The original Civic, built to replace the tiny N600 and roughly double its displacement while keeping the same basic idea: light, front-wheel drive, transversely mounted.[1] Its CVCC engine variant, launched in 1975, could meet strict new American emissions rules without a catalytic converter, which meant it could run on leaded fuel when many rivals could not, a real advantage during the era’s gasoline shortages.
The launch engine’s power figure is the one soft spot in this entry:
Wikipedia’s own article gives it only as “roughly 50 hp”, not a certified
number, so it is recorded here as estimated rather than presented with
false precision.