A sixth generation Honda Civic sedan, seen in Beijing in 2016. The little Honda sedan was a bit dusty but otherwise in a great shape, with the bright red paint looking great, and still fitted with the original gray wheel covers.
The 6th generation Honda Civic was made from 1995 until 2000. It was manufactured in many different locations and available in coupe, hatchback, sedan, liftback, wagon, and Aerodeck forms.
The Civic wasn’t made or even sold in China, at least not officially. But there was some unofficial assembly under the infamous Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (more here).
The interior was in a great shape too. The steering wheel cover is also an after market extra, and it seems really thick. The center stack still had the original radio! The beige leather seats are probably not original but a later update. Fitting cars with leather seats, real or faux, is very cheap in China. I had my Cherokee XJ done in real red leather for just around 2400 yuan.
The Civic was available with various petrol and diesel engines. The most common motor was a 1.6 liter four-cylinder petrol unit with, depending on spec and country, about 120 hp and 145 Nm. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, like in this car.
The sixth generation Honda Civic is a rare car in China, so seeing one is always nice, even though it isn’t a very rare car anywhere else. Honda started producing the Civic, the eight generation, in China in 2006 at the Dongfeng-Honda joint venture.