Cool Cars with Chris: Car Talk, Driving Tips & Auto Life Sep 22, 2025

002 | Why This Stock 1991 Honda CRX Si Is a Rare Time Capsule

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On today's episode of Cool Cards with Chris, we are jumping right into a time capsule.

Mike Stock, 1991, Honda CRXSI, no crazy mods, no neon lights, just pure 90s Honda greatness.

This little hot hatch still turns heads today, and today you'll hear why it's still a legend.

Hey, what's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I am Chris,

and this is Cool Cards with Chris. You clicked on the right show at the right time, the right

place, baby. Welcome to it. And today we are in for a very, very special treat. We

are joined by Mike, who brings in his 1991 Honda CRXSI. Now you're thinking, okay, great,

it's just another Honda. It's just another early 90s Honda. But wait, this thing is incredibly clean.

This thing is incredibly detailed. And this thing is in pristine condition. I'm talking

mint condition as if it's been completely restored to factory. It is a classic. It is completely

super, super clean. And it is entirely stock, which is crazy to find any Honda these days,

especially from that era that hasn't been like modified or, you know, K swapped engine

swapped or whatever. So it's a real treat to see something that is literally like

stepping inside a time capsule. It feels as if this car just came off the assembly line. It

just rolled off. You just picked it up, took the saran wrap right off the thing. And here

you go. It is in pristine condition. So please enjoy my conversation with Mike and

his Honda CRXSI. Okay, welcome to another edition of Cool Cards with Chris. And

before we get started, hit that subscribe button or follow button right now. Hey,

I'm watching you. Hit it. You know where it's at. He'll know if you don't do it. That's

right. I can watch you. I can see you right now. Hit that subscribe button, follow button.

All right. Here we go. Welcome to another edition. We are with Mike and Mike's got a

really cool car, a throwback, a classic. What do you got here, Mike?

Thanks so much for having me, Chris. This is my 1991 Honda CRXSI. Wow. Now, the SI,

does it think we know what that actually means? Sport injected, I guess is what I've

always been led to believe. But I guess all you need to really know is it was the top

of the food chain back in 1991 for the CRX. There were three trim levels. And this was

the top trim level. If you can believe that as basic as this car is, it was kind

of the thing back then. Well, when you say thing back then, what were like the

competing like cars like this back then in the 90, well, I guess early 80, no, late

early 90s, late 80s. Yeah. Good question. So this would have been what people

considered to be a hot hatch, like a GTI, you know, even a Civic hatchback, very

similar to this car, Mazda MX3, which you could actually get a small V6 in.

This was really what many considered to be the golden era of Hondas back in the late

80s and early 90s. They unfortunately, they'll never make them like this anymore.

This is a very basic car. We're talking no airbags, no ABS, no nannies like that.

And it just gives an experience that you just cannot replace.

So obviously you grew up with this car, probably going to school and I'm not going

to say how old you are. I don't know. I mean, age is just the number here.

But why the CRX for you, like what made this car your car that you really like,

liked back then and still like today? Yeah, that is a very on point question, Chris.

So back in the late 80s and early 90s, back in the high school and college days

for me, this was an aspirational car. And, you know, it was something that

you could, well, not me as a student, but this is something that a lot of

people could afford. You know, these were not super expensive cars and they

were a lot of fun and Honda reliability. I mean, who can beat that?

So I've always been into Hondas. I have this 91 CRX and I've got also 200

preludes and 89 prelude SI and also a 1993 prelude SI. So I really enjoy this era.

That's great. I know that most people when they get a car like this,

any Honda really even today's Hondas, it seems like thanks to movies like

Fast and the Furious, thanks to things like that, that it's very, very rare to

find one that has not been tweaked with modified tuned intake exhaust wheels,

ribs, neon glow. How did you keep this thing mint stock condition this whole time?

Well, you know, I've only owned this car for about four years, but let me tell

you, it was a very difficult to find one that was completely stock.

And in doing so, I had a hard time. I actually had to put a question on one of

the Facebook groups. I'd finally, I'd had it. You know, I just looked everywhere.

I wanted one that was not, you know, quote unquote, riced out.

