The best selling car of all time is the Toyota Corolla, at 50 million sales and counting. However, even that figure is dwarfed by the Honda Cub moped, with more than 120 million made. Why are we mentioning that here? Because Honda is more than just a car company. From lawnmowers to jet aircraft, it prides itself on innovative engineering.
Looking back at the history of Honda cars, two things stand out (from an enthusiast’s perspective, at least). The first is the original 1989 NSX, which proved supercars could be reliable and easy to drive, and gave Ferrari a bloody nose in the process. The second is the Type R sub-brand, which started with the exotic NSX-R, then quickly filtered down to the Integra, Accord and a long line of Civic hatchbacks.
The current Civic Type R may be the last with a petrol engine. It’s expensive, uncompromising on the road and only imported to the UK in limited numbers, yet it’s possibly the best hot hatch you can buy. Ti contributor Andrew English described it as ‘pretty awesome’ and awarded it 9/10 in his review (see below). Join the queue if you can.
Civic Type R aside, Honda’s current range of cars looks depressingly dull; even the clever electric Honda e is being phased out. However, Honda has surprised us many times in the past and may do so again.
