Honda Civic diesel spotted in Detroit area
A European-spec Honda Civic hatchback has been spotted roaming the streets of the the Detroit suburbs wearing a manufacturer license plate. What makes this particular sighting particularly interesting is the i-CTDi badge on the back. This appears to be a Civic with the 2.2L diesel that's currently offered in Europe. While it's certainly possible that this a mule being tested with the fifty-state legal diesel that's coming to the US market in 2009, it's unlikely. Honda R&D is based out of the company's US base near Columbus, OH and if they were testing on the street it would probably be in a US spec body with no special badging.
Prototype Hondas are rarely seen in the Detroit area. This one probably belongs to one of the domestic car makers who regularly procure foreign models and bring them over for benchmarking purposes. It's not at all unusual to find vehicles like this one being driven around with "M" plates.
[Source: Jalopnik]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Don 2:37PM (9/07/2007)
What I wouldn't give for an actual Civic hatchback again.
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Nicholas Gray 3:21PM (9/07/2007)
I wish I could have one of there
http://tccondomap.com
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Guenther 7:07AM (9/10/2007)
Honda has not peeped with regards to a Civic diesel, only an Accord. I know Bosch in Farmington Hills has maintained several Euro-market diesel mid-size cars, Including a 535D and an Accord diesel (which is our Acura TSX)
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RockStoneSteel 5:55PM (9/10/2007)
I concur with blogger "Don" in the first comment. I'd love to have another Civic similar to my '89 Civic hatchback (2 door). The current Civic looks like a hatch/liftback, but it is merely a short trunk. Unfortunately, similar case with the Accord.
The body style of the '89s was timeless with a great stance, drive train and suspension. Unfortunately, Honda is starting to get cheap by offering the lame torsion beam suspensions on it's Civic hatchbacks overseas (non US) and on the Fit models. I'm slowly losing respect for Honda.
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SpinDaddy 10:18AM (9/11/2007)
Ok so the real question is how can i buy it from whomever?
Better yet is it possible to get one grey market like was done in the eighties w/ various euro-trash exotics by the gold chain set?
I seem to remember that there was some type of one-per-person one time exemption from smog, safety regs etc.? What about getting one into canada or mexico then driving it across border?
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