Anyone born during the latter half of the 1990s is still considered a young adult among humans. But as far as the automotive world goes, a car produced back in the day is already quite old.
Sure, with a little help from mechanical wizards, even something that looks ready to meet the graveyard might still have a feisty soul. Case in point, here’s a recent video (embedded below) provided courtesy of the Drag Car 4K channel on YouTube. It’s a short and encompassing one, and it provides a glimpse into the interesting world of European drag racing.
While the Old Continent quarter-mile fans lack access to the prepped surfaces of American dragstrips, they easily compensate for the shortcoming with a strong willingness to provide entertaining battles. Even if they don’t sound like much at first, considering that we are seeing here a derelict sixth-generation, gray-and-boring Honda Civic 1.6-liter.
Its opponent is a contemporary, late 1990s, representative of the JDM arena, but at least it’s one with a higher legacy. The videographer even mistakes it for an R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R, but a user notices the differences and concludes that we are dealing with a turbocharged Skyline GTS-(25)t, which was equipped with the RB25DET mill. That one was good for no less than 250 ps/247 hp back in the day, so it’s a tough competitor, nonetheless.
As for the Civic sedan, the looks aren’t impressive by any means. But we have learned that in the crazy world of drag racing one shouldn’t judge a car by its appearance... or at least until you get to check out the ETs and trap speeds. And, although this European venue is not equipped with the prepped surfaces we are accustomed to in North America, the rest of the tech stuff is there.
Including the Christmas tree, as well as the possibility to check out the results. And, as it turns out, the surprise was to be expected... as the Civic narrowly came up on top with a 15.774s to 15.917s result. Not overly impressive, but highly entertaining to see a Skyline being gapped by that derelict family sedan!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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