This pocket-sized pretend SUV from 1999 is way cooler than you remember

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Original story by Phil Scott first published in Drive on 11 December, 1999

Honda’s Japanese advertising agency probably sat through the same word salad of engineering and styling prose given to the Australian media.

The subject: a small but tall creation called the HR-V. It drives like a car, looks like nothing else on wheels, sits comfortably higher than the traffic, uses a Honda Civic engine and will cost about $24,000.

The HR-V (pronounced 'Vwee' by the Japanese) promises to be a killer in a new category: the pocket-sized pretend four-wheel-drive.

My notebook said things like urban cool, youth truck and fashion statement. This is why there's never been a job offer from a Japanese ad agency.

Honda's TV ads proclaim the essence of the HR-V in just four beautifully chosen English words. It is "Jet Feel, Hi Rider".

Hope this clears things up for you.

This micro 4WD is about the same size as a small car, only higher. It may be the answer to a question nobody asked – but it's coming, ready or not, late next month.

In Japan, the locals have gone nuts about Jet Feel; the HR-V is a sell-out despite the handicap of a three-door body (instead of five). Honda puts this down to car-like handling, the high driving position and a quick-change interior, including seat backs that fold and stow in one motion, so large objects can be hauled inside.

With the test drive restricted to two laps around a monotonous speed bowl, the jury's still out on the first claim but there's no denying the styling and packaging appeal to inner-city under-30s.

It is a versatile, roomy alternative to a small car with none of the heavy-limbed response of a conventional 4WD. Yes, it's a fashion statement but it's also a bit of fun and technically innovative.

The automatic gearbox is a refined version of Honda's stepless Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT). There’s even a button on the steering wheel to change between sport and economy modes.

The HR-V uses the same rudimentary all-wheel-drive system as its bigger sibling, the already popular Honda CR-V wagon. Cheap and simple (but of little benefit in anything but the lightest excursions off the bitumen) it helps keep the HR-V's weight down to about 1100kg – smart even for a small car.

Few customers will use it for anything more strenuous than shopping or moving furniture, so off-road aplomb doesn't really matter. An identical HR-V with a conventional front-drive is sold in most other markets. Our tax laws mean much lower import duties for vehicles with 4WD, so that's what Honda Australia will sell.

There's not a lot of machismo about the styling. It looks more sci-fi than steroids. Dimensions are similar to the Civic but cabin space, particularly shoulder and headroom is much larger. Externally, the HR-V makes such 4WDs as Subaru's small Forester look bulky.

Honda hopes the formula that has worked so brilliantly in Japan will repeat itself in Sydney and Melbourne. The key: passenger car manners and a competitive price. The big plus is that unlike so many other 4WDs, Honda's version of Generation Next has been engineered to meet the same crash standards required from conventional sedans and wagons.

Its 1.6-litre Civic four-cylinder engine earns it a Low Emissions Vehicle rating, which means it produces about one-tenth the tailpipe nasties allowed under current laws. Power is adequate.

Neat, petite and practical or just another fad? Dealers are excited after its success in Japan but some crystal balls suggest it will go the way of the hula hoop and the yo-yo. The runaway success of the Forester and CR-V, however, suggests $24,000 may not be too much to pay for an alternative to a humdrum hatchback. Phil Scott

So, what happened next for the original Honda HR-V?

It's taken 25 years, but the original Honda HR-V is now a genuine modern classic, a ground-breaking, category-busting breath of fresh air unveiled in a sea of 1999 mediocrity.

Dubbed the 'Joy Machine' when it launched in 1999, the original HR-V lived up to its name with a fun high-riding profile that looked like nothing else before it. Or possibly since.

Its conventional two-box design trod a slightly different path, with an almost wedge-shaped front face, a face enhanced by twin circular headlights emphasised further by eye-like cutouts on the front bar. It looked mean, it looked angry, like a cat about to pounce.

Inside was all utility with hard plastic and some oh-so-1990s cloth trim in a pattern that hasn't aged gracefully in the intervening 25 years. But it featured cupholders, some handy storage cubbies including netted door pockets, air conditioning and power windows.

The second row was easy to get in to while the seats themselves could be folded flat to increase cargo capacity, opening an area big enough to take a small mid-century desk.

How do I know? Because I am the happy owner of an original Honda HR-V and I love it to bits.

I love its quirky, yet handsome, styling, which looked like nothing else going at the time. To me, the 1990s were peak Honda in terms of design and the HR-V encapsulates that moment, that decade, with its well-proportioned perfection.

My HR-V is an MY2000 three-door Sport with a five-speed manual gearbox and all-wheel drive. And it's a peach to drive, the gear shift still satisfyingly slick and the 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder as perky today as it was when new.

Sure, there are some squeaks and rattles that probably weren't there in 2000, and the ride can be a little wobbly over speed humps, but as an urban runabout, it's close to perfection.

Redbook says you should be able to pick one up for between $300-$3000 but I think that's on the low side. I've fielded offers for double the upper end of the range but respectfully declined each time. You can't put a price on happiness and every moment I spend behind the wheel of my little ‘Joy Machine’ sparks unbridled, well, joy. RM

So, what do you think? Original Honda HR-V… modern classic or a bit meh? Let us know in the comments below.

The post This pocket-sized pretend SUV from 1999 is way cooler than you remember appeared first on Drive.