Riced out? Yeah, that's a term.

That is so hard to find. But when you find one that's completely stock like this,

it's really cherished. And I love it. I mean, I also love modified cars.

Don't get me wrong. I love modified cars and lifted trucks and jeeps.

And I love everything. But to me, a car like this just needs to be stock.

It's where it's most appreciated. And, you know, the amount of looks this

thing gets every time I'm on the freeway or at the gas station,

everybody strikes up a conversation. People usually want to buy this car.

You know, it's not for sale.

What is the biggest offer you ever got for this thing so far?

Drop numbers? No, I, I, it's, you know, just, oh, would you be willing to sell

that? And I said, sorry, it's not for sale.

So we've never talked numbers. And I'm not interested at this point.

You know, I looked for a car like this for a long time and I like it.

It's small. It doesn't take up any space in my garage.

And I'll keep it as long as I can.

That's fantastic. How many miles are on this thing?

Believe it or not, this has 167,000 miles on it.

That's fairly low. Now, are these, on these cars, do the odometers roll over

every hundred or does it have that one mark, that one, that 100,000 spot

on the odometer? Well, this is a Honda, Chris.

I mean, come on, they're built to go hundreds of thousands of miles.

I know, but some cars have the, like that old Ford Ranger I had.

Yeah. It like clicked over at 100,000.

We stepped back to zero. Yeah.

This is not the case. This has a one in front of it.

Okay. Good. And my preludes both have twos in front of them.

So look at that. They are meant to last.

That is great. That is great.

What engine does this thing have?

So this is a four cylinder.

This has a 1.6 liter single overhead cam 16 valve engine.

And it makes a scorching 106 horsepower.

Wow. You know, it's funny.

I just saw a meme yesterday.

I sent it over and it's basically was a guy.

It was all AI of course.

And this guy had like a Honda Civic or whatever.

And like, so the whole, the whole meme is that the guy took it to

like the tutor shop and he says you came in on the dyno.

You came in with 106 horsepower.

After all the upgrades, you left with 107 horsepower.

The guy was like, woo-hoo.

Yeah.

This is certainly not a car that you're going to go fast in.

I mean, make no mistake.

It has no problem doing freeway speeds, but you know,

much above say 80,

not that I would ever speed like that, of course,

but much above 80, you know,

it's not really a car you want to be in.

It's loud. It's small.

People run up on you.

And you know, that's the other thing.

This, because of the design of this, the hatchback,

people get very, very, very, very close to the back of your car.

You look in your rear mirror in the window

and there's people like three feet away from you

and you're just like back off.

You know, don't rear-end me.

I can't replace this car.

Yeah.

Well, are parts hard to find for this thing?

If you were to like something,

say somebody did run into you

and they did go into like the back quarter panel or something like that.

How would you, where would you find parts?

How'd you do that?

Well, there are mechanical parts available for this

because, you know, the parts were shared

pretty much across the Civic lineup.

But as far as body parts, bumper covers, tail lights,

you're going to have a harder time trying to find stuff like that.

So let's just hope that it doesn't happen.

Yeah, definitely.

Now, because of that, is it harder to ensure

or the same for a regular car?

No, I have this on a collector car policy

and you know, because it's not a daily driver

and I have multiple other cars that are on the same policy

and it's actually very, very inexpensive

is to ensure a car for a stated value.

You know, you pick the value you want

and you pay your premium based on that.

Your risk is lower.

And I'm in the insurance business, by the way,

so this is kind of like...

Oh, so it's your wheelhouse, really?

It is my wheelhouse, yeah.

So to answer your question, no,

it is not more difficult to ensure.

I would not put this on an actual cash value

or a daily driver policy by any means.

You just, you know, you're playing with fire

if you have a loss.

Do you remember the time?

You said about the car four years ago.

Right.

Do you remember the moment when you finally picked it up

and what was running through your mind

when you saw this car and you're like,

yes, that's the one?

So, and the guy that I bought it from,

I'm sure you'll be watching this.

He seems to watch all of my videos.

He follows along.

So I found this car semi locally

in like the Temecula Marietta area

and I'll never forget.

I put the post out there.

