Buy This 32,000-Mile 1986 Honda Civic, And You'll Never Want Again

One of these days, the era of giant trucks and SUVs is going to be over. Whether that will happen due to stricter regulations, nuclear war or the heat death of the planet likely depends, at least in part, on who wins the election in November. Regardless of how it goes down, eventually, small, simple cars are going to become hot collector’s items. So you may see this 1986 Honda Civic on Cars & Bids as a surprisingly clean old car now, but if you buy it and hold onto it, given enough time, you’ll be rich!

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Listen, I am not a financial advisor, this is not financial advice and I am not qualified to talk about investments in any capacity. That said, you’re basically asking for it if you really make your financial decisions based on the whims of a guy who not too long ago was writing about EV butt plugs.

Photo: Cars & Bids

The car, on the other hand, kicks ass. Sure, it’s old, doesn’t even come close to meeting modern safety requirements and offers a features list that more or less stops at “manual windows.” Plus, it was only rated at 46 mpg combined from the factory, so it’s not going to blow the Corolla Hybrid’s fuel economy out of the water. Oh, and there isn’t even a radio antenna, much less a radio.

And yet, just think how happy you’d be driving a simple, basic economy car with a good, old-fashioned four-speed manual transmission. There aren’t any touchscreens to distract you, everything you pay for comes with and stays with the car, nothing requires a subscription and you’ve still got plenty of room in the back for your stuff. Luxuries? Who needs them?

Photo: Cars & Bids

Oh, and have I mentioned that this car appears to be in absolutely outstanding condition? It’s almost 40 years old — wait, shit, that means I’m almost 40, too — and yet shows almost no signs it has more than 30,000 miles on the odometer. And you can’t forget about how perfectly the Avignon Blue Metallic paint goes with the blue interior. Remind me again why color-matched cars went away? Also, no, getting a car that only comes with a black or gray interior painted black or gray doesn’t count. I said color-matched, not grayscale-matched.

Is this a car you’re going to want to drive every day? Probably not. At the same time, if you have the space and the ability to take care of and maintain it, buying a nearly 40-year-old Civic will make you happy, and that’s all that matters. Well, that and absolutely never getting into a crash ever again. Not even once as a treat.

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