Over the past handful of years I've been happy to drive a plethora of vehicles. Ranging from autos as simple as a Porsche Cayman with no air conditioning — and nylon pulls to open the door, it was pretty bare bones — to cars like the tricked out Audi A8 with a bunch of different types of seat massage settings, I've had it all.
There's been one theme I've noticed though: I really tend to adore simple cars.
Give me manual cloth seats, a stripped out interior and switches and knobs to adjust the HVAC controls. The less fancy, the better. Bonus points if you can find a modern vehicle with "wind me down" windows.
I don't appear to be alone, either. A recent episode of Petrolicious followed Christopher Hoffman and his tale of his 1987 Honda Civic CRX Si, which is a highly desirable ride these days. And, for good reason.
Though it only produced 91 horsepower out of the box, it only weighs 1,900 pounds. And according to Hoffman he can count on one hand how many repairs he's had to have made.
That's because it's so damn simple not to mention this was when Honda was in its prime.
Take a look at Chris' story below and weigh in below — are SIMPLE cars simply better?
At the young age of fourteen, Christopher Hoffman helped convince his mother to buy a '77 Honda Civic wagon. That was just a small, first step in what would become a life-long infatuation with Hondas.
They went on to take over their local Honda club (they wanted the club to include more driving events) and ten years later, Christopher bought his first new car ever, this 1987 Honda Civic CRX Si. He fell in love with the car on the drive home and vowed to keep it forever. And although he's owned the car for 27 years now, it's never broken down and Christopher can count on one hand how many repairs he's had to make (two of them are bulb replacements, it is a Honda after all).
Being a Honda, the CRX is also blessed with a very light, short shift that Christopher loves in addition to its sound and how freely the 1.5L four-cylinder revs. It may only have 91hp but in car that weighs about 1900 pounds, it's enough to leave Christopher smiling through the twisties.