I'm looking to buy a car and I got several replies.

You know, and he stood out.

He's like, well, I have this car.

It's not really for sale,

but it could be for sale for the right price.

You know, here's my price.

Kind of take it or leave it type of thing.

Is it okay?

Well, that's probably a little bit more

than I wanted to spend,

but I definitely want to see the car.

So I drove up there.

We met at the mall in Temecula,

the parking lot.

And I still have to this day,

the photos of him driving away.

Went to look at the car.

Made the agreement.

Okay, we'll do the smog

and I'll pick it up on Tuesday,

but him driving away,

I'm like, okay, there it is.

There's the car right there.

I'm buying that one.

Really?

Just like that.

Wow.

That's great, man.

And I know that

this car being that,

well, how many miles do you have on it

when you first bought it, by the way?

You had 160 now.

What do you have?

167 now.

I have not put more than

maybe a few thousand miles

that they're very most on it.

Just because it's,

it's a cars and coffee car for me.

It's not,

I wouldn't take it to Walmart.

I wouldn't take it grocery shopping.

It's just not that kind of car.

You could certainly do that.

It's a hatchback,

but you don't want to leave this unattended

in the Home Depot parking lot.

Right.

You're right.

Right.

Now the color looks great on the paint job.

Is this new or is this original?

No, so this,

I had this painted a couple years ago.

These, when they came from the factory,

were a single stage red.

And when I got this car,

the top surfaces,

the paint was just very, very thin,

just from being, you know,

in the sun since 1991.

So it just made sense rather than to get,

you know, the roof and maybe the hood painted.

I had the whole car painted,

but other than that,

the rest of the car is original.

So the paint, the paint job.

Yes.

Did you have to look up the color code

and all that stuff to match?

So this is the same color as the car came in?

It is.

This is, yeah.

This is Rio red.

And it was very important to me

that the car be painted Rio red.

Not a different shade, you know,

and if you open the door jams,

they, you know, they flawlessly match under the hood,

everything, you know, that was not repainted.

So that, yes, factory specifications,

very important to me.

Yeah.

I mean, keep it identical.

So it did come this color from the factory off the line.

It came exactly like this.

And it looks great.

This is like literally like,

even the badge looks so like pristine.

I love it, you know,

because somebody's had these bads ripped off

and who knows what,

this is like, gotta be the most mint condition

of 90 or eight, I guess early 90s Honda.

I've ever seen in my life.

Well, I appreciate that.

And I do work hard.

It's not a perfect car by any means.

I know every flaw this car has.

What are those flaws then?

Oh no, we won't point those out.

Oh, come on.

Well, is there anything in the car

that you're like wish that,

I mean, it was a classic

and it's kind of like,

it is what it is.

Cause it's a time capsule in time,

the way they made cars back then.

No airbags, like you say.

Right.

No GPS,

no Siri,

that stuff.

Right.

But other than those kind of things,

anything you're like,

I wish it kind of did that back then.

Well,

I will say this and most,

many people that are into these kind of cars

may disagree with me,

but I honestly wish this car had power steering.

It has power brakes,

but no power steering.

Interesting.

And no, you don't need it.

But it just seems like when you go to crank that wheel,

it just kind of makes the car feel a little cheap.

Well, parallel parking is cheap.

It just makes the car feel cheap.

You know, like, you know,

would it have killed them?

You know,

they did have like the Civic sedan,

uh,

did have power steering.

And some people can retrofit that to this car,

but you know,

I'm keeping it stock.

So,

but yeah,

I, um,

I drove my first car that I drove,

like 16 years old was my parents had a hammy down

Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup truck,

1987 or 86,

one of those years.

And I did that power steering either.

And it was like,

we were on the freeway,

your cruise around,

it's okay,

but just trying to like turn into a parking spot

or out of a parking spot,

you're just cranking that wheel.

And I remember those days.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

Yeah.

And again,

it's just,

it's one of those things

and a lot of people may like it,

you know,

because it,

if you drive this car for the first time,

it kind of smacks you in the face.

Like, wow,

there's no power steering.

This must have been a really cheap car

back in the day.

Well,

did it have a wheel lock?

