The EP3 Si was the last hatchback Civic Honda deemed those of us in the U.S. to be worthy to own. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Si has pretty low miles, but will its price have you hatching a plan to buy it?
If you want to own a Porsche, but also need to carry more than just one friend, your options are fairly well limited to two cross-overs and one sedan. Both of the hatchback wagons are pretty good looking and can easily carry four in comfort owing to their shape and size. The sedan however, at least in its first generation, proved a little more difficult for Porsche to tailor around the same four passengers.
Yesterday’s 2010 Porsche Panamera tried to mask that lumpy and somewhat dumpy result with some Mansory bodywork. A further halving of its price since new indicated just how true the phrase “looks can kill” can be, but still, even those two factors couldn’t generate much Pana-mania and the car dropped in a 58% Crack Pipe loss.
Guess what, today’s 2003 Honda Civic Si can carry four just like yesterday’s Porsche. Perhaps not in as luxurious of accommodations or features set, nor with quite as much effortless alacrity, but still four just the same.
Honda has long proffered a hot hatch in the form of the Si (Sport Injection) model. The Civic’s first “S” edition was little more than a tape and badge package based on the model’s second generation car. As the generation count got higher, the S’s got hotter, adding injection and other actual go-faster bits along the way.
That all culminated here in the U.S., at least with the seventh generation EP3, which just so happens to have been the last Si hatch sold here to date. I guess after that Honda got distracted by seeing how close to full-Kardashian they could make the Crosstour’s ass, and how long they could string enthusiasts along with the promise of a new NSX to worry about maybe attending to needs of their enthusiast fanbase.
This 2003 Civic Si, in what looks to be Eternal Blue Pearl, represents from that now extinct line of U.S. Honda hot hatches. The ad is brief in its description, however there is a dozen pictures and don’t they say a picture speaks a thousand words? If so then there’s a couple of chapters on Craigslist right there.
Motivationally speaking, the car comes with a 160-bhp 2.0 i-VTEC four. Behind that is a five-speed manual and that is operated by way of a stick that protrudes from the dash just like on the old N600. Or a Citroën 2CV.
The seller says he has owned the car for four years and that it is in “very good conditions.” His reason for selling it is the desire for a car that’s “more bigger” which honestly might be one of the car’s singular failings as these EP3 are pretty small. I mean, you have to step out just to change your mind. Yuck, yuck.
Mileage is a nominal 88K and the car comes with new tires. Those are wrapped around black-painted factory alloy wheels. The rest of the car is body kitted and Type R badged, which is nice should you be into that sort of thing. The massive plastic headlights are happily not hazed over. In fact, the only really noticeable sign of age on the exterior is the passenger-side mirror mount which has greyed to a sickly shade of African Elephant.
The interior seems to have faired better well over the past decade-plus. The sports seats appear to have held up well, and the dash, door cards and touchy bits like the wheel and shifter all look to be in perfectly serviceable shape.
Popping the short, steep hood reveals an AEM intake but otherwise a pretty stock appearance. The ad notes that everything works and that the car comes with a clean title.
It’s not easy to find EP3s that haven’t been molested and this one seems to be one of the very few that haven’t also been beat to hell. Yes the body kit might be seen as a little too YO! for many people’s taste, but that can be overlooked when you consider the low miles and the happy-happy joy-joy provided by the underlying car.
What does all that cost? Well, if you read the title you’ll know the answer is $7,800. That’s kind of Mama Bear—not too high but not automatic purchase low— and so now we need to decide if it’s appropriate for this Si. What do you think, is this hot hatch Civic worth $7,800 based on its ad? Or, is this an EP3 without an epic price?
You decide!
Los Angeles Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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