1977 Honda Civic - Reader Ride

By: Damien Nicoletas

Date: 03.02.2017

Damien's '77 Honda Civic is eccentric, nostalgic and unashamedly different

It all started with my parents, they loved their old-school cars. My mum has always loved coupes, she’s had everything from a Datsun 180B to a Torana XU1 and a SLR5000. My dad was always into bigger, four-door muscle cars and stuff. So I guess cars are in my blood.

I’ve never really cared a lot about restoring cars to concours condition, or the opposite of building cars to their maximum performance. I like cars that represent a particular era or culture, that’s why I try to use period-correct parts wherever I can.

Unfortunately with the rise of the internet, I think the car scene is changing for the worse; mainly because people are building cars to appeal to other’s cookie-cutter idea of how to restore or modify a car, rather than creating what they want themselves.

That’s the concept behind my car club JNC Otaku, which translates to Japanese Nostalgic Car Obsessed. The guys in the club truly are obsessed with their cars, and they have to be. It requires a lot of time, effort and dedication to own and maintain a classic Japanese car, and if you’re going to put in the hard-yards, why not build it the way you want to.

I’m sure some people see my Civic and shake their head, and I get it, but it reflects who I am and it’s the product of a lot of hard work, so I love it.

The engine has been rebuilt with a lumpier cam. I’ve installed a full exhaust, added a carburettor from a Ford Escort and added a set of rare JDM Advan racing wheels which I sourced from Japan. There’s lots of little touches around the car, but it’s not highly-modified by any means. My arse-dyno is telling me about 120hp, but I’d like to up that number a little in the near future.

Valuation guide:

Good original examples range into the $6k-plus zone.

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