(Welcome Gene, our new Wednesday COALer) In my 2nd year of college, I scored an engineering internship at a company out of state, in neighboring Indiana. That meant that I needed a reliable set of wheels to get me to work in Ft Wayne and back home to Columbus on weekends, practical and affordable on a college student budget.
Dad left it up to me to search for my first car, and although I was very aware of his personal bias toward Chrysler products, I was not about to get a Dodge Omni like his. Back in the pre-Internet days, searching for a used car meant scouring the local newspaper classified ads, and in doing so I spotted an ad for a 1980 Honda Civic GL. I had no idea what that car was like but the price was right, so I went for a look.
It didn’t make much of a first impression on me, a little too cute and stubby for my tastes. But this was the 2nd generation Civic, all refined and grown up from the quirky little hatchback that Honda unleashed in the US back in the 70’s. Compared to Dad’s ‘81 Omni which I had been driving, this car was too good to be true. There was a pleasingly simple, uncluttered dash with full instrumentation including a tachometer, controls clearly marked and easy to reach, operating with a slick buttery smoothness that the Omni sorely lacked, with ergonomics that were absolutely on-point. We take these things for granted now, but Honda had it right 40 years ago when Chrysler and its cross town contemporaries were mired in malaiseness.
Compared to the Omni, the Civic drove like a dream. It had a slick 5 speed transmission, light clutch, crisp manual steering and the eager little 1500 cc engine that loved to rev. These were Honda characteristics at the time and I fell hard for the Civic’s charm. There was no way I was not going to buy this car.
But this Civic was 6 years old with 75,000 miles, and its age was starting to show. On my college student budget, I replaced 4 nearly bald P155/80R13 tires with the cheapest “Guardsmen” radial tires from the local Sears store. I upgraded the stereo with a cassette player and amplifier, and had to do some body work as the Midwestern road salt was starting to take its toll.
This silver Civic was my pride and joy throughout college and grad school. It got me to work that summer in Ft Wayne Indiana, and remained mostly parked during the school year, except for the occasional weekend SCCA Solo II run around the campus parking lot, with those Sears Guardsmen tires howling in protest and me grinning from ear to ear. Summers in the Civic were memorable, having been on many road trips throughout the Midwest, including an all-night drive from Chicago to Columbus starting at 11 pm and ending at 4 am, then another 2 hour drive to Cedar Point 3 hours later. And then there was the memorable mother and son trip to Boston/New England through upstate New York.
My Civic was a hoot to drive, so agile and maneuverable, with an engine that seemed to enjoy being pushed hard. Even though it wasn’t very quick, that everything worked so harmoniously together made the driving experience rewarding and fun. I was convinced that Honda’s in the 1980’s were magic. So when Honda came recruiting for engineers on campus at Ohio State, I wanted so badly to work for them. Their new factory and tech center in Marysville was less than an hour north of campus. But alas, Honda didn’t look at my resume and GM scooped me up instead. I had spent the second summer doing an internship at GM (with my Civic discreetly parked in the far corner of the employee parking lot), and my youthful enthusiasm for cars must have convinced them to hire me.
So upon graduation, I was getting ready to move up to Michigan to work at GM, and trying to figure out how to keep my Honda and drive something more politically correct to work (i.e., a GM or American-made product). But the cancerous rust that had plagued the Honda from day one was finally starting to eat it alive, such that the floorboards in the rear were completely rusted through, leaving only carpet between the rear passenger feet and the ground below. And every time I hit a bump, pieces of underbody would come off leaving a trail of rusty bits on the road behind. It wasn’t safe to drive for much longer. Dad by that time had moved on from his Dodge Omni (and Chrysler products forever) and was driving a Ford Escort. He agree to lend me the Escort and take over the Honda until I could find an appropriate GM car to drive.
I don’t know what became of my beloved Honda Civic. Dad drove it for a while and then it probably went to the crusher. I missed it dearly, especially driving around in Dad’s miserable ’88 Escort, which, even though it had a 5 speed, was a much lumpier, clunkier machine than that little Civic. I couldn’t wait to give it back to him.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-reviews/vintage-road-test-honda-civic-gl1500/
Welcome to CC! Great first COAL, looking forward to more.
