The Honda Civic CRX del Sol was a 2-seater front-engined, front wheel drive, targa
top convertible sports car manufactured by Honda in the 1990s. Based on the Civic
platform, the del Sol was the successor to the popular Honda CR-X. It debuted
in 1992 in Japan and the United Kingdom, and 1993 in the United States.
The
Spanish name del Sol translates as of the sun, and refers to the car's
opening roof. It was not a full convertible, featuring a removable hardtop
that stowed in the trunk and a retractable rear window for that "convertible" feel.
Trunk space was reduced from 10.5cf to 8.3cf while the targa was stowed.
In
many markets the CR-X naming convention was dropped from the del Sol
line as it was distinctly different from earlier models, which were hatchbacks
and not targas. Starting with the 1995 models, Honda dropped the 'Civic' name
from the del Sol in the Americas. In Europe, the del Sol tag was dropped in 1995,
and the car was known as the new CRX.
Production and sales ended
with the 1997 model in the U.S. and 1998 elsewhere, with a total of slightly
fewer than 75,000 models sold in America. The car was replaced by the high-performance
S2000 roadster in 1999. |
