The base price of a 2026 Honda Civic is $24,595. Or you could buy a 1980 model like this one for about $11k less – and experience what you used to get for a lot less.
Here’s a partial list of what you’d get for your money – as regards the ’80 Civic:
A 1.5 liter four cylinder engine featuring Honda’s Compound Vortex Combustion Chamber (CVCC) design, which enabled Honda to sell vehicles without catalytic converters for several years, because these engines ran so efficiently they could meet emissions requirement without them. The ’80 Civic’s 1.5 liter engine was paired up with a standard five speed manual transmission and the combo delivered about 36 MPG, without benefit of fuel injection or computer controls.
This was possible because the ’80 Civic only weighed about 1,800 lbs.
The engine wasn’t very powerful (67 horses) and the ’80 Civic wasn’t very quick (zero to 60 took about 11 seconds) but what you got instead of power and quickness that most people don’t make much use of anyway was efficiency and simplicity ad affordability. The engine wasn’t hidden under a black plastic over and it could be maintained by almost anyone literate enough to read a Chilton’s manual and capable of using a socket set competently. It – like all cars of its time – did need more frequent fiddling with. But the average person could fiddle with it. Thereby avoiding the expense of having to pay a dealer to fiddle with it.
The ’80 came with thirteen-inch steel wheels (and tires) that were light by dint of being small, thereby obviating the need to make them out of easily dented aluminum to compensate for the weight and rolling resistance of an 18 or 19 inch “rim.” You could buy a set of 13 inch tires for not much money because you weren’t paying for twice as much tire (rubber) as today. 
You got disc brakes up front and drum brakes in back but you didn’t get ABS (and with it, wheel speed sensors and other such) because back in 1980, cars just came with brakes. These, too, could be easily serviced by anyone with basic hand tools and the desire to do the work. The Civic stopped well with them – and without ABS – because it was light.
You also got a set of gauges – including a tachometer. Hondas were among the first economy cars that came with more than just the usual idiot lights and a speedometer and gas gauge. You also got rear-opening vent windows, so you coud keep the car’s interior cool without AC. And you got it all for $3,699 back in 1980 – which comes to just over $15k in today’s depleted-buying-power dollars (and who knows re the accuracy of the government’s inflation data).
While you can’t buy a new ’80 Civic today, you could buy a very nice, low-miles example such as the one linked to at the beginning of this article. Or you could spend $11k more and get a ’26 Civic that weighs 1,000 lbs. more than the 1980 model that gets the same mileage (36 MPG, combined city/highway) notwithstanding that it has much larger (2.0 liter) engine that has computer controlled fuel injection that’s paired with a continuously variable (CVT) automatic transmission.
You can’t see the new Civic’s engine, because it’s hidden under a black plastic cover – but that’s ok because you won’t need to fiddle with it as much. That’s a good thing – sort of – because you can’t. Not unless you are a dealer-trained technician and have access to the very expensive specialty diagnostic equipment and tools needed to service a new Honda. You’re paying top dollar to not have to fiddle with the car, of course.
But when the car does need fiddling with, you’ll be paying top dollar.
You’ll also get a bevy of air bags, which means your insurance costs will be much higher than they were to insure a 1980 Civic, because the new one is apt to be totaled rather than repaired if the bags go off.
You will also get plastic headlight assemblies that are easily damaged and expensive to replace, as well as a set of 16 inch wheels and three inches wider tires that are likewise much more expensive to replace because you’re buying more rubber (which the new Civic needs because it’s 1,000 pounds heavier). Naturally ABS – as well as traction control and stability control and all the sensors/wiring associated with these systems – is standard as well.
You will also get a digital main gauge cluster and a seven-inches tall LCD touchscreen that erupts from the dash like a high-tech Pop Tart. Both are likely to glitch or go dark long before we get to 2072 – the year a brand-new 2026 will be as old as the 1980 model advertised for sale that’s linked-to in this article.
And you won’t get bumpers that can absorb minor impact damage. Instead, you’ll get tear-away plastic bumper covers that cost thousands to replace when they shear off after a minor impact.
But you will get a car that emits “data” about you, that can be remotely monitored and disabled at the whim of the corporate-government nexus.