Welcome, Gene. Funny, my father also had an Omni, an 82 and when that quickly wore out he went to an Escort as well. Instead of a Honda, I ended up with a 74 beetle when I was able to drive in 85. That too rotted out. Fun times with that beetle and I miss it too but wouldn’t want another. Lol
Welcome to the COAL mines, Gene. First, those early Civics were easy to love. I wish that the 76-ish Civic wagon my family got as a dealer loaner when my mother’s LeMans was in the body shop (after some youthful stupidity) had been a manual instead of the Honda Matic that sucked much of the fun out of the car. At least Honda built enough fun into these that there was still a decent amount left over for me to enjoy.
You spent time in Fort Wayne not too long after I left for the last time. Was your internship at the GM truck plant that was new at the time? That plant was a huge boost for the city after International Harvester closed a few years earlier.
The GM Ft Wayne plant was still under construction when I was there, but yes it was the big news in town. I interned at Magnavox, who had an engineering center there doing defense contracting work.
Cool – my Uncle Bob started there in the early 70s working with their computers. He transferred to Greeneville, Tennessee about 1972 or 73 and eventually retired from there in the late 90s or early 00s. I know exactly where the FW Magnavox place is.
Similar to JP, welcome to the COAL mines. It’s a fun way to revisit otherwise dormant memories.
It seems are fathers may be cut from about the same cloth. He had an ’81 Omni as a commuter car and then an ’88 Tempo.
I’m looking forward to reading more.
Hello Gene and thank you for starting your COAL series.
“… Honda had it right 40 years ago when Chrysler and its cross town contemporaries were mired in malaiseness… ”
Indeed. Even if one just looked at a Honda back then, it was obvious that there was a high level of care, thought, and effort in how they were designed and built. This was similar to how an earlier generation saw Type 1 Beetles in the 1960s. Not necessarily perfect, just better in multiple ways with some obvious compromises based mostly on size, power, and price.
Rust was – and still is in salted road locations – the enemy. Evidence of rust may be less so now-a-days in easily visible external body panels, but kneel down on the ground and look under and you’ll see big difference between a Southern California vehicle and one from NY or NJ.
I’m curious if having a Honda as your first COAL is going to be a big influence on your following choices. I guess we’ll find out next week.
Hey, another Buckeye! Welcome to the mines, Gene, I look forward to following your story to see where it goes. I too had a similar story, growing up in Central Ohio and working for the auto industry in Michigan for a stint.
These early Civics were never super common back in the day in Central Ohio, not like they were on the coasts. American cars still ruled middle America then, with Omnis and Chevettes being everywhere. And then they just disappeared.
Welcome Gene! I had a Civic of this generation, as did several of my friends, and it was indeed an amazing car for the time. Head and shoulders above anything else, including the sad Westmoreland Rabbits. And mine also got thrashed in a few SCCA Solo II autocrosses, including my only-ever class win. On the OEM 155 Bridgestones, in my case. But they too howled almost continuously on the course, even with the fronts at 40-50 psi.
I thought engineering students were required to have a Honda Civic during those years, or be out of their school’s requirement for de rigueur in all matters.
These were great cars, but not with the automatic. Sad to see them rust away so quickly. Such a beautiful ergonomically designed vehicle. Set the standard for decades to come.
Thank you for joining CC with a COAL.
Great first COAL Gene, welcome!
These early Civics really were in a different quality class than compacts offered by the domestic manufacturers. It seemed like Hondas back then were designed by engineers who actually drove the vehicles they designed, instead of leaving at 5:00pm in their full size “real” car. Moving from a Civic to a Omnirizon, Escort or Chevette showed just how different imports were from domestics. It took time for middle America to grudgingly accept these, but once experienced, buyers were less likely to accept the sloppy status quo that permeated domestic compacts.
Another tribute to a great little car. We very briefly had a wagon version for Stephanie, with the 3-speed automatic. That dulled the fun factor some, but it was still…a great little car.
What an amazing beginning to a COAL series, Gene! The whole “substance-over-style” thing runs so counter to how I normally operate, but the more I read about the virtues and fun of these earlier Honda products (especially as contrasted with your father’s Omni as you described) only reinforces my respect for these Civics.
These always remind me of Tarantino films, with featured roles in both Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. “I had to crash that Honda…”
And, yes… the separate, remote parking lot for imports was definitely a GM thing.
I think Gene is our 2nd COALer to have gone to work for an automaker right out of college. The other one was John Li, who went to work at Ford.
Welcome, I remember liking but never driving the second generation Civic because they were like miniature first generation Accords. Stuff like Chevettes, Omnis, and stripper Escorts seemed like penalty boxes in comparison. I can also relate to rust, even downstate New York salted heavily and both our 77 Accord and my 78 Scirocco rusted badly. Oregon is much kinder and I still some early Hondas around.