Like some cars,

when you turn the wheel,

they'll lock if you don't get the key

or something,

if you do that.

Oh, it does.

Yeah.

First security feature,

I think most cars do that.

Whereas new cars,

they're now all electronic

and they fail.

Yeah.

I know.

Yeah.

I heard like the worst car,

like,

like I know people that have owned BMWs.

Yeah.

And especially when they get the

high mileage ones that are up

into like the 60,000 and above,

you know, range,

everything fails

and everything's expensive.

That's right.

And you know,

the one car,

the car that you and I have in common,

the Nissan 370Z,

that's also a big problem

with those cars,

the electronic steering lock.

Yeah.

They fail

and you know,

you could be stuck.

So won't worry about that

with this car

because if it fails,

you just crank the wheel

a little bit along unlock.

Oh, really?

Is that a trick?

Well, no,

but I mean,

it's not, you know,

it's just mechanical.

So you put the key in,

you know,

and you just turn the wheel

a little bit and unlocks.

Nice.

Yeah.

Nice.

So you said you haven't put

a little miles in this car.

Have you taken it anywhere far?

Like,

what's the furthest place

you've taken this car to?

Yeah, that's a great question.

I actually take this every year

to JCCS in Long Beach,

Japanese classic car show.

That is coming up in about three weeks

from the date of this filming.

So that is in Long Beach

and that's an all day affair.

I also go to Radwood.

I've gone to Radwood every year,

except for the first year,

only because I didn't know about it.

This car has made the journey with me

for the last several years.

And I mean,

it's probably out of my

three golden era Hondas

is probably what I consider the nicest,

you know,

so it's most show ready car.

So to quickly answer your question,

Los Angeles,

you know,

we're in San Diego here.

Yeah.

And so that's about as far as this

car has gone with me.

I'm sure it ran just fine all the way up there.

Oh, yeah.

No problems.

Big of running.

What kind of oil do you put in?

What kind of gas do you put in?

So the oil is just regular,

like 10 W 30.

And, you know,

full synthetic is fine.

I'm not against putting full synthetic

in older cars like this.

It hasn't been an issue in this.

And this car, by the way,

does not leak any oil.

So that's great.

Most old oil though,

because that older Hondas do burn oil.

Yeah.

Not that I'm aware of.

I think, you know,

simply because it's an old car

at this point,

it probably does burn a little bit.

But, you know,

I don't expect the oil frequently the level.

And I haven't had to add oil in this

for a very long time.

Gas is just regular 87 octane.

That's it.

And no premium?

No premium in this.

No.

The Prelude,

my 93 Prelude does require,

you know,

91.

And the Z required it too.

Of course.

I remember that.

Yeah.

So, but we have my truck,

I can run ethanol or whatever in there.

And it's a fun throw around

and see what I can do

with different blends of gas.

But that's great, man.

So, when you take this car out to cars and coffee

or to LA or wherever you take this thing out,

what are people's reaction

when they see this car?

Well, it's usually,

well, not so much JCCS Japanese Classic Car Show

because there's 400 other cars.

Just like this?

Just like this.

All Japanese manufacturers.

Right.

And you have to kind of audition to be in that show.

You have to send them photos.

Really?

They have to approve your photos.

They want to see the engine.

They want to see the, you know,

the interior.

They ask for the VIN number?

They don't ask for the VIN number.

No.

But I mean,

this car has never had a problem,

you know, making the cut.

They want, they don't want, you know,

Bondo Buggies or Primered Rides at the show,

which I understand.

Yeah.

Yeah, it makes sense.

You know, I mean,

there's a couple of museums I've been to.

There's one in the San Diego Museum

down by the...

Belleville Park.

And they have all kinds of cars in there.

And I don't know if they had

an old Honda like this,

but I can see this fitting right in place,

in a place like that.

There was one in Lafayne,

I used to go to.

There was one in Vegas.

I don't know if it's still there anymore.

But all kinds of different cars.

And I can see a car like this

fitting right in to there.

I can see that.

And I like that you got the actual,

like you said it was an original window sticker,

but it's a window sticker.

It looks like an original stick,

window sticker.

Right.

Right on the side.

