Sunday, March 26, 2017

2006 Honda Civic Si / EX (FG2) 2-Door Compact Sports Coupe Custom - American Specs Collector 028 2006 First Editions - Faster Than Ever Series 28/38 Diecast Scale 1:66 by Hot Wheels


Muchas cosas pueden ser dichas sobre el significado del modelo Civic para Honda, pero hay una que probablemente pone este asunto en perspectiva: Honda sería solo un negocio de motocicletas o tal vez algo más, si no fuera por el Civic... 

El mercado automotriz tiene una dinámica particular que es elusiva incluso para personas involucradas con este segmento productivo y siempre viene a mi mente el ejemplo de Enzo Ferrari (un ejemplo muy práctico, en efecto =PPPPP): él solo quería desarrollar y construir autos de carreras, pero se empeñaba en ignorar que el dinero para esos proyectos venía de sus coches de calle... 

La verdad es que la gente tiende a pasar por alto la trascendencia de los modelos más comunes o populares para las empresas que los producen y ellos solo ponen atención a sus proyectos más extravagantes... 

Sin embargo, el éxito para los fabricantes de carros difícilmente viene de esos desarrollos extraordinarios, a saber: autos conceptuales, coches de carreras o carros de lujo superior y desde luego, estos ayudan a generar reputación, prestigio, un nombre para la historia así que, son necesarios en el contexto global de esta clase de compañías. 

Con todo, la sobrevivencia en este mercado está casi exclusivamente basada en los vehículos cotidianos, que puedes ver por todos lados, no demasiado sofisticados, no demasiado singulares, no demasiado llamativos, pero con un montón de sentido común y las ventas lo muestran abrumadoramente. 

El Civic es definitivamente uno de esos autos, de hecho, comenzó como parte de la Clase Kei Car (minicoches del mercado japonés), sí, una micromáquina, carro citadino o vehículo sub-compacto, sin muchas pretensiones. 

Cuando Honda estaba en su primera etapa como fabricante de autos, sus vehículos eran tan "idiosincráticos", quiero decir, demasiado peculiares incluso para el mercado japonés, que su desempeño en ventas era tibio y esta empresa estaba considerando seriamente dejar el negocio de los coches a principios de los 70s. 

El Civic cambió eso y con 10 generaciones hasta ahora, es probablemente el modelo más longevo en el portafolio de Honda y un carro apreciado en varios mercados alrededor del mundo. 

Estoy introduciendo el Coupé Deportivo Compacto 2 Puertas Honda Civic Si / EX (FG2) de 2006, parte de las opciones disponibles para la octava generación y el modelo dirigido a un manejo más enérgico; esta es la versión desarrollada para el mercado americano, muestra un diseño en general muy atractivo y coherente, que mejora cada aspecto de la generación anterior (la cual presentaba un estilo soso). 

Incluye una planta de poder interesante: un motor de 122 cpulgadas cúbicas, 2.0 L, 4 En Línea K20Z3 i-VTEC, clasificado en 197 hp y acoplado a una transmisión manual de 6 velocidades, que entrega una gran maniobrabilidad, aunque un rendimiento asombroso no es su asunto (lo que puede ser solucionado con partes del mercado de accesorios, si quieres)... 

Yo desarrollé mi gusto por los carros japoneses y de otros países asiáticos antes que otros amigos y colegas coleccionistas contemporáneos, pero tengo que admitir que fue el resultado en gran parte de algo que me intrigaba sobre coleccionistas mayores, con más experiencia en esta afición: ¿por qué ellos coleccionaban réplicas de vehículos del lejano oriente?... 

Mi primera reacción fue preguntarles directamente y fueron lo suficientemente amables para compartir su experticia, además, hice mi propia investigación y el amor por los coches asiáticos comenzó a desarrollarse. 

En consecuencia, comencé a conseguir algunas réplicas a escala de carros asiáticos mientras estaban ampliamente disponibles, a los mismos precios o más bajos que otros modelos, para darme cuenta luego de un tiempo (1 ó 2 años más tarde, de hecho) que llegaron a ser una "tendencia predominante" entre algunos "coleccionistas "experimentados" y la mayoría de coleccionistas novatos. 

Supongo que ya sabes lo que pienso acerca de seguir tendencias así que, cada vez que veo unos de estos "coleccionistas expertos" alardeando sobre sus modelos asiáticos "exclusivos", por los cuales tuvieron que pagar una pequeña fortuna, no puedo evitar sentir un poco de lástima; no porque me considere a mí mismo el "coleccionista definitivo", sino porque fanfarronear sobre algo como eso (ser estafado, entre otras cosas) es ridículo, pueril, sí, porque es el comportamiento que esperas de un mocoso malcriado y no de un adulto hecho y derecho... 

