March 17, 2025 ZhouGuifeng

🚗 The 11th Generation is Coming—Let’s Learn from the Past

Honda Magazine | Japanese Car Enthusiast Magazine | 📅 2025-03-17 16:25:01

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🚘 Civic—whether it’s known for positive or negative news—it’s safe to say it’s a household name.

That said, do people really understand the Civic, or do they simply recognize it? 🤔 I believe most fall into the latter category. Even if one claims to know the Civic well, I believe many only have a partial understanding. For many of us born in the 80s or 90s, our understanding of the Civic began with the eighth generation. 🧠

📸 Image: This is the two-door version of the first-generation Civic, which began production in 1972. The earliest version was equipped with an EB1 carbureted engine.

📸 Image: The chassis codes for this generation Civic include SB1, SG, SH, SE, and VB, reflecting its multiple body styles. The image shown is the two-door version.

📸 Image: Although the first-generation Civic’s engine wasn’t particularly impressive, its suspension was quite sincere. It already featured four-wheel independent suspension, though it was still the four-wheel MacPherson strut type, not yet the double wishbone. ⚙️

🛠️ The eighth-generation Civic was the first to be locally produced in China. It was released just as the 80s generation began gaining purchasing power. With its practicality, affordability, and performance pedigree via the Type R variant, it became an attractively well-rounded vehicle. 💪

: This car is a three-door version of the first-generation Civic. From the grille, you can tell it already featured a CVCC engine. This generation had four CVCC engines: the 1.2L EE series, 1.4L EJ series, and 1.5L ED series. 🔧

🚙 Beyond the eighth generation, the Civic has always been an appealing series. From the first to the upcoming eleventh generation, it has continuously attracted a loyal user base. The Civic has always been a backbone model in Honda’s lineup. Some uninformed media outlets erroneously reported the end of the Civic line when Japan stopped producing the FC1, which is either laughable or pitiful. 😅

📢 As the eleventh-generation Civic approaches, fans should revisit its history to truly understand the series. At least then, when talking about the Civic, you'll have real knowledge to share. 📚

This three-door version of the Civic is a genuine hatchback, differing in rear design from the two- and four-door versions.

📖 The first-generation Honda Civic debuted in 1972, designed under the guidance of Honda’s fourth president, Nobuhiko Kawamoto. It was developed on an all-new platform to succeed the Honda N600. While visually similar to the N600, it was longer, wider, taller, and had a longer wheelbase. Unlike the N600, the Civic was not a Kei-Car. Even its smallest EB1 four-cylinder engine had double the displacement of the N600’s engine. 💡 Given Honda’s prior experience with the air-cooled Honda 1300, and despite Soichiro Honda’s fondness for air-cooled engines, the Civic used a water-cooled transverse engine.

This is the four-door version of the Civic. It’s important to note that this isn’t a traditional hatchback.

The rear window is fixed to the body, and only the lower door panel below the window opens as the trunk.

🚗 In terms of body design, as a successor to the N600, the Civic adopted a two-box layout and came in two-, three-, four-, and five-door configurations. Notably, the two- and four-door versions were not true hatchbacks. Their rear windows were fixed, and only the lower door panel opened. The three- and five-door versions were true hatchbacks. To make up for reduced trunk space from the hatch design, Honda designed fold-down rear seatbacks. 👍

In October 1974, Honda introduced the first sporty Civic variant, the Civic 1200 RS. RS stood for "Road Sailing," not "Racing Sport."

This car featured the EB1 engine, but Honda upgraded it with twin Keihin CV carburetors, modified intake manifold, higher cam profile, higher compression pistons, and revised exhaust manifold. These upgrades gave the EB1 engine 76 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 101 Nm of torque. 🔥

🌍 The first-generation Civic was exported to countries like the UK and US in its launch year. Initially, it wasn’t a huge success, but after the 1973 oil crisis, economical cars gained popularity, and the affordable, well-equipped Civic became a go-to choice. Sales grew rapidly. 📈 In 1974, Honda increased engine displacement with a 1237cc EB2 engine delivering 52 hp. While modest in power, the Civic weighed only 680 kg. In 1975, Honda offered a 1488cc engine with CVCC, enhancing both power and fuel economy.

In addition to engine upgrades, Honda revised the suspension with stiffer springs and dampers for better handling. Around 20,000 units were produced in a 12-month period.

In October 1975, to meet new emissions standards, the Civic 1200 RS was replaced by the Civic 1500 RSL.

This car used a 12-valve ED series engine tuned by Honda. While not as powerful as the 1200 RS, it still produced 75 hp and 109 Nm—2 hp and 3 Nm more than the standard ED engine.

🎯 The first-generation Civic remained in production until 1979, when the second generation took over. In terms of sales and popularity, the Civic was Honda’s first global success. 🌐

📰 Stay tuned for our next article on the second-generation Civic!

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