In a time when the hot hatch was king, Honda sought to take on the establishment by producing its own interpretation of a nippy car for the masses – the CRX.
Taking performance that could live with the fast hatchbacks from VW, Peugeot and Ford, Honda added to the mix with sportier, mini-coupé looks and a low-slung driving position.
The original CRX was launched in 1984 with a 12v ohc 1488cc engine that, in 1986, made way for a sprightly 16v twin-cam 1600.
In December ’87, the early car’s chiselled, straight-edge styling made way for curves and the car came fitted with a more powerful version of the Mk1’s 1.6-litre engine, but it is the sparkling VTEC, which was introduced in 1990 that remains the enthusiast’s choice.
Its rev-hungry variable valve timing added an extra dimension to the car, with the limiter not cutting in until a heady 8400rpm. Even more impressive was that the VTEC combined this with unburstable reliability, which means that a well-maintained engine should be as smooth with 150,000 miles on the clock as it is with 50,000.
Rust is the CRX’s biggest enemy, and is an issue that is not helped by a lack of pattern panels. Finding a rot-free example is imperative and problem areas include the wheelarches, A-posts, sills, door bottoms, sunroof aperture, rear footwells, spare-wheel well, bumper mounts and the rear hatch.