11 Generations of the Honda Civic Get Driven in Proper Order, See Which Is Best

Instead, the Civic started life in 1972 as a three-door hatchback that was fuel-efficient and practical. It became popular because it came with impressive equipment for the time, as well as meeting EPA's emissions standards of 1975 without requiring a pricey catalytic converter.

Now, the Civic is in its 11th generation, and the Japanese brand that makes it has sold millions of vehicles with this name in the past 50 years. Even today, the Civic is appreciated for being practical, and having a generous equipment offering, while being fuel-efficient.

In a way, while so many things have changed in the Civic in five decades, some of the key elements of this vehicle have not changed. Just like every other vehicle nameplate made in the last five decades, it has had its ups and downs, which meant generations that were more popular or less popular in their time. Fortunately for Honda and the Civic nameplate, sales were going up, and this motivated the development of further generations.

There is no other way of looking at how the Civic has changed in five decades than comparing the first model with the latest and stopping by to see each generation's change helps see how it evolved. The folks over at Donut went ahead and did that, and there is a video worth watching out of it.

Depending on your age, the first Honda Civic that you have seen, as well as maybe looked at with admiration, is a different generation of the nameplate. Sure, it may not have been a supercar that kids had posters of on their bedroom walls, but it was among the vehicles that many considered as the ones to get when acquiring a first car.

This is where Honda must be grateful to its engineering team, as the Civic cemented the company's reputation among generations of consumers thanks to its reliability. A similar thing happened to Toyota with its Corolla, and it is something that the two Japanese brands share despite being so different in many other aspects.

The latest Civic continues to be offered in Type R form, which is something that was first implemented back in the late 90s. Before that time, Honda's compact hatchback was still seen as a sporty vehicle when compared to other models in the segment, but the Type R was several steps further in that direction.

Today, you can get a Civic that is powered by a turbocharged inline-four-cylinder engine that has more power than four of the first-generation Civic models combined, but you can also get one in hybrid form to get the most out of every drop of fuel.