In a bustling four-story car dealership in Ho Chi Minh City, which has been a hub for car enthusiasts for decades, sits a unique vehicle that has rarely been seen on the roads. This is the Honda CR-X del Sol (known as the Honda Civic del Sol, Honda del Sol, or simply Honda CRX in other markets)
Mr. Huracan, the owner of this stunning Samba Green Pearl Honda CR-X del Sol, shared that the car has been stored in this very building for over 20 years. It is one of the few cars that were officially imported by a Honda dealership on Pasteur Street, District 1, over three decades ago. The exact year of the car’s purchase eludes its owner, who recalls it being either 1994 or 1995. He also reminisced about turning down numerous generous wedding gift offers from friends and car buyers, choosing instead to hold onto the Honda CR-X del Sol as a cherished keepsake.
“This car has been here for a long time,” Mr. Huracan remarked, pointing out the absence of road tax stickers on the windshield, indicating that the car had been off the roads even before the road tax was implemented in early 2013.
While Mr. Huracan did not disclose the price he paid for the Honda CR-X del Sol three decades ago, he emphasized that the car is now priceless to him. The storage facility once housed many one-of-a-kind vehicles in Vietnam, each with their own unique story and owner. Now, only the Honda CR-X del Sol remains.
The Honda CR-X del Sol boasts a stunning Samba Green Pearl exterior, complemented by silver single-spoke rims that appear as new as the day they were fitted. The black interior and odometer, which reads just 40,609 kilometers, indicate that the car has averaged a mere 1,353 kilometers per year, or roughly 112 kilometers per month.
The CR-X del Sol is a two-seater targa top produced by Honda from 1992 to 1998. While its body design resembles that of mid-engine vehicles, the del Sol is actually built on the front-engine Honda Civic platform and is the successor to the Honda CR-X.
The Honda CR-X del Sol’s targa top open and close button
“Del Sol,” which means “of the sun” in Spanish, hints at the car’s open-top nature. Most del Sols featured a removable 11-kilogram aluminum targa top that could be manually removed and stored in a hinge frame in the trunk, taking up only 62 liters of trunk space. An option available in Japan and Europe, called the TransTop, offered an electric mechanism that retracted the targa top into the trunk at the push of a button.
Operating the targa top involves releasing two latches above the windows and then holding a button. The trunk lid raises vertically, and two arms pull in the targa top. After locking the lid into the arms, the arms pull the targa top into the trunk lid, which then lowers with the top inside. The process is reversed to close the top. As Honda’s first convertible sold in the United States, the del Sol’s production and sales ended with the 1997 model year in North America and 1998 in other markets.
The CR-X del Sol was first introduced in Japan and Europe in 1992 as a 1993 model year vehicle. The base model (known as the VXi in Japan) came with 13-inch steel wheels and was only available at Japanese Honda Verno dealerships. The Japanese and European VXi/VGi models were equipped with the Honda D15B-VTEC 4-cylinder engine, a SOHC VTEC powerplant producing 130 PS (96 kW; 128 hp).
The “Si” model (known as the “ESi” in Europe) came standard with a 1.6-liter 16-valve SOHC VTEC 4-cylinder engine and 14-inch alloy wheels. It also offered body-colored side mirrors, power mirrors, cruise control, rear disc brakes, wider tires, and additional front and rear anti-sway bars.
Another high-end variant, the VTi, was available in Europe, featuring the same 1.6-liter DOHC VTEC 4-cylinder engine as the del Sol VTEC in North America. The SiR models in Japan were equipped with a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder DOHC VTEC (B16A) engine producing 170 PS (125 kW; 168 hp) and offered an optional limited-slip differential.
Depending on the model and market, options included a rear spoiler, custom floor mats, an automatic transmission, power steering, heated mirrors, front fog lights, traction control (JDM only), a limited-slip differential (JDM only), and air conditioning.
