CRX appeal  ·  1998-09-20

I like the Honda CRX MkI. It’s a perfect example of late 80s Japanese chic; inversely proportional in size and elegance to the prehistoric mobile phone carried by its brassy yuppie owner, shortly to lose his job in the recession. It is compact and perfectly proportioned; wedge-shaped, but somehow sleekly wedge-shaped. And that kitsch smoked-plastic ‘C R X’-emblazoned rear end is worthy of a cabinet in the Design Museum all to itself. Not that the CRX is tacky, oh no. Admittedly there exist certain unenlightened owners whose cars suffer under acrylic skirts and foglights from Halfords, but budget constraints have thankfully restricted most of this crowd to Fords and Vauxhalls.

Which brings me to the Vauxhall Calibra. I dislike this car in much the same way I dislike the NatWest ad featuring that irritatingly tedious family and its squawking kids using a cash machine. And also the one for DFS, the cheap furniture store “with-branches-in-Bromley-Croydon-West Ruislip-New Malden-and-Reading” – you know. Oh yes, and 2 Point 4 Children. This car is a trendy fashion accessory for people who just aren’t, all things considered, trendy or fashionable. “Which do you like, darlin’ – there’s this BMW 318, a Peugeot 406 Coup�, or the Calibra”. “Ooh, the Calibra’s nice. Yes, very classy, nice name too. And it’s a Vauxhall!”

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