Honda CR-X

Honda CR-X: the featherweight two-seat Civic

The CR-X made its name by weighing almost nothing. It is Honda's small front-drive sporty two-seater, light enough that it barely troubles a weighbridge, and technically a 2+2 in some markets if you count the parcel shelf pretending to be a back seat. One badge covers three quite different cars across roughly fifteen years, so the trick is working out which one you are actually looking at before you hand over the cash.

Second gen SiR (EF8): the one every enthusiast wants

The 1987 to 1991 car is the cult one, and the JDM SiR, chassis code EF8, is the pick of the whole family. It runs the B16A, a 1.6 litre DOHC VTEC four good for somewhere around 160 to 170 PS depending on the exact version, the same screaming VTEC hero engine we cover on the Civic SiR page. VTEC just means the head carries a second, wilder cam profile up high, so the thing wakes up hard past about 6,000 rpm. Drop that motor into a car this light and you get a genuine giant-killer, the sort of thing that hangs off far pricier machinery on a twisty road and then sings its way down the straight.

First gen (AF/AS): the economy sports hero

The original 1983 to 1987 car was sold in Japan as the Ballade Sports CR-X, and it built the legend on cleverness rather than outright grunt. Most were SOHC and frugal, the economy special that could sip fuel all week and still be a laugh on a Sunday. The one to chase is the sportier Si, which in JDM form got the twin-cam ZC engine, roughly 130 to 140 PS in a car that barely troubled the scales at around 800-odd kilos. It is a proper cult economy hero, and clean early ones are getting genuinely hard to find.

Del Sol (EG/EH): the targa-topped follow-up

The CR-X del Sol arrived in 1992 and ran through to about 1998. It is a softer, more open-air take, with a lift-out targa roof panel you stow in the boot, and in some markets the wild TransTop version that folds the roof away electrically at the push of a button. VTEC versions were offered, and the JDM SiR again carries a B16A, so the quick del Sol still has proper Honda pace under the wind-in-your-hair act. Go in knowing it is the cruiser of the family rather than the sharpest tool.

Why buy one

Because featherweight fun never goes out of fashion. A CR-X gives you the honest, revvy feel that heavy modern cars have forgotten, and on the SiR you get that screaming B16A VTEC on top. Cult status keeps the community and the advice flowing, and for now a tidy CR-X still costs a fair bit less than a Civic Type R, so it is one of the more attainable ways into VTEC.

What to check before you buy

Rust is the killer on the older cars, so get underneath and probe the arches, the floors, the sills and the screen surrounds, because a car this age and this thin will hide corrosion until it turns expensive. On anything wearing an SiR badge, verify a genuine B16A car rather than a lesser SOHC model dressed up, since badges get swapped and engines get transplanted all the time. Hunt hard for crash and track abuse, and check whether the original motor is still in there or a later K-swap has gone in. On a del Sol, pay close attention to the targa roof seals and, if fitted, the TransTop mechanism, because both can leak or fail and neither is cheap to put right. A tidy, standard car beats a tarted-up project every time.