Honda scene dead?


Bcivic16

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Apr 4, 2012
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Hi peeps got thinking an seems like the once amazing honda scene has just disappeared! What happened to all the weekend meets and drives that used to be organised? I can remember working in old trafford late friday nights and it be teaming with civics! Vtec roared across manchester! Non of that anymore :( even forums have gone mcr vtec, civiclife, hondacivicforum has turned into a boring forum for diesel hatchbacks! Not only that but parts have disappeared, at one time you could search ebay and come up with all the goodies cams throttle bodies galore! Even when at car shows/events the turn out isnt great and filled with "generic" hondas which once youve seen one youve seen them all. Seems that one generation has moved on and the next just never bothered..
We need to pump some life back into the scene! Organised meets, drives, group together just to fingerblast eachothers cars become the honda faggots we all have a name for :beer:
 
Facebook has taken over the honda parts for sale, its free to list and has 1000s of members in each group, also no fees to pay so usually sold cheaper than ebay. Only downside is the amount of timewasters you have to put up with
 
Having been searching for a good donor vehicle for my Mk3 project, it might just be that the cars are getting rarer as they rust and get broken up, combined with the scene becoming more insular as it moves to FB. From what I understand, a lot of cars that get broken up these days have their engines sold abroad (Type R engines are in demand in the US and EU, they're actually worth a lot more overseas in markets where the Type R was never a production model) and the bits never show up in the UK marketplace again. A DC2 Integra or slightly rusty EK9 is worth more in bits across Europe than it is on the road in the UK. That won't last long- the vehicles' values are already rising- but the cessation of that market won't bring the scene back, because the cars will be worth more than most "street level" guys can afford and the ones that haven't already been modified will start to stay stock more and more as they become collectors' items. In ten or twenty years we'll be seeing "restorations" of "barn-find" DC2 Type Rs that would get broken for parts in an instant in today's market with the same obsession over matching engine serials and so on that Alfa nerds and the like obsess over.

What you're left with is an ever-shrinking pool of cars that are actually viable to put onto the "scene" as it were. First due to people breaking cars up and selling the bits into other markets, then by the price of a car in good condition going through the roof. It's the same process that's made buying an AE86 to tune up a borderline impossibility for a car guy on a budget like me.

The moving to FB thing is another problem, really, as part of the value of open forums like this is that they're visible to everyone and there aren't any distractions- it's all Honda here. On FB, it's harder to focus on car stuff because of all the other junk that's going on and it's not always easy to find the "right" group, the whole thing feels less open and more insular. That could just be me though, I might be a little old-fashioned in that regard.
 
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Hell i aint complaining about them becoming rarer and coming up in value! Means we're sat on a good investment. I dont have fb so im probably missing out on a hell of alot of parts, i have seen a few pages on my mrs account but finding the part you actually want is a ballache and then actually getting in contact with that person can be too. Not to mention the amount of 'scams' ive come across. But onto the meets/events/drives. The ae86 is a rare beast yes but ireland is full of them and yet they still manage to all meet up and go out for the day together.. what a buzz that must be for them all! Wouldnt it be nice to do the same thing? Every couple of months drag the cars out the garage blow the cobwebs off them and go out for the day! Obviously the difficult part is getting them together with us being scattered all over the country but being organised would solve that.
 
Having been searching for a good donor vehicle for my Mk3 project, it might just be that the cars are getting rarer as they rust and get broken up, combined with the scene becoming more insular as it moves to FB. From what I understand, a lot of cars that get broken up these days have their engines sold abroad (Type R engines are in demand in the US and EU, they're actually worth a lot more overseas in markets where the Type R was never a production model) and the bits never show up in the UK marketplace again. A DC2 Integra or slightly rusty EK9 is worth more in bits across Europe than it is on the road in the UK. That won't last long- the vehicles' values are already rising- but the cessation of that market won't bring the scene back, because the cars will be worth more than most "street level" guys can afford and the ones that haven't already been modified will start to stay stock more and more as they become collectors' items. In ten or twenty years we'll be seeing "restorations" of "barn-find" DC2 Type Rs that would get broken for parts in an instant in today's market with the same obsession over matching engine serials and so on that Alfa nerds and the like obsess over.

