Happy Anniversary! The very first year for the Honda Civic in the U.S. was 1973- that's 30 years!! All those hopped-up, kick-butt Civics running around today can trace their lineage back to the old 73-79 Civics, like mine. So if you've got a new Civic, try and give due props to the next old one you see...
11-9-03 UPDATE! Since my little red buddy is in outdoor (but covered) storage at my parents' house, I went over there last night to make sure he had good antifreeze, and to run the engine for a while to get some Heet into the fuel system. After charging the battery, I pulled the choke out (yep, an old-school manual choke), pumped the gas a few times, and cranked it over. The car had been sitting for almost 2 years without running, and I feared he just wouldn't fire. Well, after about 5 seconds of cranking, hte engine roared to life and settled into a slightly lumpy, fuel-rich 2000 rpm idle! No smoke, no hysterics, just like he'd been started the day before! This car has always been utterly reliable, and deep down, I'm not surprised he started so easily. He's always been there when I needed him; I'm glad I was able to be there to check him out for another long, cold winter.
This was my very first car at age 16. In 1986, a friend of my father's had 2 78 Civics he was about to junk, they were pretty rough. He gave us both cars, knowing that I would be getting my license very soon. Along with my dad and older brother, we basically created 1 good car out of 2 bad ones.
I drove the car in its factory silver color for a year. Then during the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, we went nuts on it. We fixed all the rust, and had the car repainted bright red. We added the black accents on the lower body and put it all back together. I went back to school that fall with *the* coolest car among all my friends! (OK, I was the only one among my friends with a car, but still!)
Over the next few years, I added some custom touches:
-front chin spoiler
-fog lights
-loud stereo (cheapy head unit in the dash as a decoy; the real system is in the glove box) with a home-made speaker box that fits across the cargo area
-cool mirrors off some Italian car in a junkyard
-Grant GT Challenger steering wheel
-1985 Toyota Supra multi-adjustable bucket seats.
I'm afraid I haven't driven the car regularly in 8 years, but I still have him, my little red buddy. When I got married in Feb., 2001, my dad and I resurrected the car, and used it instead of a limo to take my bride and me from the church to the reception hall. We removed the passenger's seat, and installed a red carpet leading into the back seat. We got so many stunned looks during that ride!
He still looks like this pic, which is about 10 years old. Today, he's in storage. Sadly, rust is taking its toll, and the clutch is pretty worn out, but he's still with me, and intact. One day soon I'll give him a good wash, tune-up, and wax job, and take him for another ride...
More pics soon!
