Photography by Travis Ingram
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Why an original CRX? Because if you’d asked me what car I wanted for my 16th birthday, it probably would have been a new CRX.
The first car I drove stick on–ignoring an escapade in the Australian outback with an FJ45—was an ’87 CRX Si. The twin-engine CRX that was in Car and Driver pushed my buttons in a big way, and I still have the issue with that car on the cover.
I’ve always had a thing for light, nimble cars as you can tell from my profession, and the CRX was the embodiment of that. I’ve just always liked their looks, their stubby stance and their feel.
One of the members of the GRM forum had one that was fanning the embers of my desire, and things got out of control. Driving it is very much like driving my classic Mini but with the manners and reliability of an ’80s Honda. It’s got that same eager feel but requires no masochism either while driving or working on it.
I found this one on Craigslist with a minimum of effort–just got very lucky. I’d been looking at a local one that needed a lot of restoration, and when I checked out my options, I found my car in Salt Lake City.
It was a first-year Si–a 1985–which is exactly what I wanted: those recessed headlights, contrasting lower panels and no carburetor. Loaded up the trailer and went to get it. It had just been driven to Utah from Atlanta. This was in August 2014. This would make a terrible buyer’s guide, because I got very lucky. It cost me a whole $2800.
It was this nice. It’s a proper-driven survivor, not a restored car or an ultra-low-mileage example. Just a car that got driven, repaired properly when needed and not abused.
[Project Car: 1988 Honda CRX HF]
These aren’t really collector cars, so it’s just a used car in a lot of ways. It’s needed some fettling, as you’d expect with any used car: a new radiator, a rebuilt alternator, some new shock bushings, and I recently replaced the brake master cylinder and booster–just stuff you do with older cars. I also found a replacement Honda emblem for the nose.
The biggest problem has been the sunroof. There’s a lifter mechanism that I need to change out, but that requires a large amount of disassembly of the interior. The old plastic fasteners don’t like that, so I’ve been putting it off.
Other than maintenance, I haven’t changed the car much. The wheels came about because it’s very hard to find rubber in the original 13-inch size.
These particular wheels came off that local car I’d been looking at. They’re kind of funny because the CRX community worships a specific Japanese wheel, and the Turbos are associated with Golfs. So I’m crossing the streams there, but I have no regrets. The 15s gave me access to a lot of good tire options, which was the plan.
I also installed a set of louvers from that same parts car, because who doesn’t love louvers? And in our environment, they’re actually quite nice to have.
I also adjusted the ride height. I built a spacer for the rear springs to lift the rear and adjusted the front torsion bars, which improved the ride nicely.
The reality is that it’s not an easy car to restore. There’s almost zero support for them, because it was the next generation that really took off, leaving the torsion bar cars orphaned. There are only one or two shops that are trying to bring parts back, and one of them focuses more on race bits.
The front fenders and grille are made of plastic, and they tend to crack over time. Replacement fiberglass panels are only sporadically available. The blue interior parts are simply NLA. Available shocks are either inexpensive generic inserts or high-dollar coil-overs.
Add to that the fact the car was cheap, so a very large number of them were driven by young drivers and suffered a lot of attrition.
An uncommon sight then and now: a rather stock CRX Si, down to the single-cam, non-VTEC engine.
They’re still nice: The nicest one in the world will cost you less than a 40,000-mile NA Miata. The ones that are still around seem to be perpetually in the middle of a motor swap and/or rusty. There are a couple of standouts out there, but they’re scarce.
Luckily, mine is pretty solid. The car does get a lot of appreciative attention. People remember them (and often have an ownership story that ends with “until I was hit by a truck”) and like seeing it.
I built two different 1st gen CRX's for Improved Touring earlier in my life. The first one I drove as a street car for a year before converting it to a race car. These cars will always reside at or near the top of my favorite car list. Light, nimble and aesthetically perfect. If I were building a fun car based on one of these I would drop a 1st gen Integra 1.6L DOHC motor in it.
If this reads as a bit of a conversation between myself and David Wallens, well, that's basically what it is :) The photo shoot was done about 5 years ago, which is why there's reference to louvers that aren't exactly visible.
Such a cool little vehicle. Too bad we'll never see its like again.
I test drove an HF variant of the 1st gen and even the fuel miser version was fun.
I owned two 2nd gens and they are still one of my all-time favorites.
When the Fast and Furious ricer phase was big around here, it seemed like CRX were always some of the worst offenders. Crazy loud exhausts, revving at everything getting cruises and shows shut down. Years later most of my friends still dont much care for the cars of the time. Lots of hate for stuff like 90s civics, integras and RSXs, but the early CRX is still pretty much unanimously loved. This is largely a group of domestic guys who will tell you 400whp in a 3200 pound car is slow, and dont understand th virtues of the miata, but every time we see a CRX its always followed by 15 minutes of "man did you see that CRX? You never see clean ones anymore", "I wish I could find one", "Ive always wanted one of those" and "those things are so cool." That always said alot about these cars to me.
Unfortunately like someone else said I dont think we will see the likes of these again. Id love a mechanically simple, small, lightweight,, pretty, fuel miser that has a little performance bent.
In reply to Opti :
Wasn't it mostly the second-gen that got the F&F treatment? That was the chassis that got all the love from the tooners. The first gen was forgotten by a lot of people as soon as the jellybean showed up.
I can confirm that "you never see clean ones any more, COOL" is very much the common reaction.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Yes around here it was mostly 2nd generations causing all the havoc. The first and second generations are loved though.
Keith Tanner said:
I love this thread so much
Best friend had a non Si with the 1.5 carb'd engine in high school. This was late 90s. We loved it. Such a blast even without the hot engine. We used to fit four people in it by having them squish in, lying flat in the back. Until he ran out of luck and crashed it into a curb. No ABS and 17 year old driver is a BAD combo.
Before he could earn the money to get it fixed, a guy crashed into it when it was parked outside our high school. He took the insurance money and bought a 240sx.
Glad you're enjoying one of the last ones left!
Here's the full ownership build diary for those who don't know it already.
Thanks for the build link! Brings back many memories.
The cracking plastic body parts was such a pain, even back in the early 90's when they weren't that old. Another weakness, though unlikely to be discovered on a street car was the panhard rod body mount would crack or break completely.
My second CRX. Technically third - the second was a parts car. As were the fourth and fifth. 
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