El modelo introducido en esta publicación, basado en un Honda Civic Si de 2006, pero personalizado en el estilo particular de Hot Wheels, fue parte de mis primeras adquisiciones, hace casi 5 años, con la ayuda de un amigo, colega coleccionista e importador. 

Es parte del prolífico trabajo de Jun Imai, un diseñador que ha logrado renombre por sus bonitos moldes, ya sea que estemos hablando de modelos JDM (principalmente), americanos, europeos o conceptuales; es una de las seis variaciones creadas para la Serie First Editions y una de las tres presentando un esquema de color verde; con 26 iteraciones desde 2006, puedes apostar que es un modelo bastante popular. 

La mía es la variación Faster Than Ever, que es una especie de edición limitada, comparada con la variación regular, ya que es más costosa de producir, pero aparentemente "menos" exclusiva que la Edición SEMA 2005; tiene carrocería en diecast y chasis en plástico negro, este último tiene algunos detalles. 

El trabajo de pintura fue hecho en verde manzana con acabado metalizado, el complemento son tampos y/o calcomanías para una decoración sutil de flamas en verde oliva sobre los paneles laterales, con un logo de Hot Wheels en plateado, las luces de cola, la placa trasera y un logo de Civic en la ventana trasera, un esquema de color encantador. 

Los interiores fueron trabajados en cromado (una elección extraña), hay un inserto en plástico negro para el alerón trasero, las ventanas son ahumadas, las ruedas plásticas con ejes especiales recubiertos de niquel (que reducen la fricción haciéndolos más veloces) presentan diseño de rimes Open Hole 5 Spoke en bronce y fue hecho en Malasia... 

Mat 13:18-23 "Oíd, pues, vosotros la parábola del sembrador: cuando alguno oye la Palabra del Reino y no la entiende, viene el malo, y arrebata lo que fue sembrado en su corazón. Este es el que fue sembrado junto al camino. Y el que fue sembrado en pedregales, éste es el que oye la Palabra, y al momento la recibe con gozo; pero no tiene raíz en sí, sino que es de corta duración, pues al venir la aflicción o la persecución por causa de la Palabra, luego tropieza. El que fue sembrado entre espinos, éste es el que oye la Palabra, pero el afán de este siglo y el engaño de las riquezas ahogan la Palabra, y se hace infructuosa. Más el que fue sembrado en buena tierra, éste es el que oye y entiende la Palabra, y da fruto; y produce a ciento, a sesenta, y a treinta por uno."

ENGLISH 
Many things can be said about the meaning of the Civic model for Honda, but there is one that probably puts this matter in perspective: Honda would be only a motorcycles business or maybe something else if not for the Civic... 


The automotive market has a particular dynamic that is elusive even for people involved with this productive segment and always comes to my mind the example of Enzo Ferrari (a very handy example, indeed =PPPPP): he only wanted to develop and build racing cars, but he insisted on ignoring that the money for those projects came for his street cars... 

Truth is that people tend to overlook the transcendence of the most common or popular models for the companies that produce them and they only pay attention to their most extravagant projects... 

However, success for car manufacturers hardly comes from those extraordinary developments, namely: concept cars, racing cars or top luxury cars and of course, these help to generate reputation, prestige, a name for history so, they are necessary in the overall context of this kind of companies. 

Yet, the survival in this market is almost solely based on the everyday vehicles, that you can see everywhere, not too sophisticated, not too singular, not too showy, but with a lot of common sense and sales show it overwhelmingly. 

The Civic is definitely one of those cars, in fact, it began as part of the Kei Car Class (japanese market minicars), yeah, a micromachine, city car or sub-compact vehicle, without much pretensions. 

When Honda was in its first stage as car manufacturer, its vehicles were so "idiosincratic", I mean, too peculiar even for the japanese market, that their performance in sales was lukewarm and this company was considering seriously to quit the car business in the early 70s. 

The Civic changed that and with 10 generations until now, it’s probably the longest-lived model in the Honda’s portfolio and an appreciated car in several markets around the world. 

I’m introducing the 2006 Honda Civic Si / EX (FG2) 2-Door Compact Sports Coupe, part of the options available for the eighth generation and the model geared to a more spirited driving; this one is the version developed for the american market, it shows a very attractive and coherent overall design, that improves every aspect of the previous generation (which featured a bland styling). 

It includes an interesting powerplant: a 122 cu in, 2.0 L, Inline 4 K20Z3 i-VTEC engine, rated at 197 hp and coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission, that delivers a great maneuverability, albeit an amazing performance is not its matter (which could be solved with aftermarket components, if you will)... 

