The 1st generation Honda Civic was deigned by a young Honda design engineer called Mr Iwakura (eye-waa-kura). Born in 1939 he was still in his early 30's when he was given the task to design the 1st generation Civic.
Here he is with some early design sketches.
And here he his today discussing the design of the car he created.
I think the above picture is very interesting. You can see the lines of the early grill and headlight surrounds but the hood looks more from a 78-79 1200
I think we all agree the early bumper are a peach Along with the "RS" mirrors is shortens the car into an un-fussy compact unit.
Right, back to the story....................
Deep, deep deep inside Honda HQ is the worlds first, 1st gen civic and its made of wood :P
Here we can see the basic outline of the shell constructed in wood with engineers inside making decisions about the interior design, occupants room and comfort.In the foreground someone is choosing seat material whilst two more are perhaps pondering steering wheel design. At the back we can see a scale drawing of the car from a side elevation. At the side is a rack perhaps with carpet samples. Its a busy room indeed..............
That last shot looks staged but is interesting all the same. I am unsure of the origin or purpose of that picture but i think its safe to assume it was intended for promotional purposes rather than documentary.
Here's we are in July 1976 and the one MILLIONTH civic rolls of the line at the Suzuka factory in Japan
Production volume of 1st Civic (domestic and international)
Total
1972 27000 units (Production start July 11, 1972)
1973 173000 units
1974 433000 units
1975 778000 units
1976 1169000 units
1977 1508000 units
1978 1830000 units
1979 2131000 units (Production end July 23, 1979)
Along with the "RS" mirrors is shortens the car into an un-fussy compact unit.