Friday Video: Osaka JDM’s Wonder Civics

Okay, so you’re unlikely to see an S800 at the Norm Reeves Honda show tomorrow, but what about the E-AT Civic? The third-gen Civic is a wholly under-appreciated chassis among hipster Honda kids, despite the fact that it was largely responsible for kicking off the Honda tuning scene.

It was the platform that spawned the first CR-X, as well as the first Civic Si, and in Japan it was offered with a fuel-injected twin-cam ZC 1.6 capable of 129 horsepower (equal to that of your precious AE86s). Tuning house Osaka JDM was one of the OG pioneers hot-rodding these things back in the day.

By the way, that one Civic in the video above is a replica of this, the second-oldest Honda race car at the Honda Collection Hall. It’s the Mugen Motul-liveried car that won every single race of the 1600 class in the 1987 All-Japan Touring Car Championships. Take that, AE86 fanboys!

Even in SoCal, the heartland of Honda trends, we haven’t really seen AT Civics at large regional shows like the Norm Reeves event. It’s a logical gap that may require in-depth analysis in an upcoming article, and perhaps due to the fact that Civic tuners consider a 1993 EG “old school.” Hopefully tomorrow will prove us wrong.

Photo by Dan Hsu.

 

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14 Responses to Friday Video: Osaka JDM’s Wonder Civics

  1. Mr. me says:

    I saw a replica of that Mugen Motul Civic in the Netherlands once. It’s one crazy car to see. Really amazing.

  2. Nigel says:

    I owned an 89′ which was close…off by two years.
    The 87′ was the autocross king.

  3. E-AT_me says:

    i own an 86 that my dad bought new in 86… btw, this would explain my screen name.. at least what the E-AT stands for… 😀

    i remember Katmans’ 86.. from what, 15 years ago? that thing was INSANE for the time..

  4. Tyler says:

    Man, I love that generation. The rear glass looks so cool. Wouldn’t mind owning one…

  5. kingtoy says:

    This is my favorite generation of Civic

  6. Kevin Truong says:

    I was driving on the 5 frwy 2 days ago and saw an uber clean 86 Civic hatch and it was an Si!
    It was white and although had a roof rack and decently lowered on what looks to be 99-00 Civic Si wheels, it was clean. Had a light tint all around. I couldn’t help but to keep looking at it and wonder how nice would it to be to just drive another simple lowered Honda like it was the early 90’s again. When just even trying to save up for a nice set of wheels was the hardest damn thing to do.

  7. nlpnt says:

    There must be some demand for ATs, Tamiya’s reissued their model kit of one.

  8. DebtsE-at says:

    I own currently own a 1985 Honda Civic E-at here in the states a true RHD Wonder Civic

  9. NW Classic Honda says:

    Gen III Civic hatch love!!! Im building two as we speak, the Japanese underdog! 🙂

  10. DebtsE-at says:

    SuperStreet has it all wrong… that guage cluster, wheels, exhaust and many other parts on that E-at are Mugen

  11. carrotsnax says:

    The ZC is a 1.6L engine

  12. DebtsE-at says:

    Yes the ZC is a 1.6L DOHC… In Japan the ZC is a D16a1 comparable to the engine offered in the first gen Integra which I believe is a D16a8

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