By Anonymous (206.61.9.17) on Sunday, July 22, 2001 - 05:17 pm:

I read somewhere that some canadian company created a kit car that used the first generation civic as the donor car. Does anyone have any information or pictures of this? I'm curios to see what it looked like. (I heard it was a roadster)

By Zoin (209.226.248.180) on Sunday, July 22, 2001 - 06:13 pm:

Yes there was a kit car. A buddy of mine used to have all the info and was going to use his first gen for the kit. It was a convert. As far as I can remember it was nothing real great in the looks department but that was a long time ago and my tastes may have changed. I will give him a call and see if he can rem what the co name was and any other info that is interesting.

By Mike S (202.12.144.21) on Sunday, July 22, 2001 - 07:31 pm:

It was called the Spex Elf. Saw an article about it in Popular Mechanics in the early 80's. Haven't seen anything since. Spex was the name of an industrial design company.

By Travis (24.4.254.156) on Sunday, July 22, 2001 - 10:46 pm:

"In 1985 a pair of Canadian designers created a kit car based on the first generation Civic. The Spex Elf was a two seater fibreglass convertible with a subframe for added structural integrity. The styling was comparable to that of many Japanese cars of the mid to late 80's. The Spex Elf used the Honda chassis/drivetrain as well as other parts from the donor car. A buildup of the kit was featured in the September and November 1985 issues of Kit Car magazine published by Petersen's." Travis

By jms (144.59.13.2) on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 05:52 am:

That sounds interesting, anyone got a link to view this article, or does anyone have the article? Maybe you can create a link as we are trying to cut back on to many posts.

By culturevirus (12.13.226.18) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 02:06 pm:

Woah! The post Travis quoted was one I wrote for an old Civic site, is that site still up and running? Anyway yes I do have part one of the build up. I can scan it, but I've never tried to post images to the board here. Sadly I have never been able to locate any info what happened to the molds for this kit.

By jms (144.59.13.2) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 02:48 pm:

Once you scan it let me know, I can walk you through it-if its not over 40kb cuz we cant post em that big anymore. Or do a search of the board, look for 'YOU CAN POST PICS TOO' and there you will find everything you need.

By ddechon (12.78.117.29) on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 04:27 pm:

About 6 months ago I saw somebody selling fiberglass hoods for the early civics. I saw it on the internet, but I haven't been able to find it since. Has anyone else seen a fiberglass hood?

Thanks,
ddechon

By Travis (24.4.254.156) on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 04:37 pm:

This is the page I found it on.

http://civic.vtec.net/civic-73/specifications.html

By jms (144.59.13.2) on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 11:53 pm:

www.showcars-bodyparts.com

try this

By ddechon (12.78.117.148) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 05:38 am:

Hey everybody. I wrote www.showcars-parts.com and they gave me prices for early civics. It took them a while to respond, so if you guys are waiting for it...here it is.
ddechon


Thanks for contacting us at Showcars.
73-79 Civic Pricelist (Can & U.S.)

73-79 Honda Civic g6020 Fender----$129.00 each.cdn same
73-79 Honda Civic g6022 Flared Front Fenders----$189.00 each.289.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6025 Hood With Cowl Scoop, Pin-on----$289.00.450.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6032 Front Flares----$69.00/pair89.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6033 Rear Flares----- " " "89.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6035 IMSA Flares (4)----currently n/a.
73-79 Honda Civic g6036 Front Spoiler----$59.00.79.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6037 Air Dam----$89.00.110.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6039 Trans Am Air Dam----$119.00. 149.00cdn
73-79 Honda Civic g6040 Rear Spoiler----$105.00.149.00cdn

Hope to help. Thanx, Rob.

If this is a rush, please call 905-795-5505 or fax us at 905-795-5506
Please advise location, zip & phone number for shipping costs.

Web Site: www.showcars-bodyparts.com
Email: showcars@idirect.com

To order, 1-send bank draft or money order,
Payable to: Rob Johnston
Mail to: Showcars, 1585 B Britannia Road, East, Unit 1
Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA
L4W 2M4

2- CREDIT CARD, BANK TRANSFER ,APPROVED CHEQUE SERVICE -
THROUGH PAYPAL. paypal.com

CD-ROM CATALOGUE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR 14.95 + 2.95 SHIPPING.
Includes hundreds of new products,
pictures,
pricelists,
project ideas....ORDER HERE.

By Don (209.181.52.91) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 07:40 am:

When I called show-cars last year in hopes of ordering some things (flares mostly), they sounded real unorganized. It took three calls to get ahold of anyone that would give me a specific answer. I asked if these parts would fit and the guy said "of course they are universal" I then asked what they where originally designed for and he did not know but he thought that they fit cars like a 510 the best.

I don't know about you, but I have real problems with sending money to someone that thinks that a
510 and a Civic have the same body shape. Best of luck with your order, I did not feel that the product I would be getting would be what was displayed in the catalog.

By lawrence (24.66.94.141) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 04:19 pm:

I spoke with them this spring and they were supposed to get back to me with pricing/availability; they never did. Left them 3 more messages and no calls were returned. Doesn't look good.

By ddechon (12.78.118.119) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 06:03 pm:

Thanks for the info. I felt the same way because they took so long to respond. I'm not really ready to buy. I just wanted to get some ideas for the future. It looks like they have a monopoly though. I don't know of anybody else that offers what they do. I'll have to call them some time and see what's up with the "universal fit." They might expect us to cut, sand, and paint the hood to fit our application. I'll let you guys (and girls) know if I find anything out.
ddechon

By Zoin (64.228.15.111) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 08:06 pm:

I was at their shop quite a few years ago.The building was what looked like two commercial plaza units and was chocked full of molds. There were fiber glass pieces in all shapes and types in various states of completion set up in stages in an organized set up. What was done looked quality. While I was there a guy was taking camaro spoilers fresh from the molds just out side the back roll up doors enjoying the nice day. Back then it looked like it may have employed about 8 guys. It was a small shop that was growing rapidly. This was back in the early 1980's. The guy that I talked to was nice and willing to please but very busy. With all of the molds stacked up I wondered how they ever found the one they were looking for. I think the place has just grown too fast and they are trying to catch up. That website of theirs must generate thousands of quotes a year.
Regarding the "unifit" piece lol who knows it just may be your typical type of thing where you go to the parts store and the kid behind the counter asks if your honda civic is a 4 or 6 cylinder. lol

By culturevirus (12.13.226.14) on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 07:12 am:

Sorry for the delay with the kit car article scans. I've done the scanning but I haven't had time to scale them down enough to post to the board. Would throwing up a quick webpage be a workable solution for everyone? I've also scanned the literature from Lamb Design showing their beautiful 1st gen bodykit. If they had only lasted a few years more I'm sure they would have sold dozens to our eager members.

By Travis (24.4.254.128) on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 06:16 pm:

Yeah actually with the low amount of image space on the board a web page would probably be a better idea... plus you could add more info to the page if you wanted and would work as a good "permenate" reference point for people to look at.