The Honda CR-X was an economy car ahead of its time. Its chassis was well-designed and the weight was stripped back, making it a fun and exciting driver, while still keeping to its fuel sipping roots. But what would happen if you put an engine in the back hatch to power the rear wheels? That might turn the little two-seater into an incredibly fun all-wheel drive ripper that could keep up with just about anything in its era. I mean, sure, it’s only making about 220 horsepower with two 1.8-liter engines, but that’s double what a stock CR-X would make.
In the 1980s Car and Driver built this incredible twin-engine car, dubbed the CR-X Squared. The base car was a standard 1.3-liter carbureted 1984 Honda CR-X making about 60 horsepower, and when C/D initially built the car they simply procured another of that same engine and popped it in the back. As it happens, the extra 60 ponies wasn’t enough to overcome the weight disadvantage of adding the second engine. So, going back to the drawing board, they called Honda and asked for a couple of larger 1.8-liter engines from the then-new third-generation Honda Accord, making a whopping 99 horsepower each. It’s claimed to run from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and weighs a still quite svelte 2700 pounds.
Weird car collector extraordinaire Randy Carlson found this car a little while ago when it had been sitting in a garage in Florida for several years, and has spent the last couple of years recommissioning the car. This car is right up his alley, it’s a perfect representation of his wildly enigmatic car collection. He brought the CR-X Squared over to Jay Leno’s Garage for a little show and tell. Click that play button, hopefully you’ll love it as much as I do.
This little car started life with 1.3 liters of displacement and now carries around 3.6-liters of high-revving Honda power. It might not seem like it in 2024, but this thing is a little acceleration monster by contemporary standards. Could you imagine Car and Driver building something like this today?
