Red-badged tax deduction: First 2017 Honda Civic Type R goes to auction
After years of clamoring, the Honda fanboys and fangirls of America will finally be able to get their hands on a Civic Type R. And this new one is not to be taken lightly. The hatchback-only, manual-only, anime-aero 2017 Civic Type R took the front-wheel-drive production car lap record at the Nürburgring in April and looks to be quite the performer.
Unfortunately, you cannot yet march in to a Honda dealership, plop your derrière in one of the Type R’s aggressively bolstered red bucket seats, fork over the rumored $34,775 asking price and drive off. Dealers haven’t received deliveries yet. But you can raise a paddle — a virtual paddle —and net yourself the very first U.S.-bound Type R, and here’s how.
Honda is auctioning the vehicle — VIN #01 — with all proceeds benefiting the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. It is doing so through the car-auction site Bring a Trailer, a favorite productivity killer in the Car and Driver offices. This will be the first new vehicle to be sold on the site, which typically is home to older but generally well-preserved automotive oddities and sports cars. The Aegean Blue Metallic hot hatch’s plastic covers, which still adorn those front buckets, are a sight to see.
The newest and most extreme Civic has long been untouchable for American enthusiasts, and we haven’t received any Type R since the departure of the Acura Integra Type R in 2001. Why do we want one so badly?
Compared with Honda’s Civic Si, the Type R is more extreme in every way.
The new car makes 306 horsepower from a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, transmitted to the wheels exclusively via a six-speed manual transmission.
Honda’s new turbo four has a specific output of 153 horsepower per liter, besting that of the mid-mounted V-6 in the 2017 Acura NSX. That little engine makes the new super Civic the most powerful Honda ever sold in the States.
So raise high your paddles, Civic fans. Remember, the proceeds go to charity.