I was trying forever to find the window sticker

for the Z,

because I bought it used.

I didn't have the window sticker.

So I was trying to find one,

a copy,

because I was trying to find out which version I had.

I knew it was a sport version,

but I wasn't sure I wanted to get the window sticker.

Where did you get the window sticker for this thing?

How'd you find it?

So the guy that made that for me,

unfortunately is no longer doing those.

So,

but he had made window stickers

for all of my cars in the past.

Cars that I no longer own,

including all the ones that I still own.

But it is up to me

to kind of provide all of the information.

Where this car came from,

the dealership it was originally sold from originally,

the options.

And with this car, it's so simple.

I mean,

everything was dealer installed.

Fortunately, this came with dealer installed

air conditioning,

floor mats,

mud flaps, believe it or not.

Yeah.

I know the old cars had that.

There were some preloads.

I saw they had that mud flaps on the back tires there.

Yeah.

There's a little kind of thing of cut out.

Is that like a triangle kind of piece?

Kind of around the bumper

kind of stuck out the bottom there.

Yeah.

So, well, that's great, man.

And people do, when they do see this car,

they asked to go for a ride

or they just take pictures with it or anything like that.

Yeah.

No one's ever asked to go for a ride in it.

Well, I'm asking you for a ride.

Well, yeah.

But I mean, you know,

people at a gas station, no,

I wouldn't let just strangers in my car.

But of course not.

I mean, yeah, you know,

yeah, the keys or whatever.

But you know, I,

I like mentioned before,

I have a few other cars of this era

and I kind of rotate through them.

And I am at Escondido cars and coffee every Sunday.

For those of you that are local to the San Diego area,

Dennis, along with the help of myself,

we run the cars and coffee and it's been going on.

God, we are,

we're going on, I think,

six years at this point.

What time on Sunday is it at?

It's at Kid Carson Park.

It's every Sunday rain or shine and we started at 8 a.m.

And we have theme weeks.

So Japanese week, we just had,

you know, we have Euro week.

We have truck week.

We have van week.

We have week prefer, you know, pretty much any.

Would my truck be welcome at truck week over there?

Your truck would absolutely be welcome at truck week.

I took my lifted Silverado to truck week.

Oh, nice.

You bring anything you want.

Lifted, lowered, work in progress.

We don't care.

We have no rules.

Is there a fee to bring your car?

There is no fee.

No, of course not.

It is at Kid Carson Park.

There's no fee for the entry to the park,

but it's kind of right behind the mall in Escondido,

off of Bear Valley Parkway,

33, 33 Bear Valley Parkway actually.

And there's no fee to participate.

And on any given Sunday,

we have anywhere from like,

maybe 100 cars to sometimes several 100 cars.

If it's the theme week.

Japanese, yeah.

Japanese week is probably our biggest one.

So what is the,

what is the like rarest car you've had there?

Like you would think of rare.

I mean, I think, you know, I mean,

Well, you know, we,

we tend to get a lot of like,

military guys that will import,

you know, JDM spec.

Like a skyline or something?

Skylines.

We see those way like,

like rights all the time.

What is the right though?

The right hand drive.

Yeah.

Skylines or, you know,

even like accords or things like that, you know,

as far as other cars,

I mean, we get, you know,

some Ferraris and Lamborghinis occasionally.

Those are not, I just,

those are not cars that I care about personally.

I would rather, if I won the lottery

and money were no object,

I would fill my garage with cars like this.

Look at that.

I really honestly would.

And case in point,

I, there was a time when I did own an R35 GTR

and my friends made fun of me because

I would leave that in the garage

and I would drive my 89 Prelude.

And nobody could,

why, why do you have a GTR?

Where's the GTR today?

Oh, uh,

traded in a long ago.

Man, that, that, that's a car.

My kids want that.

My son wanted a GTR.

And I said, go look them up on,

on the auto,

on the auto traders,

see what they go for.

Yeah.

And he's like, what?

What?

He thought there were like 10, 20 grand.

Well, you know,

as many people do when I had my 370Z,

I aspired to own a GTR.

So I traded the 370Z on the GTR.

And I'm like, this is a nice car.

