Thursday 15th October 2015

Honda Integra Type R DC2: Spotted

A very nice example of one of the finest driver's cars ever for just £4,000? Come on!

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You will have to excuse a slight personal bent to this Spotted as I'm currently saving up for a Honda Integra Type R. I say saving, but what that means is watching endless YouTube videos, buying old magazines and spending way too long in the classifieds. Actually buying one is quite a long way off.

Scuffs aren't visible inside...

But once I can, hopefully there will be cars like this still available. It's a 2000 UK car in Championship White - the best colour, right? - without any rust, with a load of paperwork and, most crucially, a knowledgeable and keen PHer selling it. The Integra is being moved on to make way for a more practical family car and, so upset is the seller by this, there's even a thread where he shares his sorrow with like-minded souls. He also owns a TVR, has had a Ferrari 550 and is selling the Honda as well as a Maserati in the garage downsizing or streamlining or whatever the appropriate phrase is. Enforced cull, perhaps. He is definitely a car man.

This is borne out in the advert and the level of care lavished on this DC2. Every service bar two has been at a Honda dealer, it still comes with the red key and the car is completely standard. Even the seats are holding up reasonably well for a 100,000-mile car.

It's not perfect - there are some scrapes on the paint and the aerial is faulty - but a mechanically fresh car is surely far more important than a concours exterior. Integras were never exactly pretty cars, were they? The beauty is in the mechanicals, that screaming engine and sublime chassis, so better to see they are cared for.

... you'll be too busy to care anyway!

We all know why Integras are becoming such sought after cars, right? No? Widely regarded as one of the best front-wheel drive cars ever, it was light, agile and blessed with one of the greatest engines ever seen in a road car. We're not going to get cars that rev beyond 8,000rpm again, and an Integra will prove more than anything else why that's such a shame.

The market is beginning to wake up to this, one low mileage car currently listed at £10K with a deposit placed. The entry point is now about where this car is priced, making it look great value. Sure, it will buy you a newer EP3 Civic Type R but they won't be future classics. An Accord is also very good but heavier. What other turn-of-the-century coupe are you going to buy instead? A TT?

Alright, I'm a little biased here, but there's no doubt the Integra will be remembered as one of the all-time greats and at four thousand pounds it seems like a tremendous bargain. I'm just praying they stay this way, or at least not far off, until I have the cash. Best get saving properly...

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HONDA INTEGRA TYPE R DC2
Engine: 1,797cc, inline-four
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive, limited-slip differential
Power (hp): 190@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 131@7,300rpm
MPG: 32
CO2: 208g/km
First registered: 2000
Recorded mileage: 105,000
Price new: £23,000
Yours for: £3,999

See the original advert here.

[Specs: Zeperfs]

[cwoodsie2]

hmmmmm...... been thinking likewise recently. Find an unmolested example, pamper it and hide it away for weekend blasts.

Owned a Milano teg for 4 years and was the best car i've ever owned. No other car i've been in since provides the levels of feedback and fun. Inspires confidence like nothing else. Yes, looks are more than dated now (UK spec) and other hot hatches are quicker, but that's not the point for me. Simply brilliant cars