0 The Japanese Invasion

            To symbolize the coming of Japanese imports, the museum chose one of the first popular, high mileage rice burners to flood the country, a 1977 Honda Civic. A stripped down true economy sub-compact, the Civic sported a 1169 cubic centimeter four cylinder engine. Originally released in 1972 with very Spartan features but high gas mileage, the Civic was an almost instant success.

            Over the years Honda has given the car numerous make overs, re-badged the Civic for sale in numerous countries and used it as the basis for other models but the outcome is always the same. This is a high volume seller with over 15 million having been sold worldwide.