It's really fast,

but I'm kind of bored with it.

It doesn't, you know,

it's just not really for me.

So I would rather have a lot of these.

Nice.

Maybe not necessarily a bunch of CRX's,

but cars, you know, of the golden era,

you know, I had a,

for a decade,

I owned a 1990 Miata that I just recently sold

to a friend.

I let him borrow it.

And he messaged me and he said,

I'm in love with this car.

Really?

And I said, do you want to buy it?

He goes, yes.

So immediately we made the deal.

Wow.

It's great.

So great.

Was it, was it,

was it modified or stock?

Pretty close stock.

It was pretty much stock.

You know, again,

I'm not against modifying cars.

I love modifying cars,

but you know,

when was the last time you saw a stock 1990 Miata?

They're rare.

They're out there,

but they're rare.

I get a trip out.

Is that the,

the monster Miata's with the VH or the LS Wops

or the Coyote VH would I throw in those things?

And,

and I don't know if they're even legal in California

with, with carb and all that.

So I don't even know how that stuff works.

Well, I don't know if you knew this,

but they, those back in the day were actually manufactured

right in San Marcos.

Yeah.

I did see a YouTube video about that.

Right off the north all.

Yeah.

There was a company out there that did that.

I mean, you could monster Miata.

Yeah.

I think that's where I got the theme from.

I saw a few monster Miata's at a few car shows.

I saw them like that's,

that's pretty insane.

And it's either surprisingly balanced.

They are,

they put the old like 302,

you know, the 5.0,

the 5.0.

Yeah.

Pushrod engine in those cars back in the day.

And I've seen one,

I've seen more LS swap Miata's because they're, you know,

just more prevalent these days.

Yeah.

I'm sure you could do it, you know,

in a state like California,

it might be difficult with our smog laws.

Well, I did hear about that new,

hear about the new Dodge Durango.

Hear about that.

Yeah, I did.

About how, how they're not,

it's only a little,

the top tier models with the super charge,

whether it's a scrap pack version,

cannot be sold in California.

Any state that's got a carb, like any carb state.

Sure.

It says fed states only when you look at the website.

Yeah.

I think it's nuts.

Here's a car that,

if you cross state line into California with it,

they just,

when they take it,

what do they do with it?

I don't know.

Well,

No, I just think you can't register it here necessarily.

But you can certainly,

you're free to drive your car into California.

But you know,

that's really no different.

A lot of your viewers may know about the whole,

you know,

one of your,

your,

your previous show with the Elantra N,

you know,

there was a situation in California.

I think it was Orange County,

leaving the South or OC cars and coffee or going to it,

where the guy got pulled over and got a ticket

for having the factory.

The stock exhaust.

Exhaust on it.

Yeah.

You can,

you can look that up and I'm not sure whatever happened.

I think that was probably maybe a year or so ago,

but I would like to know what happened.

If anybody knows, put it in the comments, you know.

Yeah.

Because some of these cars,

like some of the Dodge,

the Dodge,

like the Scatbacks or the 392,

the Scatback,

I'm thinking that there was one I was looking at.

Before I bought my truck,

I was actually looking at the,

the four door was at the Challenger Charger.

Charger.

I get it too mixed up.

The Charger with the 392 engine.

And I was looking at that.

And those things sound pretty loud.

And I'm sure they got a loud mode on them

and everything on the thing and all that.

And I was like, man,

I've heard people getting pulled over,

especially in a parking garage,

where you fire that thing up

and you're just like, you know,

I've seen videos and YouTube videos

getting pulled over all kinds of stuff.

And eventually you can go in a wormhole

just watching video after video,

people getting pulled over.

Yeah.

And you know,

I have friends that are attorneys

and they'll all tell you the same thing.

Look, don't give them probable cause to pull you over.

If you're riding around with dark-tinted windows

in California,

Oh yeah.

It's probable cause.

You're missing a front license plate,

probable cause.

You may have a lot of exhaust,

probable cause.

You know, just don't give the opportunity

for that to happen.

And you know, you should be fine.

I already got the exhaust out of my Z.

I love that thing.

But it was like almost kind of mellow.