What you're left with is an ever-shrinking pool of cars that are actually viable to put onto the "scene" as it were. First due to people breaking cars up and selling the bits into other markets, then by the price of a car in good condition going through the roof. It's the same process that's made buying an AE86 to tune up a borderline impossibility for a car guy on a budget like me.

The moving to FB thing is another problem, really, as part of the value of open forums like this is that they're visible to everyone and there aren't any distractions- it's all Honda here. On FB, it's harder to focus on car stuff because of all the other junk that's going on and it's not always easy to find the "right" group, the whole thing feels less open and more insular. That could just be me though, I might be a little old-fashioned in that regard.

Totally agree with you on this Mike. Nothing else I can add to that!
 
Facebook, simple as that.
Every chav has jumped on the Civic right now who buy a bunch of cheap ebay parts and slam it on some cheap rotas that don't fit. They call it "scene tax" because they can't afford a genuine part. Also, everyone seems to be a breaker now. Basically, if they can't afford the finance on a Corsa or Fiesta they're modding ej9s with a smokey b16a2 or c4 swap and ebay parts. I'm only on the pages to sell parts and try and source decent branded parts but can't be done because everything for sale is cheap junk. Sold most of my branded stuff abroad using ebay in fact.
 
I'm down for some finger blasting!
 
Can't speak directly about the UK but it seems like the 90's Honda's are moving from modified street cars to "classic" cars. Which is probably going to mean more older owners, closer stock cars and less laps on Friday nights.
 
Honda, esp the Jap scene is dead in the North East
I'd have to disagree, I see your local, im about 10mins from Whitley... north east Honda's meet next Thursday at Dalton park, and theres a couple local jap car groups too
 
I'd have to disagree, I see your local, im about 10mins from Whitley... north east Honda's meet next Thursday at Dalton park, and theres a couple local jap car groups too

Wheres is that at? And time etc...
 
Wheres is that at? And time etc...
Dalton park just past Sunderland mate, join northeast Honda's on facebook, normally about 7pm ish, there is a meet second Thursday of the month.
 
Dalton park just past Sunderland mate, join northeast Honda's on facebook, normally about 7pm ish, there is a meet second Thursday of the month.

Ah thats a mission for me thought it was closer theres a dalton park near me, we do need to organise some daytime meets though. Find out where everyone is located and arrange it
 
Not on Facebook so I guess that's why I don't hear about these things. I'm from Cullercoats so Dalton park is a little bit of a trek but would like to pop along sometime in the future, crazy wife permitting of course.
It's good to know there is still something going on since the japnortheast and hondanortheast Sunderland meets were canned several years back
 
Not on Facebook so I guess that's why I don't hear about these things. I'm from Cullercoats so Dalton park is a little bit of a trek but would like to pop along sometime in the future, crazy wife permitting of course.
It's good to know there is still something going on since the japnortheast and hondanortheast Sunderland meets were canned several years back

Im only in walkergate mate so not far from you, yeah theres quite a few jap groups local now... what do you drive? might of seen you about before
 
white civic coupe and silver 08 plate civic most of the time as it's more practical for the family

Can't say I've seen your EK around (if it's the same colour as what's on your profile pic) the only EK around that I keep seeing is a black one with bronze rota's
 
Facebook, New generation of 'Car enthusiasts', rust and attractive finace deals on newer, faster metal are the main culprits IMO.

Also, there's a mild divide occurring in the Honda world, Between flushing bays, putting wheels on that don't really fit and concentrating on aesthetics. Then there's people
who enjoy making their genuinely better to drive and perform, Again, All IMO. Not that it should matter, We all enjoy Honda's.

And Facebook is solely responsible for forum death, Civiclife, ITR-DC2 & EK9.org used to be thriving.
 
In all honesty the practicality/aesthetic divide isn't one that's unique to the Honda crowd, that's a running theme throughout car culture, almost as old as cars themselves. It's what separates a lead sled from a hot rod, a stance car from a street racer, shakotan and kaido racers from kanjozoku and Time Attack cars. For me, it's all about personal preference, and I like both but for different reasons- I don't see why they need to be separated, and I don't get offended when I see a lowered "VIP-style" car with ridiculous camber or a wide-body kit or disdainful when I see a perfectly functional Ford Focus race car.

Never really understood why that was such a huge division.

Mind you, I am in the process of building three very different cars for three very different purposes. Only one of them's a Honda, though :)
 
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