Mk3 Civic

These owed nothing to their conservative predecessors.

A design revolution spawned the futuristic “bread van” three-door Civic, as well as the bizarre five-door Shuttle wagon (a “tall boy” design beating the similar Renault Scenic by a dozen years), along with a more sober four-door Civic sedan – the first such variant to be sold locally.

All featured a spritely new 63kW 1.5L engine as well as a modern, simple, spacious and glassy cabin.

There were two transmission choices - a five-speed manual or improved three-speed Hondamatic.

Heavy price increases saw the Civic III march upmarket, with a spartan base Civic joining the three-door GL during 1985.

In early ’87 a facelift cleaned up the front and rear styling, added more extras, and saw the full four-speed automatic transmission usurp the quirky Hondamatic unit, while Honda quietly dropped the slow-selling Shuttle.

100 Civic Grand Prix limited editions were sold from late ’85.