Would you pay $11k more for that?
. . .
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not surprised you blew the head gasket. Guaranteed it broke between cyl 3 and 4.
Fixed tons of them. An american gasket maker, I think it was felpro, figured out the problem and made a better gasket. People lost lots of value if theirs’s blew though. All I did was buy them for a fraction of msrp, (fair to them and me) and I got really good and efficient at replacing them. Made a good buck.
I drove mid 80’s honda’s in college pretty successfully, but I was also a good honda mechanic.
I switched to Cutlasses and Bonnevilles and Park Ave’s which were darn good in the 90’s.
sorry, that’s a reply to StraitGate, but I forgot the Captcha thing and that’s were it put it.
I understand and agree with your sentiment Eric. But, those early honda’s were not that great. The only reason they sold was because of the mpg, and people begged dealers to buy one to get better mpg than an american car (at the time).
MPowers explained some of the issues with early honda’s. I made a good living and put myself through college fixing and buying/selling those honda’s when people couldn’t afford to fix them (repair vs what it was worth). The biggest problems were catastrophic, blown head gaskets between 3 and 4, failed timing belts the bent the valves. You needed a mech engineering degree to figure out the spagetti of vacuum hoses, etc…
While the 1500 and 5sp was a pretty nice step up from the 1300, the 1300 was better engine, reliabilty wise.
Even with the poor reliability, they still went and got another one (or a toyota) because people are crazy about mpg even when it doesn’t make sense financially.
Honda got way better in the early 80’s, and by mid-80’s the engines were very reliable. I bought the first injected unit, the CRX Si around 85 and it was like wow!
As others mentioned they rusted out way faster than american cars in the rust belt, to the point of junk status, often.
And to be fair, american cars weren’t much better, they just had different issues, but could be fixed cheaper and most of the time easier. You still can find 70’s pontiacs, etc… but you’ll never see a 70’s japanese car around.
“those early hondas were not that great.”
Agreed. The 1976 Civic we had for a short while drank oil like a soccer mom drinks bottled water.
And that ’77 Accord my wife had — the one whose great gas mileage and tight steering I was boasting about here recently — its head gasket blew. Expensive repair for a newly married young couple. And the top of both front fenders rusted and rotted out clean through.
Fast forward 30 years. The used c. 2005 Acura MDX we bought was the worst vehicle we ever had. Used a quart of oil every 85 miles. Filled the neighborhood with black smoke if you held it at 3000 RPM in Park. Didn’t smoke when I test drove it; don’t what the guy selling did to hide that defect for a week. I’ll be in my coffin before I buy another Honda.
Although the “base” price of a 2026 Honda Civic may be a shave under $25K, trust me, you ain’t getting one for anywhere near that price! Not only are they typically offering with overpriced “packages” that contain a mix of features you’d deem essential, and those that are absolutely meaningless, regulatory fees not quoted in that “base” price and, of course, the dealer’s “sucker” sticker (the brazen markups ABOVE the Suggested Retail Pricing), and you must factor in that considerable sales tax and DMV fees, you’re looking at $36K to drive ANY Civic off the lot!
Therefore, restoring that 1977 Honda Civic is looking better and better, as in fundamental design after a half century, it’s the same vehicle. It still has seat belts, which is probably the most effective “safety” feature ever devised for automobiles. It’s peppy four-banger, though it’s rated at but 85 ponies (more can be coaxed out of it with some aftermarket parts and a thorough “blueprint” in wake of an engine rebuild, which most old rides, even if they seem ok when you get them, will require if you subject them to daily service. Indeed, the biggest concern in acquiring a vintage Civic would be whether it’s suffering any “body cancer”, and has been in a wreck. Beyond that, a halfway decent DYIer can replace worn components at considerable savings.
I’d get one, and K-swap it with a matching 6spd, go from 67hp to 200-210 (depending on sourced motor)
Upgrade the tires, get modern big brakes, lower it just enough (no slamming on its nuts), modernize the suspension, and have a much better car for a lot less
I wouldn’t feel safe in one of those lil things. I used to love driving my ’95 toyota celica and even messed with a Honda CRX for a little while, but it’s all Jeeps and trucks for me going forward. Too many monster trucks, self driving teslas, texting drivers, pot smoking drivers and etc.
