Quick Look: Hot Wheels 1990 Honda Civic HF and 1985 Honda CRX

Here's a look a two recent variations of the latest Honda's from Hot Wheels, both interestingly enough in the same metallic blue colors, with slight differences of course.

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Civic in Blue

As mentioned earlier this year, the 1990 Honda Civic HF Hatchback is one of two nicest Japanese vehicles introduced in the 2014 Hot Wheels line.  The bright red hatch looks just like any 1990 Civic Hatch, with the only custom looks is flared fenders for the wider tires, large rear exhaust tip, and DOHC VTEC on the sides revealing this is the JDM-only SiR featuring the famed 2.0L VTEC DOHC I-4 that would be famed by many Honda enthusiast (and future high-performance Honda's).  The other sweet spot is the rear independent suspension that is so compact it barely interferes with the roomy interior in a right-hand setup.  After the awesome red setup, the second color is a teal blue very similar to a color Honda offered on their vehicles in the early-1990's, and looks sharp too!  Also note the addition of a red stripe inside of the side door trim decals.

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and the CRX?

After a dismal 2012 introduction in red, chrome, ummm ick! release in the Hot Ones series, this CRX finally redeems itself in the 2014 Cool Classics line in a spectrafrost blue with (finally) gray lower plastic trim and those 5-spoke wheels that look great on this casting, and the interior finally gets rid of the chrome to show the level of detail i'm about to explain in a bit.  The CRX was more geared as a Civic hatch with two less seats and smaller engines for high fuel economy numbers, in which 50 MPG can be reached in an base HF trim with little features (and A/C!).  However, enthusiast seen it as a performance opportunity:  All it needs is a more powerful engine swamp and Voila! A car ready for the track.  The second-generation CRX looked more like the Civic and shared the same parts including the four-wheel independent suspension, prompting a change of course to the Del Sol targa in the next generation of the Civic.

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The styling of the Hot Wheels version is nicely done with exaggerated fenders, separate headlights and front grille (part of the window tool), large grille opening below with flow-through ventilation, and the rear taillights with a few unique changes:  the vented rear window below the spoiler and the dual exhaust.  The metal base shows nothing inbetween the axles and the front hood has a hole in it:  Where's the engine?  Look in the rear hatch and there it is, a larger SOHC I-4 from Honda (note the spark plug holes) oddly turned longitudional even for an engine used to the transverse layout (makes me wonder how the transmission connects to the differential to the rear wheels?).  As for where the engine came from it could be from either a larger SOHC from the 1990 Civic's or the ones from the 1998-2002 Accord 4-cylinder models.  Either way it makes definitely much more than the standard CRX motors could muster.  Handing, though, seems tricky with an engine hanging out the rear of a lightweight car, giving it possible handing performances similar to a rear-wheel drive Porsche 911.  Inside the interior gets a racing treatment with supportive seats and a 5-point belt harness and additional auxiliary gauges in the center of the dash.  Thumbs down to the steering wheel coming up from the floor instead of the dash.

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It's these two Honda's that explain why Honda enthusiast love Honda's!