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| Honda Civic Gallery |
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Not even Honda would argue that the Civic has ever been a fashion leader. For over three decades, it has majored on space and sensibility, thriving in a corner of the market for inoffensive, durable small family cars. The earliest Civic, built in 1972 in the days of petrol shortages and a consumer desire for more economical motoring, was a tiny tin dumpling, barely bigger than a Mini. It had a hatchback tailgate and from the beginning, just two doors. It wasn't until the mid-'80s that it grew a boot, lost its cute curves and started conforming to convention. That model of practicality and safe styling evolved steadily into the '90s and early '00s, during which time Honda sold millions of them worldwide. Well, it's 2005, and the Civic's reputation for anodyne design is about to be turned on its head. In fact, the Civic has just gone sci-fi.
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| Looks carried over from concept shown in Geneva |
One look at the Civic Mk8 tells you it's wildly different from what's come before, and a completely different style proposition than anything in the class. Goodbye tall, nondescript van-a-like; hello streamlined, sporty styled-in-the-wind droplet. What you see here is almost identical to the orange concept car which spun on its dais at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, looking like a giant shiny carrot. It retains the show car's clear perspex 'grille' that tricks you into thinking it's one long headlight, the rear door handles that hide next to the rear glass, the twin triangular exhaust 'pipes', the podgy bottom with its enormous D-pillar, and the wheels-at-each-corner stance. Even elements of the show car's futuristic interior make it into production, such as the digital fascia display and the way the controls are all angled toward the driver. Most importantly, Honda says, the new shape provokes an instant, emotional reaction - whether you like the shape or not. It's a risky game-plan in a sector where cars are purchased by habitual buyers, and led by the new toned-down Focus and conformist VW Golf.
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| Twin triangular exhausts look swish |
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In an age when car manufacturers tend to add bulk to ever new generation of their cars, tacking on bigger front overhangs in the name of pedestrian safety and blowing up headlamps to cartoon-like proportions, it's refreshing that this new Civic is actually 35mm shorter and lower than its forebear, and nods to the original Civic hatchback without coming across all retro. Still, the new Civic's almost 50mm longer than a Golf, without losing its slim-line proportions.
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