Safari-Style Honda Civic Type R Is a Rally-Ready, Overlanding Hatchback
This is the off-road Honda Civic Type R of your dreams.
Honda’s Civic Type R is already a winning formula for enthusiasts. It’s wildly styled, supremely powerful, and has track manners that’d shame most supercars. To make this already icy-cool wünderkind cooler, a group of lunatics prepped a Civic Type R for dirty, filthy, awesome off-road adventures. Presenting the Honda Civic Type OveRland.
The Civic Type OveRland was built ahead of the annual Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ Test Day held in the United Kingdom. The group gathers a number of journalists and writers covering the industry each year to drive a bevy of new products, including one-offs like this Civic Type R.
Built by Ralph Hosier Engineering out of St. Neots in the United Kingdom, the standard Civic Type R doesn’t lose much of its tarmac capabilities, but gains everything you’d want when taking it off-road. According to the spec sheet, Ralph Hosier Engineering retained the Civic Type R’s “complex anti-torque-steer Dual-Axis strut arrangement” to keep “the fundamental design and purpose of the Civic Type R’s suspension to work as the factory intended.” Lifting the car, Ralph Hosier Engineering added a set of custom trailing arm mounts and new transverse links to raise the entire car three inches.
The outfit then shod BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A off-road tires on lightweight rally-style wheels. Ralph Hosier Engineering also fit the Honda Civic Type OveRland with a roll cage and removed the hatch’s rear glass so as to strap two extra spare wheel and tire combos, just like a Baja Trophy Truck. The engineering firm, however, isn’t done with the Civic Type OveRland as it hit a handful of production complications earlier this month that made it impossible to finish. That will change in the next few weeks as the car is completed to the intended specifications.
Speaking at the Test Day, Ralph Hosier said, “[This interpretation of the Civic Type R] showcases the standard car’s attributes, but also reflect the advanced, sporty, and playful nature of the entire Civic range. We have also had a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate what can be done with a road car.” Ralph also told the press that best yet, Ralph Hosier Engineering will build a Civic Type OveRland for customers so long as they have the cash. How much cash hasn’t been disclosed, but given the choice between a normal Honda Civic Type R and the Civic Type OveRland, we’d throw our money at the Civic Type OveRland in a heartbeat.
