Petrolicious explores Christopher Hoffman’s longterm relationship: with his Honda CRX Si.
Petrolicious is a Youtube channel dedicated to uncovering stories of extraordinary cars and the effect that they have on their owners. In effect these tales are almost love stories, odes to the relationships formed between driver and machine.
For the most part the gorgeously produced videos are about classic supercars or racing machines, cars that are rare and hugely expensive.
However, they also recognise that the unique (some might say ‘obsessive’) way we grow fond of mechanical objects isn’t the preserve of the rich and it doesn’t have to involve something wildly exotic.
This video unravels one man’s love of all things Honda. From persuading his Mum to buy a Civic estate in 1977 to getting involved in the Honda car club at just 14-years-old, and then buying his CRX Si in 1987.
‘Honda had built the car that fit me perfectly,’ explains Christopher Hoffman, who lives in California. Nearly three decades later that’s still the case.
Petrolicious perfectly depicts Christopher’s relationship with his Honda, but Dream caught up with him to get an even deeper insight into what makes the CRX so special to him.
Dream: Have you ever even contemplated selling the CRX Si?
Never. Never, ever, ever! I knew from that first sunny spring Saturday when I brought the car home that I wanted to keep it forever, even going so far as to leave it in the garage during its first New England winter, so it would never see snow or salt. I bought a used ’83 Civic Wagon (not the one you see in the film, that’s my current daily driver) to drive to work on snowy days. But other than that, the CRX was my everyday car.
Christopher Hoffman drove his beloved CRX along Route 66 when he moved to Southern California 25 years ago
I moved to Southern California when the car was two years old, whereupon it became my only car. We commuted in LA traffic for many years, and I turned the car’s 100,000th mile exactly on its 10th birthday.
It was then that I realised that, if I wanted to continue with my ‘keep it forever’ plan, I had better move it to the toy shelf, which is why it’s accrued only 9000 miles in the ensuing 17 years.
What’s been your most memorable journey in the car?
Over the years, we’ve been to mountains, deserts and both oceans (covering at least a dozen states), but our most memorable journey was driving cross-country when I moved to California in 1989.
For four days, I had no possessions and no worries, other than what fit in the CRX as I headed west to chase some dreams in a new city. We saw the Grand Canyon, explored some of old Route 66, and averaged 37 mpg at 75 mph — which meant coast to coast on less than $100 in gasoline!
On the fourth and final day of the trip, as I crossed the 120-degree Mojave Desert in a black car, it dawned on me that I had embarked on this this trip without even thinking about the car’s reliability. Sure, it was only two years old, but the car’s unwavering loyalty is a feeling I still have when I take the car on the occasional weekend road trip.
My CRX has simply never allowed such worries to get in the way of my enjoying every minute. Of course, that’s true of every Honda I’ve owned.
After all these years how do you feel when you get in your CRX Si?
In a sense, this is just another way of answering the previous question, since having a car — no, loving a car — for 27 years and counting is itself a more memorable journey than I could ever have planned. Simply put, it just never gets old!
What I feel when I drive the car now is exactly what I felt while I was driving home my very first new car in 1987. It’s a combination of the car’s feel, its sounds, and the almost surreal way that the car still looks like it did in 1987. All these things together still make me smile just like I did as a young guy with his first brand-new car.
In spring 2012, Christopher fondly commemorated 25 years from the day he brought his first new car home
At a car show, it’s a time capsule. But on the road, when I’m digging into the tach, rowing the effortless shifter, enjoying the tight yet light manual steering, and feeling the little sewing-machine motor pull the 1980-lb car through a corner, it’s a time machine. At that moment, it’s 1987 again. Pop in a mix tape, open the roof, and let’s go!
And yes, I always look back at it when I park up and walk away. I also never close the garage door without saying thanks and good night to it.
What is your single favourite thing about your CRX?
That’s a tough one. Is it the backlit needles on the gauges? The impossibly precise shifter? The little curve on the rear quarter windows as they wrap into the B-pillar? The little growl under acceleration? The whimsical sideways door handles and asymmetrical ‘phone dial’ wheels? The ridiculously complex articulated rear-window wiper arm?
The fact that, other than regular maintenance and wear items, it’s only needed about five repairs in 27 years, including those two lightbulbs I mentioned in the film? I’m gonna go with the growl. I love that growl. But really, it’s the magic. The car still makes me happy.
