The fourth generation of Honda's Civic appeared on the US market as a 1988 model. It was available as a sedan, a five door wagon, or a three door hatchback like the Gothic Gray one in the photo.
While the sedans could be had in plusher EX and LX trim levels, the hatchbacks were only available in base trim or the slightly nicer DX, which is what this example is.
While the base car got a 70 horsepower version of Honda's 1.5L SOHC 16V fuel-injected backed by a 4-speed manual, the DX could be had with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed auto connected to the hotter D15B2 version of the same four-banger which was rated at 92 SAE net horses.
This wasn't a ton of power but, despite being larger than the previous third generation, the 4th Gen DX hatchback only weighed 1,933 pounds. Contemporary testing gave a zero-to-sixty time of 9.6 seconds and a quarter just a couple ticks over the seventeen second mark.
They're an uncommon enough sight these days that when I spotted this tatty example in a grocery store parking lot, I crossed the street to photograph it.
Original price for a Civic DX hatch was $7,985 in 1988 dollars, or $21,730 when adjusted for inflation.
This one was photographed using a Nikon 1 V3 and a 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens in February of 2026.
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