It's quite possible that the car as we know it peaked in the noughties. Onboard technology was helpful rather than a nannying hinderance, powertrains were clever but not overly complicated and cars were safe without being sanitised. So it's only natural that the heroes of that now distant era are beginning to garner the kind of attention that eventually confers classic status. How many of us long for the days when you could thread a 911 between width restrictions and revel in a sub-two-tonne super saloon? A fair few. And what about high-revving, atmospheric front-drive hot hatches with a raging thirst for Optimax? A few more, no doubt.
Of that bunch, the EP3 Honda Civic Type R was obviously among the best. Its party piece - the 200hp K20 VTEC motor - took no prisoners. You either drove it with a (licence) death wish or you didn't drive it at all. Honda kept the gear stick under your left hand because you were going to be twirling it endlessly. Driving one now is like writing a text on a Nokia 5210; for a good little while, you're completely flummoxed. And then, you remember: the car needs you to do some of the heavy lifting. Push its buttons hard 'n' fast, that's the key. And don't let up, ever.
Do that, and the Civic would sing. Or caterwaul, if you'd seen to the intake. Of course it didn't get the limited-slip diff the JDM version earned, and its steering was not faultless. But it was hot hatch in the old style - i.e. somewhat rough around the edges, not the ground-hugging missiles that comprise the segment in 2020. You needed no great skill to drive it, mind; just the foolhardiness to stick with it beyond 6,000rpm in the later gears.
Truthfully, no-one bought the EP3 for its handling smarts. A Clio 172 Cup was lighter and cheaper and sweeter, and the Mk1 Ford Focus RS was in a different league entirely. But the Type R was no less memorable or under-coveted. It was hugely popular and rightly so. The earlier EK9 had delivered Honda and its VTEC mission statement cult-like status, but it was the EP3 which cemented it among the masses. You hardly needed to explain to anyone why you'd bought such an oddly shaped hot hatch. Everyone knew.
Inevitably though, popularity meant prevalence - and even though the car didn't suffer a particularly long life cycle, it was plenty long enough for it to become a common sight on UK roads. Consequently, values began a slide which has barely let up. Last year an EP3 made it into Shed of the Week. The Civic's ability to accrue big miles is admirable, of course, and a testament to how moreish the car actually was. But it means a many-owner, odometer-spinner is findable for very little money indeed.
Does that negate modern classic status? No. It just makes the timeline longer. The EP3 hasn't been around long enough for a) the lesser examples to die en masse and b) for the nostalgia described above to properly kick in. But when you see a car like today's Spotted on sale with a £14,995 sticker price - just a thousand fewer pounds than it would've cost you in 2004 - you know the worm is probably in the process of turning. It is as you'd expect: pristine, and with 7,579 miles on the clock. That doesn't mean it justifies the asking price. Not to everyone. But like everything plucked from the past and delivered to the present in nearly new condition, it only needs to pull on the heart string of one person. And the EP3 Type R was always pretty good at that.
SPECIFICATION | HONDA CIVIC TYPE R (EP3)
Engine: 1,998cc, four-cylinder
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 215@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 152@7,000rpm
MPG: 31.7 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 212g/km
First registered: 2004
Recorded mileage: 7,579
Price new: £15,995
Price now: £14,995
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