1 Jan 1984
These owed nothing to their conservative predecessors.
A design revolution spawned the futuristic “bread van” three-door Civic, as well as the bizarre five-door Shuttle wagon (a “tall boy” design beating the similar Renault Scenic by a dozen years), along with a more sober four-door Civic sedan – the first such variant to be sold locally.
All featured a spritely new 63kW 1.5L engine as well as a modern, simple, spacious and glassy cabin.
There were two transmission choices - a five-speed manual or improved three-speed Hondamatic.
Heavy price increases saw the Civic III march upmarket, with a spartan base Civic joining the three-door GL during 1985.
In early ’87 a facelift cleaned up the front and rear styling, added more extras, and saw the full four-speed automatic transmission usurp the quirky Hondamatic unit, while Honda quietly dropped the slow-selling Shuttle.
100 Civic Grand Prix limited editions were sold from late ’85.
