Here’s a nice Honda Civic sedan with black Beijing license plates. I met it in the far east of Beijing in the hot summer of 2016. The good Honda was in fine shape, painted white with darkened windows and sporty six-spoke alloy wheels.
Honda launched the sixth-generation Civic in 1995. Model variants included the four-door sedan, a five-door hatchback, a five-door fastback, and a two-door coupe. The sedan’s model code was EK. Honda produced it from 1995 until 2000, with a facelift in 1998. The car in the photos is a pre-facelift example.
The interior didn’t look as nice as the exterior. The cabin is dirty and rather worn out. The owner added Winnie-the-Pooh seat covers and a modern radio-CD player. A lucky charm hangs from the mirror.
Honda offered various engines in the Civic sedan. Sadly, it had no engine badges, so I can’t be sure what’s under the hood here. The most common engine for the Honda Civic was a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder with 127 hp. Hoda coupled this engine to a 5-speed manual or, as in this car, a 4-speed automatic.
Honda did not officially sell the sixth-generation Honda Civic in China. However, quite some cars arrived via the black-plate scheme, barter deals, diplomatic channels, and misty assembly in Guangdong.
Black plates
Chinese authorities issued the famous black license plates to foreign-owned companies from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. These companies could either buy a car locally or import one, without restrictions on quantity, price, or engine type. The numbering started at 京A·00001 and increased sequentially, meaning lower numbers indicate older vehicles. Any black plate beginning with 京A·0 or 京A·1 is considered ultra-rare. This Honda is one of those rare ones, with 京A·19801.