Someone Found a Time Capsule 1996 Honda Civic SiR With Just 16 Miles on the Clock
The car appears to have been garaged immediately after delivery, with the plastic still on the seats.
It's not every day you find a 90s Honda Civic with just 26 km (or 16 miles) on the clock. That's exactly what happened to Jose Alvarez, owner of JDM dealer Vistec R Imports, who secured the pristine hatchback for his private collection.
As seen on Instagram, the car in question is a 1996 Honda Civic SiR hatchback of the sixth generation, also known as the EK4. Built from 1996 to 2000, it featured the popular B16A 1.6-liter engine. It was good for 170 horsepower and 115 lb-ft of torque in JDM spec.
The vehicle appears to have never been used, having been stored since delivery. There is still plastic on the seats, and the rear headrests don't even appear to have been installed. It suggests the normal pre-delivery work wasn't done by the dealer, and the car was put away in the same state it rolled out of the factory.
The vehicle was only registered when it was first sold in 1996, according to records found by Alvarez. It has a clean history report with no accidents recorded; unsurprising given it's only traveled 16 miles.
Interestingly, though, there's no stereo in the dash. Whether it was taken out or the car simply never shipped with one is unclear.
Alvarez doesn't say how much he paid for the car. It was bought from a set-price "buy it now" section of a Japanese auction house. The attached notes say that the car was stored inside a garage over its life, a measure that will have reduced the aging of things like the paint, plastics, and trims.
Alvarez notes his DMs on Instagram have been "blowing up [with the] how much question," but says the car is not for sale. He's already turned down a $70,000 offer for the car. He believes the car is the lowest-mileage SiR hatch currently on the planet, and will keep it as part of his own car collection.
Every so often, old cars come up for sale in good condition with low miles. Often, we're amazed to see an example with a few thousand miles on the clock. Cars with only two digits on the odometer are even rarer, though.
You might say that it's silly to buy a car and never drive it, but maybe that's why these cars command such silly prices.
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