1986 Honda Civic Si “Mouse”

Owned 1993-1996.

My first actual, working car was an ’86 Honda Civic Si, picked at a sleazy used car dealer in Ypsilanti, MI.  Once the cigarettes and dried-up french fries were cleaned out of it, Mouse became a very busy little vehicle, as I put just over 100,000 miles on it in three years.  Considering that it had 96,000 when I bought it, that’s fairly impressive.

The standard plastic hubcaps were individually painted by my friend Deb, who was in art school at the time.  When I upgraded to the phone-dial CRX wheels, I let Deb have a go at the whole car, hence the paint job.

Eventually, I got sick of replacing alternators (Mouse’s stranding me in the Great Salt Desert didn’t help) and went looking for more reliable transportation.  At the time, I was working for Ford, and my supervisor said, “We’ve got to get you out of that little shitbox!”  I pointed out to him the condition that a 1986 Ford Escort would be in after 208,000 miles, and he stopped bothering me.  I was insulted enough that I made sure Mouse’s  replacement wasn’t a Ford either, though.