For the 1984 through 1991 model years, the American Honda Motor Company sold two generations of the Honda CRX in the United States. Then Soichiro Honda died in the summer of 1991, around the same time as the bursting of the Japanese Price Asset Bubble, and the happy little two-seat Civic was no longer there to cheer us up. But wait! A replacement showed up for the 1993 model year: the Civic del Sol.
Yes, around the time that the United States was enduring a nasty recession and the seeming collapse of society (which torpedoed George H.W. Bush’s chances of reelection despite his video-game-style ass-kicking of Saddam Hussein in Gulf War I), there was new hope of raised spirits available at your Honda dealership.
Unfortunately, the Civic del Sol (which eventually became just the del Sol) was bigger, heavier, thirstier and generally less endearing than its predecessor. Sales declined with each model year, until the end came in 1997.
This car, found in a Northern California boneyard last summer, was one of the last del Sols sold in the United States. I’m proud to say that I’ve also documented a discarded example of one of the very first Civic del Sols to be imported: a ’93 that must have been on the very first shipload to cross the Pacific.
I apologize to those of you who feel that the del Sol was every bit as good as the CRX; during the 1990s, I owned and daily-drove several 1984-1987 CRXs and loved them dearly (the photo above shows me preparing to load up a junkyard TH350 into my white ’85, circa 1998).
In fact, one of the best cars I’ve ever owned was a Civic hatchback from the same generation as the del Sol (shown here after I completely ruined it by swapping in an Integra GS-R powertrain and aftermarket suspension). That said, I hated the mechanically identical del Sol from the moment I first laid eyes on one (for daring to replace the CRX and its amazing mix of performance and fuel economy, as well as general ugliness) and I still hate the del Sol right now.
I must admit that part of this loathing stems from one of the worst industrial-temp jobs I had during the no-real-jobs-to-be-had-in-California early 1990s: driving brand-new Hondas and Acuras between a storage lot at the Port of Richmond to a railyard a few miles away. I don’t feel like writing this miserable story again, so go read the last two paragraphs of this article if you’re interested.
The del Sol was a fifth-generation Civic under the skin, so it had all the legendary reliability of the breed. This one only managed a disappointing 147,773 miles during its career, which appears to have ended as the result of a crash that bent up much of its body.
I shot these photographs at the Moss Landing Pick-n-Pull, very close to Santa Cruz, during the same June 2024 visit that gave us the famous Lichen This Topaz.
This car is the mid-grade Si model, so it has a VTEC-equipped 1.6-liter SOHC engine rated at 127 horsepower.
Just to make things more exciting at the strict California smog check, the hood from a 1994 car and its incorrect emissions sticker has been swapped onto this car (the build tag and firewall VIN show it’s a 1997 model).
The transmission is the base five-speed manual.
Only 5,603 del Sols were sold as 1997 models, making this one quite a rarity.
The remnants of this shattered headlight are stuffed with dirt from the final crash.
NH-538 is Frost White, one of five colors available on the del Sol in its final American model year.
The targa top was still with the car at the end.
It’s not what you add on to your car that makes it more fun. It’s what you take off.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
1997 Honda del Sol in California wrecking yard.
[Images: The Author]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Source: The Truth About Cars