Welcome aboard to CC Gene. My girlfriend in the early 90s also owned a second gen civic hatch. That was a fun little car, drove excellent in snow and was great on gas. No complaints other than a blown water pump gasket and that was an easy 20 minute fix.
Welcome fellow C-Buser and OSU grad…
Great article but going to work in Michigan? Woody wouldn’t approve…:-)
Good care to start off with.I had a 1980 Civic 5 spd wagon and enjoyed it very much. However, it’s life was short lived and pretty much ended by 1986. It wasn’t a rust issue in Northern California but an engine issue. Seemed that the camshaft wiped one or two lobes just past 100,000 miles for some unknown reason not having to do with care. That really turned me off to Honda and onto Mazda.
WELCOME GENE ! .
Nice memories, well written .
I remember those Civics, as everyone says they’re fantastic .
I live in the land of no rust so I was able to keep driving my old Beetles…..
I know I missed out as I occasionally drove a Civic but I still lobe my old Beetles .
-Nate
Welcome, I love it when someone writes up a car I once had, mine was a 5door 5 speed and it went fairly well for what it was and mine was 22 years old when I bought it, yes it had rust, I hid it with filler for the WOF inspection, the floors were fine but the roof was rusting off, good on gas and reliable though.
there was a weird quirk with these, at least for me. The turn signal had a rotary switch control of the head lights built on top of it. It was extremely easy to use the turn signal and rotate that switch without knowing it, leaving the headlights on after you shut the car off and there was no idiot alarm to warn you. Several times I drained the battery dead while at work, but fortunately the parking lot had a small hill and I could push start the little thing all by myself.
It was a fun little thing with the 5 speed and I thrashed it and it came back for more. Very cold blooded however.
Welcome, Gene!
I had a few very short drives with Civics. Just enough to be charmed by them. Later I had a ’86 MAZDA 323 and this phrase of yours applies it as well: “….that everything worked so harmoniously together made the driving experience rewarding and fun.”
Looking forward to Wednesdays now, with green tea and Gene’s COAL articles.
Welcome to another new Curbivore and COALer, and with a great tale, well and engagingly told.
While it was related to your father’s Omni but not directly alike, my Mum had a European Talbot Horizon (I think it was a 1980 or 81) with 1.1 litre engine and a four speed box. No PAS, so 4.5 turns lock to lock of heavy steering with little handling, a fair bit of roll and pitch, an awkward vague gearchange and some odd ergonomics. Fairly spacious and a decent ride, though.
I can see how a Civic would have appealed over something similar. But parking it at GM – I guess you needed to be tactful…..
One of the best cars I’ve ever had! Great daily driver and loaded down took us on a cross-country move at around 80 mph the whole way. Lasted long after that till I bought a 4Runner, but I still miss it. Nearly the perfect car and so easy to work on!
The 1500 Civic had an iron block. The 1300 Civic had a piece-of-crap aluminum block that was substantially less-durable along with having no power.
My 1300 went 58K miles before throwing #3 rod out the front of the block, breaking the oil filter mount in the process. This at ~70 mph in fifth gear, miles from town in February freezing cold, at midnight. All the main bearings, and the other three rod bearings looked wonderful. ONLY #3 rod, crank journal, and the block was damaged, and it’s the only broken connecting rod (4 pieces, 6 if the bolts were unfastened) I’ve ever held in my hand that DIDN’T have broken bolts holding the cap in place. The bolts bent, but did not break. The cap was in two pieces, both of them secured to the lower (broken) sections of the connecting rod body with intact bolts.
Replacing the engine cost enough that I was saddled with that car for far longer than was reasonable. Eventually the rust got so bad that the VALVE COVER rusted through and was spitting oil.
Honda worked a scam with the collusion of the NHTSA, where the faulty seat-belt retractors were NOT recalled and fixed. Honda supposedly guaranteed that FUTURE Honda cars would have “lifetime warranty” on the seat belts. Didn’t do me any good. Failed seat belt retractors on those vehicles were epidemic.
Honda junk. Total junk. The single positive aside from reasonable fuel economy, was that the 1980 1300 did not require a catalyst. Midas refused to work on it, claiming that “Unleaded Fuel Only” printed on the gas gauge meant that the car was originally fitted with a catalyst, and they were going to “replace” it or not do any exhaust work at all.