Honda CRX with rear engine on sale: The cult car that Honda never built itself

Honda fans have always dreamed of a compact rear-wheel drive CRX . Honda itself never built this car – but a passionate mechanic in the USA has brought the idea to life. His 1994 CRX, for sale on Bring a Trailer , is a radical conversion that's making the hearts of the scene beat faster.

The heart of the conversion is a 2.2-liter H22A VTEC four-cylinder from a 1994 Honda Prelude. It's mounted directly behind the seats. It's mated to a five-speed transmission with a limited-slip differential. This transforms the formerly front-wheel-drive CRX into a rear-wheel-drive car—with around 200 hp and a sound that, thanks to the sports exhaust and Skunk 2 intake, probably has nothing to do with the production car.

To ensure that the power gets to the road, the owner, an aeronautical engineer, dug deep into the technical box: The entire rear end received the chassis, subframe, and brakes of a Civic EG. A double-wishbone suspension with coilovers and Prothane bushings now works all around. At the front, in the former engine compartment, the radiator and an eight-gallon (30.3-liter) fuel tank sit above an aluminum floor. Visually, however, the CRX remains almost inconspicuous: white paint, discreet 16-inch five-spoke wheels, and an opaque black panel in place of the glass tailgate insert.

The interior reveals more of the transformation: The bucket seats are from an Integra, along with a sports steering wheel and Schroth seatbelts. Behind the seats, a heat shield with a window separates the interior from the engine compartment. The speedometer is not original, and the owner has modernized the entire cockpit – he meticulously documented the conversion. According to him, he completed the project in the mid-2000s and has driven only 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) since then.