YORK, England — Honda started promoting the Match-based second-generation HR-V in america as a 2016 mannequin, however we by no means noticed its first-generation predecessor right here. That boxier, shorter machine debuted in Japan as a 1998 mannequin and went on sale in Europe for the 2000 mannequin 12 months. Throughout my latest journey to the junkyards scrapyards of northern England (that is what they name them right here) I discovered this first-year instance on the U-Pull-It in York.
U-Pull-It UK is owned by Dallas-based Copart and its two British areas (the opposite is in Edinburgh, Scotland) function very like their counterparts in america. One distinction is that each one clients should put on high-visibility vests while on the premises, so I introduced the one issued to me by the organisers of the Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb final summer season.
The workers on the York U-Pull-It had been very pleasant and useful, although the native dialect could be difficult for natives of the remainder of the English-speaking world to grasp. I’ve documented among the vehicles I photographed at their yard already, together with a 2007 Mitsubishi Colt, a 2008 Mitsubishi i, a 2005 Good ForFour, a 2002 BMW 320td and a 2010 Peugeot Bipper, with many extra to come back.
The unique HR-V was based mostly on the platform of the Honda Emblem, which itself was the successor to the Honda Metropolis (sure, that Honda Metropolis). The all-wheel-drive system was the identical one used within the CR-V.
It was designed with its dwelling market in thoughts and is thus a masterpiece of compacting a variety of inside area right into a small footprint. Two-door and four-door variations had been accessible, whereas the later generations all had 4 doorways. As you’d assume, the second- and third-generation HR-Vs which have appeared in American Honda showrooms (for the 2016-2022 and 2023-up mannequin years, respectively) are each greater and extra truck-shaped than the first-generation variations. At the moment’s Junkyard Scrapyard Gem has a curb weight of two,381 to 2,557 kilos, whereas the present (Civic/CR-V-based) U.S.-market HR-V scales in at 3,159 to three,333 kilos.
The engine on this one is a VTEC-equipped 16-valve D16W5 straight-four, rated at 122 horsepower. The transmission on this automotive is a five-speed guide.
In line with details about its remaining public sale, it was a runner with 126,659 miles and a few physique harm on the finish of its street. The doorways had been all locked and/or frozen shut (it’s extremely chilly and damp in Yorkshire in January), so I could not get inside to {photograph} the inside.
Would this automotive have been a gross sales success in North America, or wouldn’t it have simply cannibalised gross sales of the CR-V?
Honda employed Southern California ska-punk band Save Ferris to carry out for this JDM industrial. Apparently, the “HR” a part of the automotive’s title stood for “Hello-Rider.”
You’d assume it might have been unattainable for the Netherlands-market HR-V industrial to out-frantic its JDM counterparts, however you would be incorrect.
This four-door HR-V industrial acquired a Fatboy Slim remix.
In Australia, first-gen HR-Vs had been pushed by demonic Honda salesmen who tuned into 666 FM throughout check drives. It seems the worth of 1’s soul in 1999 was 23,350 Australian {dollars}. The Down Beneath adverts for the second-gen HR-Vs had been fairly entertaining, too.