The Honda Civic -- Idle Chatter -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Bakken

A Note to the Granddaughters

Idle chatter.

Earlier this summer I got into a conversation with a young man who managed an automobile service center, out in southern California. He happened to mention that he had the opportunity to be in one of the pits during a NASCAR race; his father's company was a NASCAR sponsor.

That conversation led to a conversation about the new Honda Civic I bought for my daughter last summer. I can't remember; it seems I've told this story before on MDW; if I have, I apologize.

I don't get to drive it very much now that my daughter has it, but, wow, is it ever fun to drive. I have owned two Saabs, one Mercedes, one BMW (all while living and stationed overseas with the US Air Force; I never could have afforded those vehicles in the US). I also drove a friend's Porsche 911 in the winding hills of the Eifel, West Germany and now western Germany. So, I can compare the 2012 Honda Civic with any number of other cars and can honestly say, it has been my favorite. I enjoy it even more than my memories of the Porsche.

I bring this up because I see a story today that Honda says it hopes to double car sales in four years.

I was taken back to that conversation with the young man mentioned above while reading the article. He had mentioned that the Honda engine is used in all race cars in a certain circuit -- I had forgotten which. Google led me to this article, written in 2011:

A.J. Foyt will do anything to win next season -- even if it takes a Japanese engine manufacturer to put him in Victory Lane. Yes, IndyCar's career leader in victories and a major proponent of American racers said Tuesday his team will go with the Honda engine in 2012.  

It's the first time since 2005 that IndyCar owners have had a choice of engines, and Foyt is the third prominent team owner to announce his choice. 

He joins Chip Ganassi as the second to go with Honda, the sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series since 2006. To the Houston native, the reasoning was simple.

In addition to the peppy and responsive engine, the handling of the Honda Civic is incredible; it truly does drive like a sports car.  I bought the base model, the least expensive model available.

For a family car I will stick with the Chrysler minivan (we've owned three and have had at least one Chrysler minivan since we bought our first one in 1996 when we finally returned from overseas after serving in Europe and Asia for fourteen continuous years (I counted only thirteen years, but my wife says it was fourteen years).  But if I was going to get a car for myself, it would be the Honda Civic.