The Honda Civic stormed North America in the fuel hungry times of the early 1970's.
The Civic was first sold in North America in 1972, although it was named the 1973 Civic.
The engine was a mere 1.
2 litres and the vehicle was so notorious for early body rust in the first three years, especially on cars that were driven where road salt was used, that safety recalls were issued.
For the 1970's, the Civic was produced as a two door coupe or a three door hatchback.
The 1980's brought the four-door Civic Sedan.
In 1984, the first version of the Civic SI was introduced in Japan and the USA.
In the United States, the SI was in the form of the two-seater CRX.
From 1980 to 1983, Honda offered the ground breaking semi-automatic transmission in the Civics, which was the predecessor of their current automatic transmission.
The Honda Civic was designated a subcompact vehicle from 1973 until 2000.
With the 2001 version, the seventh generation Civic, came the redesignation to the compact car.
The car is in its eighth generation, an era that lasted from 2006 to the current 2011 version.
Sometime in late spring or early summer of2011, the ninth generation Civic will be brought on the market as the 2012 model.
The Honda Civic Coupe and Civic Sedanhave together sold 1.
6 million units in Canada alone since 1973.
2010 marked the 13thyear in a row that the Civic was the number one selling automobile in Canada.
All Civics, except the Hybrid model, are built right in Canada at the Honda Production Plant in Alliston, Ontario.
The ninth generation Civic will be sleeker and sportier than the current version.
The vehicle will be introduced in the traditional coupe, sedan, SI and hybrid models as well as a natural gas powered version.
Rumours abound that the standard 2012 Civic will feature an engine similar to the 2011 SI model and the 2012 SI will be enlarged in size to a 2.
4 litre engine.
We'll all have to wait to the product launch to find out for certain.