1976 Honda Civic 1.2 from North America

Summary:

Excellent, considering the junk put out in the 70"s

Faults:

Transmission cable needed constant adjustment/repair.

CV joints went frequently.

Speedo cable broke.

General Comments:

It was a great car to drive, handling was awesome and sufficient power, and easy on fuel.

Engine ran perfectly until I sold it (big mistake, should have forked over the cash to keep it on the road).

Great at getting through snow and mud in Canadian winters.

I would love to buy one if I could find one in decent condition.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st April, 2011

1st Apr 2011, 18:14

I hated my 83 Civic. It was my first car when I graduated high school way back in 1992. I had no one to teach me to drive stick, so I had a transmission called the Hondamatic. It should have been called the Hondanightmare. A shiftable automatic, it had three three forward gears. 1st, 2nd, and overdrive. It was beyond gutless.

I know it was a small car, but it was so harrowing to drive. You just floored it and prayed you would make it through the intersection.

It hated winter. You could plug it in, but it never started. I was late and I missed a lot of classes and appointments because of that car. I've been turned off by Honda ever since. Meanwhile, my friend's Chevette fired up no matter how cold it was.

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1976 Honda Civic Hondamatic 1.2 from North America

Summary:

Best bang for the dollar!

Faults:

When I bought the car the head gasket was blown (@ 27 000 miles), which apparently is a common problem.

Carburetor problems cause the engine to run too rich.

The strut spring support let go and strut had to be replaced.

General Comments:

I bought the car for $100, spent $600 to put it on the road, and am about to start modifying it into a street cruiser by installing a 1.8 litre engine out of a mid 80's Honda Prelude. I'm going to have fun embarrassing all of those 5.0 Mustang owners in town.

The car is poor on the highway with the Hondamatic transmission, but it's an awesome car for in town and in the winter it sticks to the roads like glue.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th October, 2001

4th May 2004, 22:32

I had one of those. Biggest piece of junk I ever owned. Head gasket blew. Had terrible problems with the carburetor. If it looked like rain or if the temperature dropped below 50 degrees, the thing wouldn't start. The 2-speed Hondamatic had too much vibration, which caused all the engine driven accessory (alternator, a/c compressor) bolts to loosen. Good luck.

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1976 Honda Civic 1.2 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Very cheap, unexpectedly fun

Faults:

The factory 4 speed blew apart (my fault)

General age problems (e.g rust)

Started to use a bit of oil.

General Comments:

Definitely a Japanese Mini, but far better than a mini.

The 1.2 is surprisingly quick and the whole car took a good thrashing with only a gearbox eventually giving up.

Handled really well, never managed to spin it out with oversteer.

Interior was a bit lacking as with most car of its time, not exactly inviting on a cold morning.

Parts are really cheap.

Never had an engine problem that a tune up didn't fix.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th June, 2001

1976 Honda Civic Station Wagon 1.5 from North America

Summary:

The best $5 I ever spent

Faults:

Since I've had it I have replaced a battery terminal, radiator, the turn signal flasher canister, and a rear driver's brake cylinder.

I also have had to clean and adjust all three jets in the carb and the gas pedal linkage, I'm about to do a CV joint.

General Comments:

I've had it for a month and it is a very good little car, with a little more love and small adjustment it will be very reliable. I'm 16 and this is my first street legal car and I would recommend it to anyone, it has been really inexpensive, I paid $5 for it and have invested $35 in parts. I've driven it a lot and it is also very inexpensive to run.

P.S.

It also does really well off-roading too, even though the yellow doesn't let the dirt show up as well as I would like it to!!!!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th October, 2000

12th Jun 2002, 14:31

I also am sixteen and own a 1976 Honda civic c.v.c.c. 1500cc, but it is not a station wagon. I Would like to say that with very little money these cars can rock. I Know that yellow isn't the best color that these cars could be painted, but it makes it look like a big M@M. Thanks.

4th Jul 2007, 09:41

"It also does really well off-roading too"

I see this car won't be around much longer.

3rd Aug 2007, 19:03

Yep, the 1976 Honda is a honey. My mom loved her CVCC and called her the "Ladybug." She even had my dad paint it a deep orange, and was looking for him to add the black spots (which he didn't). Of course, now the orange is a "hot" color!

Sadly, Mom is no longer able to drive it, so it sits.

Can't really see just letting it go for "$5," since it has a newly-rebuilt engine, etc., but I hope to find someone who will love it as much as she did, kinda like these young ladies do theirs!

And the gas mileage MUST be better than an SUV! ; D.

15th Apr 2009, 13:06

I had a yellow 1976 Honda Civic back in 1987 when I was 16 as my first car. It was a great car, and at that time had 135,000 miles on it. I sold it for the same amount I paid for it at that time, $650, to a local guy and I saw it around town every now and then. What a car. Now I own a 1996 Honda Accord with 174,000 miles on it. It will probably run forever too.