I had a ’79 Accord and an ’89 Civic, both hatchbacks, and both the best-looking examples of those models, IMO. Can somebody tell me, what generations were those?
Now driving a 2012 Fit, probably the least good-looking car I’ve owned. For instance, I can’t imagine why they didn’t make the crease in the hatch line up with the bottom edge of the taillight where they meet. Love the interior, though.
The ’79 Accord was still the first-generation model. The ’89 Civic was the second year of the EF Civic, which I would count as the fourth generation (1988–1991).
I agree that these along with the 83-87 Prelude were peak Honda. Visually the low but elegantly sculpted hoodlines did it for me. Too bad the cars could not stay small, light and low.
Wow, this picture really strikes a chord for me. In the summer of ’88 I was working my first advertising job in Stamford, CT, still driving the ’78 Estate Wagon I’d inherited in college. It was ticking over 100K and needed replacing.
I loved the Gen 4 Civic sedan, and a maroon LX with auto became first ever new car. At the same time, my dad’s ’86 Reliant SE wagon was making ever more frequent trips to the shop, and since moving to Connecticut from Detroit-loyal Pittsburgh, he’d noticed his colleagues with Hondas had exceptional reliability, so at the same time I bought my Civic, he bought an ’88 Accord LX.
It was a pretty amazing thing for the son of a steel worker who’d done a stint selling Chryslers and Plymouths becoming a Honda owner, but he did point out our cars were built in Ohio.
Both were great cars, but I’d give the edge to the Civic – it was so low and so wide, it felt like driving a go-kart. The handling was exceptional – the right front tire blew out on a freeway when I was driving 65, and I only realized it when my passenger noticed chunks of the tire flying away. Smooth engine and while the auto wasn’t as fun as a stick, it worked very well.
Best of all was the styling – the ultimate “clean” Honda, with an amazingly expansive greenhouse – the kind lost forever in a world of side-airbags and high belt lines. I’ve never owned a Honda since, mainly because none of the successors looked as good to me.
That Accord was quite simply the best car I’ve ever owned. Size, handling, reliability were perfect. Tranny was a work of art, engine perfect for the size, interior high quality….I’d buy a new one today if I could. 678,540 miles before a Texas thunderstorm dropped a tree branch on it and totaled it. I still miss Newton (my girlfriend named it after it’s fig-like color (Rosewood).
Honda seemed to put extra quality into the 4th gen Accords. The interior fit and finish were top notch, and everything about those cars just felt right. I have a best friend that has been a Honda master mechanic for over 25 years. He told me that he and all of his colleagues that worked with him over the years feel the 4th gen were the best built and engineered Accords ever. They are also the best/easiest to work on, and parts are readily available to this day if needed. The 5th gen started having different issues like premature A/C failure and were not quite as trouble-free as the 4th gen, and the 6th gen began having Honda’s infamous transmission issues. Luckily I have a 1999 EX 4-cylinder with 203k on it that I know will run for another 200k without a hitch. I love that car too, but for different reasons than my ’93.
I married a girl with an 88 Accord, and spent a lot of time in that car. I still prefer the 3rd Gen Accord to the 4th just on looks. The 4th went just a bit conservative while the 3rd had some dash and flair to go with the basic mechanical goodness. The wheels on this one ID it as an 86 or 87.
I had been a fan of the Civic generation after this one, but then my daughter got one. It is a nice car, but the difference between that 98 Civic and my 07 Fit is like night and day. After spending time in the Fit, the Civic feels like a Buick. I now see why everyone loves the earlier Civics so much more.
I have to agree that the hidden headlights were cool on the 3rd gen, but when the 4th gen were dressed up in the right color with the right accessories? Man, I thought they were stunning. Like a baby Acura. And the 3rd gen felt a little too small to me – the 4th gen got the size and comfort level just right.
I actually think the 5th gen Civic (92-95) was peak Civic. The car had a comfortable interior that felt and looked quality. The doors shut with a solid thump and they were great to drive. I like the 4th Gen Civic but it still had that miserable penalty box feel to it (though the hatch version with the Si package felt like a 4 seater CRX with its quickness and go kart like ride)
The Accord? I like the one shown, that generation had the pop up headlights and made the car look stylish.
The 5th gen hatch Si was also peak Civic for me, but did I ever hate the HVAC layout in those cars. The slider controls for temp and fan were such a let down from my Celica at the time, so much so after I pointed them out, dad refused to upgrade his Prism. The concurrent Intergra and proceeding Prelude also suffered from this. I was never enthralled.