Honda was already well known for making motorcycles but wanted to become competitive as a carmaker. The Civic was not only fuel-efficient for the time but also qualified for a stricter emissions rating that other automakers hadn’t yet achieved. The better emission rating was partly due to Honda’s experience with smaller engines, allowing them to squeeze more horsepower out of the car. The 1.2-liter 4-cylinder in the first Civic could generate up to 60 horsepower, which was unheard of at the time from such a small displacement engine.
Just as a lower center of gravity can help offer stability to a motorcycle, Honda engineers believed it would also benefit the Civic. So, they came up with an overall shape that the car body would conform to — a trapezoid. This trapezoid design widened the space between the wheels and lowered the roof height, creating a lower center of gravity for enhanced stability. Fortunately for fans of the automaker’s bike division, they continued to produce high-performance two-wheeled machines, including the fastest Honda motorcycles ever built.