As has been discussed on this blog many times before, there’s a known sweet spot for cars, when the tech had reached its apogee, mid 90s to early 2000s.
In keeping with this, I have an ’82 Chevy and love it, but if I’m not doing truck stuff I much prefer the ’95 explorer or the 2001 Jeep.
Forgot to add that clearance over the ground is also important. Some of us in the country are on potholed paths just as often as pavement.
I would buy a basic truck no bs I hate the crap add-on stuff needing to get a truck at some point soon not sure what to get hate all the new stuff going to sell my old 4×4 if anyone is looking for a sweet old 4×4 I’ll link it don’t need multiple cars unfortunately.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/205964870207
Oh, man! Just the thought of a simple analog, quality car! I mean, my vehicles are 25 years old and I wouldn’t make an even trade of even one of them for a brand new vehicle of any kind; But they’re still not as simple and honest as an ’80 anything.
I still remember driving my uncle’s ’86 Accordion. What a sweet car that was! Solidly built, for a small car; and it felt like a real car. You still got ample road feel, and no BS; Comfortable, but not isolating. Sign me up for a mid 70’s Ford F250! (I should’ve been more diligent to seriously pursue one when they were still cheap!).
Do I want one? Most certainly. There was a blue one in cherry condition being sold near my dad’s house for $10k. Could I swing that, and if I did, could I find replacement parts if necessary? That’s another matter.
Sad part is that a 40-year-old economy car is selling for $10-13k. You know you could buy the same car in the late 90s for probably $1-2k, because then it was just an old car. You could find a not-so-cherry condition version for $500.
One of the few cars I bought new was a ‘91 Honda Civic; got about 90k miles before it lost the battle of rusting out. Forget what I paid but was below $10,000. Would buy it again in a heartbeat if it was still available.
Happy New Year all!
I wish we could order a “back catalog” of vehicles from manufacturers. I would love to own a slightly modernized 2001 Honda Civic SI or Championship White 1998 Acura Integra Type R.
I would drive these things until I die cause why need anything else? If I crash it I just go buy another new one without the fear of being forced into some bloated overweight POS.
Like others have mentioned, the late 80s to early 2000s Hondas were EXCELLENT cars.
Enough technology to be crazy reliable and easy to live with but not yet be burdensome or complex.
Maybe someday Honda or Toyota will get it and just put those cars back into production. Even with updated “compliance” engines they’d sell like crazy. I had an early 90s Toyota pickup and loved it, but the things they had to do to meet emissions were a mess in the 22RE.
I had an 1983 hatchback a lot like the one here. Grey with rectangular headlights instead of round but otherwise basically the same thing.
They didn’t all have gauges. Mine had a speedo, fuel and temp because it was the lower trim DX. The GL trim got the upgraded dashboard.
Mine was the 1500 and it had a cat, at least on my 49-state (so I assume it did in California, too) in 1983. The lower base 1300 engine didn’t need a catalytic converter but it also only made 55 HP. The 1300 also still ran on leaded gas. The 1500 was unleaded only due to the cat.
We called it The Rollerskate. It was a good little car. We drove that sucker across the country one time from Colorado to Florida. That was miserable since mine did not have A/C but since dad had air cooled VWs as a kid I was used to it.
That CVCC was love-hate. It had a secondary aux lean charge pre-combustion path with a valve and a spaghetti of vacuum hoses to work. That (and a lot of rust) is what took mine off the road, when the CVCC valve failed the engine dumped oil into the combustion chamber and that’s all she wrote.
So say what you will I’ll take EFI any day over a hobbled carb and hacked carb when talking utility or practicality. The engine they came up with to replace the CVCC in 4th gen (starting in 1988) Civics (and some Acuras), the D1x series were outstanding engines that they used until 2005 when the 8th gen Civic got new engines.
It’s worth noting that CVCC wasn’t originally a reaction to any laws. Honda started an internal research group in 1965 to investigate lowering air pollution, which was getting to be a problem in Tokyo. That they were successful with CVCC could suggest that the Congress was following their lead, not the other way.
