HONDA CIVIC 2012 – ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT? MAYBE NOT.

When the current generation of Honda Accords came out I was so very disappointed. I’m beginning to think that I should have know better. I had seen the concept versions displayed at various auto shows and was naively expecting the end product to look nearly the same. It wasn’t even close in my opinion. Insult was added to injury when my local Honda dealership had a picture of the concept version on the wall of their showroom. It seems that even the sales representatives were thinking the real version was going to be close to the same.

But – slow learner that I am, I have allowed myself to get excited over what I’ve seen in the upcoming 2012 Civic Coupe. Images have shown a car essentially the same size and shape of the current generation but with a much sharper swage line (character line) and much improved front and rear appearance. The three images below show:

Top – A current 2011 Honda Civic Coupe

Middle – What I’ve been seeing and have grown to expect for the 2011

Bottom – the new 2011 coming out this spring, as shown in Honda’s official site.

Please take a look and then continue. I have some questions and observations.

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Is it me, (or is it merely the lighting differences between the two photos), but doesn’t it appear that the swage is decidedly sharper in the middle photo compared to the official version? I see other differences too – subtle perhaps – but they just don’t look like the same cars to me. If they are not, my question is why? Does the tooling and die making take that much more to give the nicely defined lines as in that middle photo? What am I missing? Maybe it is the lighting – but I don’t think so.

Now – look at the rear views of the two below. The top version is what I was expecting, a classy symmetrical look a lot more sensible, I think than the cosmetic duel exhausts that we have been seeing in so many cars today, particularly the 6 cylinder versions. I wonder why Honda chose not to follow through with that nifty design suggested in the versions they have been showing?

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I’m likely to be buying a new car this year since my 2003 Saturn Vue is a very high mileage car these days. I’ve narrowed it down to the Civic Coupe, the Chevy Cruze, or the Hyundai Elantra sedan. I’m now leaning toward the latter, built in Alabama, with it’s estimated 40 mph highway mileage. I’d definitely go for the Cruze if only GM would allow those of us who have helped to “rescue” the company have access to their full line of products. You see, I really like hatchbacks. But the Chevy Cruze hatchback (pictured below), though available to some, is NOT available in the U.S.A. Go figure!

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