Dick’s Honda Civic and Beat

3 November 2011 in Custom, daily driver, Featured, Preservation, RoadRace, Time Attack 1 Comment

I think you can call Dick and his wife Jinske real Honda lovers. A collection with four (really beautiful) Hondas proves it. I thought two of them, a Honda Civic Motul replica and a very rare Honda Beat, are really interesting. So I found Dick and this is the result. A nice interview about two really beautiful Hondas!

Hello Dick! Can you introduce yourself?
Hi there, my name is Dick Storm. I’m living togheter with my wife Jinske in Holland (Den Haag). I’m 30 years old and a mechanic at a Toyota dealer for five years now. Before that I worked at another Honda dealer for seven years.

Can you tell us something about your car collection?
We have four Hondas in our collection. At a certain time there we six, but we sold two Civics just to enjoy the other four. At this moment we own a ’91 Crx EE8 ( B16A1 ), a ’92 Crx Ed9 ( D16Z5 ), a ’87 Civic AG which is a replica of the Motul Mugen Civic SI Race Car ( ZC1 ) and a ’91 Beat PP1 ( E070A )

Why Honda, what do you like about it?
Well, let’s go back in time a long way. I was three days old and I was lying in de trunk of my dad’s ’76 Civic. That was the beginning. My parents also had a lot of Civics and they still drive one! It’s a ’96 Coupe ( EJ2 ) which they bought new. Also my brother has had some Honda’s and now he own a ’99 HRV.

When I was 8 years old the Honda virus really got me and I fell in love when the CRX came to  Holland. A few years later I saw a Celestrial Blue CRX EE8 on our street and since that moment I knew that was the car for me.

When I was 16 years old I started to do some work at a Honda dealer. I had a full-time job there a few years later and, since that moment, the passion really began. I just love to work on Hondas, really loving the technic and sound of the engine.

Can you tell us something about your Motul Civic?
I bought the car for a daily driver, but after a few weeks I found some photos of the real Motul Civic and since that moment the project really started. After two years, I swapped the original 1.3l carb engine for a 1.6l DOHC ZC1 injection engine after I did a lot of work on the exterior.

When the engine swap was finished,  I changed the interior. A friend went to Japan and I asked him to take some pictures of the original Motul Civic. The photo’s helped me with building the Civic. Parts are very hard to find and they are very expensive. Unfortunately, there are not many 3rd gen Civics left in Holland. At this moment the Civic isn’t a daily anymore, it has a new place, the track!

I collected a lot of information and pics about the original Motul Civic  (was not that easy to find).

Why not your own design, but a replica of the Motul Civic?
When I found some pics of the original Motul Civic, I fell in love with the color combination, flair and history of the little Civic. The whole build was a real challange and I still enjoy it!

I read something about the engine of the original Motul Civic, can you tell us why this engine is so special?
The ZC1 is the first double overhead camshaft engine that Honda built. Honda engine specialist Mugen built the engine for the Japanese Touring Car Challenge. This engine produced more than 225HP at 9500rpm without using a turbo. How did they do that? Well they changed the camshafts, injectors ( using 80% more fuel ), a modified cylinder head, and a lot of other things they kept secret. The header and intake seems like they are stock, but maybe Mugen modified them? I think we will never know what they really did to that engine.

What about your engine?
I also have a ZC1 in the Motul Civic. I only changed the intake gasked for a Hondata and a 2-inch straight exhaust system. The cylinder head is rebuilt. I have plans to get more power out of this little 1.6L engine.

For what do you use the Motul civic?
For the last two years now, I used the Civic only on events and trackdays, and last year I signed up for a Time Attack competition.

I heard you are very fast on the circuit with this car. You don’t have the most powerfull engine. What is your trick?
This little Civic has racing blood which he stole from the fabrik! The car is very light (about +/-760 kilogram, or 1,675 pounds) and with only 125HP already proved himself on the track against the other track cars! It’s definitely not the fastest, but beware of this screaming Civic!

 What are the modifications you’ve done so far on the Motul civic?
The front suspension is modified, but still got the original shocks. The rear shocks are Koniss with modified springs. I fully stripped the interior and painted it black. The front brakes are ’96 spec ITR brakes with Ferodo DS2500 and 260mm Nitrac discs. The rear brakes are stock drums.

What are your future plans with the Motul Civic?
I plan to make a comeback in 2013! 2012 will be a year of modifications, which include: a better suspension setup with Tokico shocks, more camber to create more grip in corners, a rollcage, and a lot more – you’ll see!

I saw you own a Honda Beat. I’ve never seen this Honda before. Can you tell us something about the Beat?
Ah, the smallest in our familly. The Honda Beat is the last car Soichiro Honda approved for prodution before he died in 1991. The total number of cars he produced was around 33,600 and they only sold them in Japan!

The design of the car is from Pininfarina. They sold the design to Honda. The Beat was one of the cars they designed to take advantage of Japan’s tax-efficient kei car class.

Typical Honda fashion: the Beat’s mid-engine is not turbocharged or supercharged. The 656 cc 3-cylinder engine is modified with the MTREC (Multi Throttle Responsive Engine Control) system, with individual throttle bodies for each of the three cylinders. It produced 64 PS/HP  at 8100 rpm with an electronically limited top speed of 135 km/h (84 mph). Redline is 8500rpm!

The Beat is RWD with a 5-speed gearbox, too! We bought the Beat in2010 in England and drove him back 1000km to Holland. Arrived in Holland, he had a re-spray and he was sparkled at our wedding later that year! We bought the car especially for our wedding.

Can you compare the Beat with the Motul Civic? If so/if not, why?
The Motul Civic and the Beat are two completely different cars! The Civic is very noisy and has become a real track Civic. The Beat is fun to drive too! You have to really keep the revs high and it is so much fun! The engine sounds like you never heard before! It just wants more and more!

What are the modifications you’ve done so far on the Beat?
The Beat have did get a lot of love and attention and he really enjoyed that! The engine is stock, exept for a K&N filter and a Powerflow exhaust. We didn’t modify the car, because it is exactly how we want!

Which car are you the most proud of?
Very difficult question. I’m proud of all our cars! But the little Beat will never leave us!

Are you a real Gearhead? If so, why?
I can say I am. My hobby is my work and my work is my hobby.

SPECIALISTS:

What do you think about those Hondas? Have you ever seen a Honda Beat before? I think Dick and Jinske have some really nice Hondas. I hope we can stay in touch!

Thank you Dick for this interview!

[ photo credits:  Kenji (rpmonline.com), Miss Honda, Thomas Soederhuijsen (carbonvision.com), Hansburger.nl, D-Per4mance Photography, Jeroen Willemsen (speedhunters.com), Max Photography, Spil-pics.be, Jdmshit.com ]

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