Ah, fond memories of my wife’s 1977 Accord hatchback. Her mother helped her buy it before we were married. Used, from a dealer; the salesman taught my wife how to drive the 5-speed manual in the parking lot.
Shifted and ran smooth as silk, stopped straight, crisp and tight steering (unlike my 1970 F100!), and easily got 30+ mpg. Replaced the points, rotor, and distributor cap when needed, but never touched the carburetor. Sealed beam headlights never yellowed, and cost only a few dollars to replace. I added an aftermarket cruise control.
Not a tire burner, to be sure, but getting away from a light or cruising at highway speed was never a problem.
A red-light-runner totaled it a week before we were set to move to the other side of the country for my new just-out-of-school job. So we had to find a replacement vehicle in a hurry. Alas, that new-to-us Malaise Era ’77 Cutlass Supreme Brougham burned 17 quarts of oil on the way to Arizona. But the seats were comfortable.
Looking at the Craigslist ad the hardest repair might be that the driver’s seat looking worn. From what friends have told me who owned them back in the day; the first couple generations of Civics rusted out in just a few years which is why nice ones are found in the South and not in the North.
As for owning one myself my attitude is if I can fit comfortably into it and without excessive blind spots I probably would consider buying one. But I suspect some parts will be harder to find then others but that’s true for all old cars.
Happy New Year Everybody!
Hi Landru,
Yup!
Any upholstery shop could recover the Honda’s seats. Also easy to install new seats of your choice; just adapt the seat tracks and bolt ’em in! This latter attribute – being able to just bolt-on parts – was one of the truly great things about the cars of the past.
The hardest part of changing the seats will be getting them to match the rest of the upholstery of course. Back when I was young and had lots of hair we used to pull out the bench seats and crudely install bucket seats in their place. Definitely crudely done but we were young and the cars were old and to be honest since they were never crashed, at least when we owned them, it was never a problem…
Seriously, Landru? You’re worried about upholstery match in a 46 year old car? What? You gonna take it to Monterey and try for a 100 point restoration to win Best of Show?
I’d hope it a few fries under the seat from In and Out…
I’m half tempted to go out to LA to GET this little gem!
‘Would you pay $11k more for that?’ — eric
Hell no. Because the 1980 Civic has features I do want, such as a 5-speed manual. While the 2026 model has features I won’t accept at any price, such as its CVT, douchescreen, and telemetry. That’s poison dogshit, son.
New year, new ethos:
‘The Lamp Club is part of a growing ecosystem of neo-Luddite groups across the country that encourage people to transform their relationship to technology. Other groups include the Luddite Club, APPstinence and Breaking the (G)Loom. There are now more than two dozen Luddite Clubs in North America.
‘The group marched down the stairs at the south end of [High Line] park before doubling back up Washington Street and stopping in front of a Tesla storefront. They began a chant: “We will free the iPad babies, even if it gives us rabies.”
‘The protest ended with a rally outside the sprawling Apple store in the Meatpacking District. A mock trial was held for an iPhone and an iPad; both were found guilty and a masked executioner smashed them to pieces. “The people in your phone aren’t real,” Ms. McVorran said.’ — NYT
https://archive.ph/lbSnS#selection-1383.107-1383.166
Talk about a dream job! I’d like to start with busting phones, then work my way up to sledgehammering EeeVees and torching their baaaaaaatteries. Our tribe is called the Lo-Teks. No phone, no problem! 🙂
I think the “neo-Luddite” movement is a bit off. People don’t “hate” new technology, per se, but, they object to contrived complexity for job security, increased profits and GovCo compliance without any real-world benefit. Improved technology is great if it simplifies and makes life better. But, this constant drive to add technology where it isn’t needed or wanted.
Happy New Year, btw.
Agree completely. The tech add-on’s don’t improve or simplify anything. Higher complexity = lower margin for error for a system to work.
Happy New Year to the EP online family.
As a Lo-Tek, will you be getting the surgically implanted canine fighting teeth? Haven’t read William Gibson in a long time but he was a pretty good prophet.