Before Fit became one of Honda's best-selling global nameplates, it was just a trim badge on the second-generation City — the name's whole career started as an economy option.
Lead trim: City 1.3 D13C SOHC
Honda City GAGA1/GA2 · 1986–1995
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Honda City GA yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBefore Fit became one of Honda's best-selling global nameplates, it was just a trim badge on the second-generation City — the name's whole career started as an economy option.
The second-generation Honda City (GA1, updated as the GA2 in 1989) replaced the AA in November 1986 as a 3-door hatchback introduced on 31 October 1986 under the slogan "City of Talent", sold at Honda Clio dealerships as an economical car for a chain positioned around luxuriously equipped Hondas. Honda called the styling a "crouching form": low and wide, shared with the first-generation Today, third-generation Civic and Accord AeroDeck, and light (680 kg in the basic trim). Its exterior dimensions and engine size were almost exactly those of the first-generation Civic. It introduced the D-series engine as the 1.2-litre D12A (a SOHC 16-valve four with a single carburettor, 76 PS at 6,500 rpm) and from October 1988 the 1.3-litre D13C, offered with a single carburettor or Honda's PGM-FI on the sporting CR-i and CZ-i; the word "Fit" first appeared as a trim on the base CE, and later as the model name of the successor to the Honda Logo that replaced the City when the name was retired in Japan in 1995. There was no convertible in this generation, and the previous Turbo and convertible carried on for a while.
Collectors Spotted in the Honda City Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Honda City yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City 1.2 D12A SOHC 16V (76 PS) | 1986–1995 | 1.2 L Inline-4 | 75 hp | 72 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| City 1.3 D13C SOHC | 1988–1995 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 75 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This City grew so much that it's now roughly the same size as a ninth-generation Civic sedan, despite still being sold and priced as Honda's entry-level car.
This City generation moved the fuel tank from the middle of the car to the back — a quiet packaging change that let Honda drop the seats and the roofline for a sportier stance.
This City generation made history off the showroom floor too: when Honda opened a factory in Argentina in 2011, this was the car built there — the first Honda, and the first Japanese passenger car, ever made in the country.
In Japan this City was sold as the Fit Aria, named for an operatic melody, continuing Honda's habit of naming cars after music (Prelude, Accord, Ballade, Concerto).
This City was built for Southeast Asia from day one — made in an all-new Thai plant with over 70% local content, and its bumpers split into three pieces just to make shipping parts from Japan easier.
Before Fit became one of Honda's best-selling global nameplates, it was just a trim badge on the second-generation City — the name's whole career started as an economy option.
Hirotoshi Honda later founded the tuning company Mugen, which remains closely linked to Honda's motorsport programs.
Honda built a fold-up 50cc scooter that lived in the City's trunk — and literally invented a new word for it, "trabai," a portmanteau of "trunk" and "bike."
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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