Old Honda Civic sells for $100,000

A pristine year 2000 Honda Civic Type R hot hatch – with just 2549km on the clock – has sold at auction in Japan for 7.64 million Yen, which is equivalent to more than $101,000.

The vehicle – known as the EK9 series among hardcore enthusiasts, and the first ever Honda Civic Type R – is finished in black paint, rather than Championship White which accounted for the majority of those built.

The vehicle still had the original radio, and red Recaro sports seats – and the back seat looked like it had never been sat in.

The black 2000 Honda Civic Type R – powered by a high-revving 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine – pulled big bucks barely two weeks after a buyer in the US paid a handsome sum for a year 2000 Honda Civic Si coupe.

Well preserved Japanese performance cars with low kilometres on the clock are starting to earn big money globally because few remain in original condition.

Industry experts believe early Hondas, in particular, are attracting big dollars because, coincidentally, they went on sale just before The Fast And The Furious hit movie screens in 2001. 

The movie and its sequels cemented vehicles like this into modern car culture, and a generation of enthusiasts who couldn’t afford their dream machine then are buying them now.

Although the movie glorified highly modified vehicles, cars like the Honda Civic Type R and Honda Civic Si coupe were regarded as a starting point for many enthusiasts.