From the Classifieds: 2001 Honda Integra Type R

Jun 17, 2023

Clean nineties and noughties Japanese performance cars are becoming increasingly hard to find these days, especially as young petrol-heads fulfill their Fast and Furious fantasies and create what they deem to be the ultimate street car.

Many simply weren’t produced and/or sold in great quantities, some good examples are either crashed, trashed or stolen, while owners with a clean set of wheels are tending to hold onto them for longer.

Therefore the listing of this near-immaculate 2001 Honda Integra Type R on carsales is something of a Godsend for JDM collectors and VTEC fanboys alike, since it’s perhaps the cleanest and lowest-mileage DC2 Type R you’re likely to see.

Listed for a cool $65,000 and with just 69,891km showing on the odo, this ‘red crackle’ example was one of the very last DC2s brought into the country before the newer DC5 was released in August 2001, having been delivered to its original owner on September 2 that same year.

Honda enthusiasts will attest to the Integra Type R being the brand’s most focused mainstream performance model of its day, with a clear focus on sportiness and driver involvement above all else.

Squeezed under that low bonnet is one of the most lusted-after Japanese performance engines of all time: the 1.8-litre ‘B18C’ VTEC four-cylinder, good in this application for 141kW of power at a heady 7900rpm and 178Nm of torque at 6300rpm.

These outputs might not sound like much, but they motivate an entire package weighing less than 1100kg, gifting the compact coupe with a power-to-weight ratio of 130kW per tonne – better than the current Hyundai i20 N and Mk8 Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Power is sent exclusively to the front wheels via a super-close ratio six-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential – a combination that’s still able to yield a sub-7.0sec 0-100km/h time in the right hands.

It feather-like kerb weight also means the Integra Type R is a nutter in the bends, where it generates immense levels of grip, high mid-corner speed and adjustability, rock-solid body control and acres of communication from the controls – despite rolling on 15-inch wheels as standard – at the expense of ride comfort.

Click here to view the full listing while it lasts!

Despite its raucous intent, this particular car is fitted with just about every important factory and aftermarket option you could get: air-conditioning, a six-stack CD player, paint and fabric protection, tinted windows and, curiously, an electronic CAT rust-proofing device.

Not much is known about the car’s history between 2005 and June 2014, but we do know it was traded in on a new vehicle as a one-owner special with 69,201km on the clock.

It was purchased that same year by its second owner, who opted to preserve it rather than thrash it – and take it to Tasmania – after seeing the good condition it was in, commissioning a full bare-metal respray that same year because the roof and bonnet were starting to fade.

“01-214 has sat as part of a small private collection since 2014, unregistered and largely undriven in order to keep the odometer below 70,000km,” says the seller.

“In 2022 the vehicle was on display at the National Automobile Museum for a year.

“An 80,000km service by Launceston Honda has just been done. All oils, filters and ancillary belts were replaced as well as the timing belt and tensioner.”

The car is now fully registered in Tasmania and ready for the next chapter of its admittedly unusual – by Type R standards – life, likely in the care of another avid collector that’s prepared to pay the $65K asking price.

“01-214 represents a perfect opportunity to secure one of the best examples of Honda’s baby NSX in Australia,” continues the ad description.

“There is no question that original, unmolested low-kilometre examples are exceptionally rare and represent outstanding potential as a fabulous usable investment.”

Click here to view the full listing while it lasts!

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