Cause like that guy did ask me,

you want it loud or you want it performance?

That's the performance.

And so it was, it had a nice tone to it.

Almost sounded like stock.

You know, it didn't sound too crazily,

crazy loud.

I've heard some that go by

and it's like told me exhaust.

I chopped the whole thing off

and it's just loud as loud as can be.

It's like a trumpet.

It sounds like a trumpet going by.

It's got the whole joke about the feature engine.

It's a trumpet, you know, and stuff like that.

So, but this has been great.

This car looks amazing.

And it is a stick shift, five speed or four speed?

It's a five speed.

Really?

Yes.

Now, at what point did they make five speeds?

Cause I thought they were four speeds back in the day.

Well, so back in this era,

this 1988 through 1991,

all of the CRXs were five speeds

or you could get the automatic transmission

in the middle line, which was the DX model.

Those are four speeds?

No, no, no.

They didn't offer a four speed manual in this car.

They were all five speed or automatic.

The only version that got the automatic was the DX model.

The kind of like everyday driver looking thing.

The CRX HF, the high fuel economy one was five speed only

as is the CRX SI, the top level trim.

Five speed only.

So yeah, four speeds were gone by this point.

So they don't make SI editions for Hondas anymore.

Don't they just go with like an R version now?

A type R?

Well, yeah, they kind of did away with the I,

which kind of stands for fuel injection.

Back when all cars started to become fuel injected,

they would just change the, even with the prelude,

they just did away with the SI.

To me, SI will always mean like the hot hatch version

or the one you want.

Yeah, I remember that too.

SI was pretty cool.

And this is a super cool car, man.

I dig it.

I appreciate this kind of air of Hondas that are super clean.

In fact, it's fuel injection.

It's great.

Cause I remember the truck I was telling you about,

the Mitch Spieci, that thing was carbureted.

Had a big old like filter on the hood, you know,

the big old thing that they filter carburetor.

And I thought fuel injection was something for the cool cars

and fuel injection back then.

Cause that was my thing going in high school.

I was like, I wanted a fuel injection.

I don't care what it is,

as long as it's fuel injected.

Right.

Exactly.

That was the thing.

Because it has it.

It's great.

Yeah.

It was so rare back then,

especially for a high school kid to have a hand-me-down car

that might be fuel injected, you know?

Yeah.

Well, I had rich kids too.

The parents had, you know,

Range Rovers and things like that or whatever.

Like someday, someday or whatever, you know?

Yeah.

But I never grew up with any kind of, you know,

money or buying power, you know,

or anything like that.

So to have anything that was my own,

I guess was kind of something very,

be proud to have.

And this is a great car.

And hopefully it will last you like forever.

You know?

And that's kind of like, you know,

I would consider this to be an aspirational car.

You know, it certainly was for me back in the day,

even though I couldn't afford one.

But, you know, I always aspired to own it.

And later in life, you know,

when you have a little extra money

and you have the ability to track down

and find something, you know, you aspire to,

I really cherish it as much now as I probably would have

back if I owned it brand new.

That's just, you know,

either you like cars or you don't, you know?

Yeah, that's the thing.

There's people that just think cars are just

modes of transportation.

They've been doing it for the store to work.

An appliance, you know, a Prius or whatever.

And there's nothing wrong with that,

but that's why cars like this

will always be valuable to people like me.

There you go.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think it's super cool car.

I'm gonna wait to go for a ride.

You want to go for a ride?

Let's do it.

All right.

Let's do this.

Wow.

That was fantastic.

I want to thank Mike once again for coming on down

and bringing his Honda CRX SI

and getting to share it with you, with me.

And I got to get a ride in the thing.

That was super cool.

It was such a fun car to drive around in.

And it had like this nice purr to the engine.

It was a classic Honda four cylinder,

one valve, 1.6 liter.

And it had that nice little sound,

that classic Honda sound when you hear the engine.

It just sounds like something that takes you back

to my childhood because I grew up with cars like that.

I rode around in cars like that.

And it just feels like such a throwback

and it puts you in a different space and time.

Like it sends you back in the down the memory lane.

And that's why I love about that car.

It's great.

It's why Mike loves that car.

