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Overview

The Honda Civic is a compact and subcompact car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Honda. The first generation of the Honda Civic was introduced in July 1972 and it was available only as a two-door coupe. In September a three door hatchback model was also introduced to the line-up. The Sedan variant was not available on the American market only from 1978.

The Honda Civic had a strong selling point due to it’s fuel economy. When the 1973 oil crisis struck americans were looking more and more to a quality economy car and the Civic was the perfect choice.

Variants

The first generation Civic was equipped with a four cylinder 1.2-Liter transversely mounted engine. The engine was nothing to brag about and the total output was 50 horsepower and 52 lb-ft of torque. The Civic had an estimated fuel consumption of 40 mpg on the highway. The Civic had front and rear independent suspension and a four speed manual transmission was standard and a two speed automatic transmission called Hondamatic. Other features included power front disc brakes, reclining bucket seats, vinyl seats and woodgrain dashboard. Optional features were air conditioning, radial tires and a rear wiper for the hatchback.

In 1974 the 1.2-Liter engine was revised and received a small power increase. The engine was now producing 54 horsepower. The bumpers grew 7 inches in order to meet the new 5 mph bumper impact standard. In 1975 a new engine was introduced. This engine was a four cylinder 1.4-Liter CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine that produced 62 horsepower and 69 lb-ft of torque and had a head design that offered cleaner, more efficient combustion. The CVCC design eliminated the need for catalytic converters or unleaded fuel to meet changing emissions standards, unlike every other car in its class. In the state of California the Honda Civic was available only with the 1.4-Liter CVCC engine, due to stricter emissions standards in the state. New this year was the introduction of the Honda Civic Wagon model which had a wheelbase of 90 inches and an overall length of 160 inches. The Honda Civic Wagon could have been bought only with the 1.4-Liter CVCC engine installed. A five speed manual transmission was added to the options list.

In 1978 the Civic went trough a series of cosmetic changes. The grille was now black, the sideway vents were replaced by rear facing hood vents and the turn indicators were now mounted in the bumper instead of in the grille.

Additional Information

The first generation of the Honda Civic had one major problem that Honda desperately tried to fix. This problem was rust. Almost every Civic rusted in less than three years from purchase where salt was used in the winter. To fix this problem the U.S. importer American Honda Motor Company signed a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission that provided owners of the first generation Honda Civic with rusted cars the right to received free of charge replacements or cash reimbursements. By the end of production almost 1 million Honda Civic owners were notified about the rust problem and that this problem could be fixed free of charge at the local Honda dealer.

The national Highway Traffic Safety Administration also issued a safety recall due to this problem. The recall was made because the suspension arms, front crossbeams and strut coil spring lower supports could weaken in time if they were exposed to salt. A total number of 936,774 cars went trough extensive repairs. Buyers had the option to receive their money back if the car had serious body corrosion.