Honda Civic Type R

Cult Japanese performance cars are continuing to fetch big money, with yet another example of an immaculate 20-year-old Honda selling for top dollar. 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 updated Honda Civic Type R hatch has been revealed at the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon. Externally, the revisions to the Civic Type R are pretty subtle. There's a larger grille for improved engine cooling, and the addition of body-colour swooshes for the fog light surround up front and the fake vents in the rear bumper. A new exclusive colour, Boost Blue, has been added to the car's palette.

Hyundai is readying a lighter, more focused take on its i30 N Performance for the Frankfurt motor show, complete with a raft of previously-teased add-ons. The 'unique specification' will include carbon-fibre reinforced plastic parts and racier 19-inch alloy wheels, designed to make the Project C 'notably lighter' than the (slightly porky) standard car – which tips the scales at 1429kg.

Honda Australia has reaffirmed its commitment to the currently UK-sourced Civic Type R, despite its global parent announcing the factory that makes it will shut its doors in 2021. The Swindon plant is the only Honda facility that makes the Civic Type R (pictured) currently, though the company's local director, Stephen Collins, says the current model will see out its lifecycle and confirmed plans for a next-generation model after that.

The Honda Civic Type R has already proven itself performance king among front-drive hot hatches, so now it's looking for bigger fish to fry. In what's one of the weirdest match-ups in drag race history, Top Gear has lined up the UK-built hatch against a Land Rover Defender – what?!