Honda’s reputation for building uncommonly well-engineered affordable cars can trace its roots back decades, and the brand’s fans will point to different eras and claim supremacy for each. The truth is, almost every Honda product upholds this perception, and the fourth-generation Civic is no exception. It may even be one of those Hondas that fanatics hold up on a pedestal, and should you want to mainline the essence of what makes Hondas so special, the sporty Civic Si hatchback sold between 1989 and 1991 is among the best options.
The fourth-generation Civic appeared for 1988 with a heavy redesign that included smooth, clean styling and an attractively low beltline. Honda fitted every Civic with a double-wishbone front suspension—sophisticated stuff even today, particularly for an economy car—and an independent rear suspension. There were sedan, hatchback, and tall wagon body styles (also the Civic CRX coupe), along with a raft of four-cylinder engine options. A year after the standard model’s launch, the Civic Si hatchback appeared, and it built on the Si format first applied to the previous Civic generation starting in 1986, which followed the semi-Si 1985 Civic S.
Just as before, the Civic Si was distinguished from lesser Civics by way of fuel injection. (At the time, most Civics remained carbureted or had throttle-body fuel injection.) The Si came with Honda’s carryover D-series SOHC 1.6-liter inline-four producing 108 horsepower, the lot of which were channeled to the front wheels by way of a five-speed manual transmission. Standard equipment was generous for the time and included a tachometer (oh boy!), a sunroof, front and rear anti-roll bars, sports seats, and 14-inch steel wheels with hubcaps. A few standard items, such as the body-color bumpers and a passenger door mirror, might leave you scratching your head today. Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, though, economy cars were very much that still, and most had dark-colored plastic bumpers and trim and lacked extraneous things such as a passenger door mirror, power windows, or even air conditioning.
Speaking of which, options on the 1989-1991 Civic Si included air conditioning and fog lights. The Si made do with manual steering without power assist, and Honda didn’t offer an automatic transmission in America, although one was available in other markets. One such market was Canada, where this white ’91 Civic Si hails from. This example is being auctioned on Bringatrailer.com, and bidding is already at more than $7,000 at the time of this writing. Luckily, this one has the manual transmission, a Honda strength, in addition to snappy handling and slick engineering.
If you didn’t live through this era, you’ll have to take our word for it as to how vastly far ahead of the competition Honda was in 1991. Line up the Civic of that era against any domestic small car, and things weren’t even close: The Hondas were built to a higher standard, with consistent fits and panel gaps, and the cars drove with a sophistication American economy cars couldn’t touch. Sure, the Honda cost a little more, but you are also more likely to come across one of these Civics today than, say, a Ford Escort of the same vintage. This was and remains a key appeal of Honda products.
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That said, many Civics from over the years have since been poorly modified and trashed, which is what makes the white car you see here so special. It’s unmolested, giving us a clear view of the fourth-gen Civic’s simple, effective design, and high-quality construction. While Honda purists would sooner swap the Si’s D16A6 four-cylinder for a later, more powerful B-series motor, we’ve rarely met a Honda engine we didn’t like. The D-series promises smooth, if leisurely performance; redline is marked at 6,500 rpm in the ’91 Si, and the car is lightweight—you don’t really need any more power to have fun in this Civic. Nor do you need the distraction of any frills. Just look at this Si, which lacks power windows (the rears manually “pop out” like a minivan’s rear quarter glass) and much else inside. You just get in and drive (and drive, and drive) while enjoying good fuel economy and the sense of satisfaction that Honda didn’t charge enough for the ostensibly humble Civic when it was new.