Little Blue Civic -original post date 3/24/2013

 

 

Today's car... Or rather, last night's. My parents had been in town for the week to watch my sister's kids while she was in DC collecting her American Institute of Architects Young Architect of the Year award (yay, Lissy!)... Anyway, the parents left town with the keys to the the SUV that was parked blocking the garage stall where my Mustang is parked; rendering both vehicles unmovable -Circumstances that were discovered late Saturday night.

I borrowed the car pictured here to make the late night jaunt to the halfway point between my parents' place and mine to meet up with them and retrieve the keys to the SUV.

So, what do we have here? A late 90's model Honda Civic sedan with a 1.6L 4 cylinder engine that provides 106 HP, put to use via a springy little 5 speed manual gearbox for put-putting around.
This era of Hondas are oft stolen, as is this one in particular (fortunately, the manual shifting has ensured the thieves never make it very far before abandoning it).
As car thieving goes, these Hondas are beginner level. So much so that only the most inept amateur car thief even needs to break the window for entry (a bit of prying with a screwdriver can slip the glass from its channel to be pushed down into the door for entry. One also doesn't need a key.. But it wouldn't hurt... Not the very key the car came with, of course, but just about any Honda key stands a decent statistical chance of unlocking and even starting the car due to a very unsophisticated tumbler system. Of course, screwdrivers are even more plentiful than Honda keys, and when one couples a flat head screwdriver with a hammer, one can employ the "whack n' twist" method on the ignition (works pretty much just like it sounds)... Well, this wasn't meant to be a Honda stealing tutorial, so I'll move on.
This Honda is car of the day because it saved me from a dumb situation. While I wouldn't call the driving experience exhilarating, at least the manual transmission made it more interesting than it would have been otherwise. It also kept me amused with its little collection of CDs. Patsy Cline on the way down was a hoot, and a little Edith Piaf followed by Prince on the way back made for some fun sing-alongs... And if it's just dark enough and you're able to overlook an awful lot of inconsistencies, you can even imagine that you're cruising along in a Little Red Corvette while wearing a Raspberry Beret as you blast Prince through the stereo.
Little blue Civic, here's to you!