In the mid-1980s, Japanese 4WD wagons were all the rage. Toyota had one, Nisan had one (unfortunately, the Stanza all-purpose wagon), and Subaru was only beginning the near instant reign on the entire Japanese wagon front. By 1990, the Civic wagovan entered its first facelift--ironically at its last year for US market. The whole car was smoothed out, and made somewhat more modern. I digress, though; I actually like the first generation pre-facelift Civic Wagovan worlds more than this, though this isn't horrible. Gone were the recessed headlights, the rather angular lines and staunch Japanese-ness that fit the whole car. While the new one is arguably styled "better", it lost the edge it had. It went from being quirkycool to being.. well..bland, really.
This isn't the coolest thing to come out of Japan-- wasn't when it was new, and it hardly has a cult following outside of the Honda scene, which makes decent examples a tad hard to come by. While this Wagovan (Wagon on our shores) is not quite pristine, it's likely the best the rustbelt has to offer. The right side headlight lense is gone, and the "Whiptastic Handling" sticker probably isn't quite stock, but it suits this car's charm quite well. I'd like it more on an older model, though.
Where this car doe shine though, is the fact that, unlike most older Hondas-- hell, Hondas in general, this old boy has escaped the ricer phase that many go through. Nowhere near this guy are there any form of bodykit, and not a whiff of a fart can. Good. While it may be especially rare, it's too cool to butcher with any of those boy-racer mods, and I think the owner knows that. He takes care of his old Honder the best he can--and it shows.
I only wish there were more of these to go around, because I like them more than the hatchback version. They should be kept scot-free--and rice-free for that matter. It's not everyday a clean Civic pops up, much less a Wagovan.
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