And it's such a cool iconic car.

And I would like to thank you for listening

all the way to the very end of this episode.

And you like these episodes.

And if you like this show,

please give it a rating and review.

But before you do that,

go on and check out the brand new website

put together for cool cars with Chris.

That website is cool cars with Chris.com.

Go over there.

I've got all the links to all the videos I display

on YouTube are right in there.

I got, of course, all the podcast stuff

is right over there.

Every single episode is right there

at coolcarswithchris.com.

And there's also links to social media.

I'm mostly active on Instagram.

It's on there too.

So you want to check that out.

All of that and ways to message me.

That's all right there at coolcarswithchris.com.

And I hope you enjoy your car, drive safe,

stay legal, have fun, don't crash it,

especially if it's a classic because those classics,

like Mike said, are very hard to replace

if they get in a crash.

So drive safe, please.

And until next time, I'll catch you later.

About this episode

Mike shares his passion for his pristine, all-stock 1991 Honda CRX SI, a rare time capsule from the golden era of Hondas. The conversation covers the car's history, its simple yet reliable design, and the challenges of finding an unmodified example today. Mike discusses maintenance, insurance, and the joy of showing the car at events like JCCS and Radwood. The episode also touches on the nostalgia and unique driving experience of this classic hot hatch, emphasizing its value as a cherished collector's item.

Chevrolet Silverado Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger Ford Ranger Honda Civic Honda CRX Honda Prelude Hyundai Elantra Land Rover Range Rover Mazda MX-3 Mazda MX-5 / Miata Nissan 370Z Nissan GT-R (R35) Toyota Prius Volkswagen Golf

Original notes

On today’s episode of Cool Cars with Chris, we’re stepping back in time with Mike and his incredibly clean, all-original 1991 Honda CRX Si — no mods, no swaps, no neon, just pure 90s Honda greatness.

Mike takes us through what makes this CRX special, how rare it is to find one unmodified, and why he chose this car over newer, flashier models — including a GTR he once owned (!).

We also dig into the golden era of Honda, the challenge of keeping this beauty mint, where he shows it off, and even touch on California’s wild exhaust laws. If you're a fan of old-school Hondas, JDM culture, or just clean, classic cars, this is one for the books.

Make sure to check out the new website: coolcarswithchris.com for episodes, videos, and social links.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to hit that follow or subscribe button!

00:00 – Intro: A pristine 1991 Honda CRX Si

00:52 – Meet Mike and the CRX Si

01:25 – Why a stock CRX is so rare

02:24 – The definition of “Si” and trim levels

03:22 – Competing hot hatches of the 90s

04:05 – Mike’s personal connection to the CRX

04:55 – Mike’s collection of 80s and 90s Hondas

05:12 – Why unmodified Hondas are special

06:00 – How Mike found this car

07:06 – Mileage and reliability

07:46 – Engine specs and performance

08:34 – Driving experience and freeway vibes

09:06 – Parts availability and insurance

10:25 – Buying story: Temecula pickup memory

12:02 – When and where Mike drives it

12:24 – Paint job: matching factory Real Red

13:41 – The car’s flaws (or lack thereof)

14:09 – The one thing Mike wishes it had

15:07 – Driving without power steering

16:21 – Longest drive Mike’s done with it

17:24 – Oil type and gas usage

18:15 – Reactions at car meets and shows

19:11 – This car belongs in a museum

20:01 – Reproduction window sticker

21:05 – People’s reactions and Cars & Coffee details

22:51 – Rarest cars at Cars & Coffee

23:39 – Why Mike prefers classic Hondas over supercars

25:04 – Stock Miatas and Monster Miatas

26:20 – CARB states and exhaust law talk

27:30 – Street legal issues and ticket stories

28:52 – Chris's old exhaust and VQ engines

29:03 – Manual transmission & 5-speed details

30:17 – What “Si” means today

31:03 – The appeal of fuel injection back in the day

31:16 – Final thoughts: nostalgia and value of old cars

32:09 – Let's go for a ride!

32:29 – Recap: A ride down memory lane

33:10 – Wrap up and thank you

33:32 – Website, socials, and closing message

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