I developed my taste for japanese cars and from other asian countries before other friends and fellow collectors contemporaries, but I have to admit that it was largely the result of something that intrigued me about older fellow collectors, with more experience in this hobby: why they collected replicas of vehicles from the far east?... 

My first reaction was to ask them directly and they were kind enough to share their expertise, also, I made my own research and the love for asian cars began to develop. 

Accordingly, I began to get some scale replicas of asian cars while they were widely available, at the same or lower prices than other models, to realize after a while (1 or 2 years later, in fact) that they became a "mainstream" among some "experienced collectors" and most novice collectors. 

I guess you already know what I think about following trends so, every time I see one of those "expert collectors" bragging about their "exclusive" asian models, for which they had to pay a small fortune, I can’t help but feeling a bit of pity; not because I consider myself the "ultimate collector", but because brag about something like that (being ripped off, among other things) is ludicrous, puerile, yeah, because that’s the behavior you expect from a spoiled brat and not from a fully fledged adult... 

The model introduced in this publication, based on a 2006 Honda Civic Si, but customized in the particular style of Hot Wheels, was part of my early acquisitions, almost 5 years ago, with the help of a friend, fellow collector and importer. 

It’s part of the prolific work of Jun Imai, a designer that has achieved renown for his nice casts, either we are talking about JDMs (mostly), american, european or concept models; it’s one of the six variations created for the First Editions Series and one of the three featuring green color scheme; with 26 iterations since 2006, you can bet it’s a quite popular model. 

Mine is the Faster Than Ever variation, which is a sort of limited edition, compared with the regular variation and much more now, since it’s more expensive to produce, but seemingly less "exclusive" than the 2005 SEMA Edition; it has diecast body and black plastic chassis, the latter has some detailing. 

The paint job was made in apple green with metallic finishing, the complement are some tampos and/or decals for a subtle decoration of flames in olive green on the side paneles, with a Hot Wheels logo in silver, the tail lights, rear plate and a Civic logo on the rear window, a lovely color scheme. 

The interiors were worked in chrome (a quirky choice), there is a plastic insert in black for the rear wing, the windows are smoked, the plastic wheels with special nickel-plated axles (that reduce friction making them faster) feature Open Hole 5 Spoke rims design in bronze and it was made in Malaysia... 

Mat 13:18-23 "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold some sixty, some thirty."

4 comments:

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

Lately, I realized your will prompt language translation and it's very considerate of you to have the English segment even before this new feature. Like u have mentioned, the Japanese cars like Honda Civic ain't too showy or flashy yet they are competitive in terms of pricing and performance. They can serve as saloon car for average joes yet have the allowance to tune up as a performance car. You seriously go into details and even mentioned and have credit to the cast designer. I like the unusual use of metallic lime green colour with tone down use of HW flames. Also an extra effort of HW to chrome the interior.

chrismandesign said...

There was a point, in my blogging experience, when I was aware of the importance of making my content more accessible to more people around the world and I decided to create publications in my native language (spanish) and also in english, it looks like it has worked out !!!...

Now, regarding cars, well, it flows, I always loved them, but it took some time to get familiar with asian cars... When I prepare these publications, I learn a lot about the cars, but also about history, different cultures; in fact, it gets even more interesting when I’m publishing models available in my homeland, which is not the case this time, since coupes and sports cars are not so popular in Colombia (people here prefer sedans/saloons), but the Civic in general terms is a car you can see here in the local dealer network of Honda !!!... =D

David John Shewsbury said...

Green is never my favorite color but I can't deny that this Civic looks decent with such color, it's pretty hard to get this JDM, often sold out even in our part of the world here...

chrismandesign said...

HEHE, yeah, I already know that green is the color you like the least and red is you favorite by far, but in my case it’s a nice color and it actually works very well in pictures... This generation of Civic (eight) is probably the one I like the most, indeed more than the most recent generation, but it’s really hard to see here the actual car, since as I explained before, Colombia, my homeland, is not a good market for coupes in general terms...

On the other hand, if your comment about "it’s pretty hard to get this JDM..." refers to this scale replica made by Hot Wheels, well, I must agree...This particular Series, the First Edition became a sort of holy grail and if you happen to find it, its price is prohibitive, absurd and it happened precisely when JDMs were turned into "mainstream"... At the time I got it, this model was just one of the heap and most collectors were reluctant to even consider it, but I saw something special in it and I was just exploring the JDMs so, I grabbed it... I guess I have a keen eye !!!... =D