For the better part of 20 years, the Honda Civic Tour intended to put cars kids like in front of music kids like. Some seriously big artists toured under this banner, and most of the time, each headlining artist got a Civic themed after them, which was usually given away in a contest.
Think of it a bit like Honda’s equivalent of Scion’s concert, CD sampler, and record label initiative. Sure, blog digging for obscure stuff wasn’t Honda’s jam, but Warped Tour bands were. Well, they were up to a point, because as with many initiatives meant to target youth, the Civic Tour developed a bad case of “How do you do, fellow kids?” Still, with a multitude of customized Civics to ponder, let’s take a closer look.
We’re only including Civics that were indisputable centerpieces of tour promotion. Sadly, this means Nick Jonas’ bike doesn’t count, and it also means that the FL5 Civic Type R on The Future X’s tour doesn’t count because, well, it had to share the spotlight with an HR-V. However, so many of these Civics are so bad, so let’s rank them from worst to best. We’re going to use three sensible criteria here: How good is the Civic, how good is the music, and how well does the visual treatment fit? This is all completely subjective and so you can feel free to tell us why we’re wrong.
Maroon 5 FG4 Si
This is a fail on all fronts. The kids weren’t into Maroon 5 in 2013, and that whole year was a rebuilding one for the Honda Civic. Frankly, we were all sick and tired of Adam Levine, and this Civic seems to feature the same sort of effort Maroon 5 put into their music around that time. Would it have killed Honda to throw on a set of aftermarket wheels, or at least color-match the center caps? This one’s getting sent straight to the shadow realm, even if it is an Si.
[Counterpoint: That body of yours is absurd! – MH]
Everclear EM2
Speaking of questionable graphics, in the current day, this 2001 Civic Coupe looks like a $1,000 example that someone went hard in the rattle cans on. It looks particularly crap, but hey, it seems vaguely era-appropriate, and Everclear makes better music than Maroon 5.
Black Eyed Peas FA3 Hybrid
This also belongs in the “dear god, no” camp. While the eighth-generation Civic Hybrid is a good car, the Black Eyed Peas allegedly make “music.” Yeah, this would be particularly embarrassing to be seen in. Enough said.
[Ed note: Another counterpoint, when you have a young daughter, if you ever do, you can appreciate the odd Black Eyed Peas song. Mazel Tov! – MH]
Linkin Park FG4 Si
This would’ve ranked lower if it weren’t for Hybrid Theory, Meteora, and the Numb/Encore crossover with Jay-Z. Look, 2012 wasn’t a great year for the Civic, this one looks particularly wanky, and Linkin Park’s discography is a mixed bag. However, the highs are high, and the custom car itself is more artistic than Everclear’s Civic. Still, could you imagine being seen in this?
Blink 182 EM2
Well, this is basically a stock Honda Civic with a few dealer-installed accessories and some stickers. Sure, it’s a bit amateur-ish, but it certainly hasn’t aged like milk. Arguably the most boring branded Civic, this one blends in, and Blink-182 circa 2001 had quite the discography. Yep, this one’s buoyed almost entirely by the music and the fact that worse branded Civics exist. How about that?
3BallMTY FG3
I have nothing against 3BallMTY or the ninth-generation Honda Civic Coupe, but something about the argyle-like pattern feels very local delivery service. It’s curiously bland for what should be a bit of an art car, so the whole thing gets a shrug.
American Authors
Speaking of bland, American Authors’ Honda Civic looks like the packaging to an iPod Touch accessory. It’s less boring than 3BallMTY’s livery, but still oddly corporate. Also, while I’d like to congratulate American Authors for winning the fluke indie hit sweepstakes of 2013, but “Best Day Of My Life” is music for car commercials. Next!
Charlie Puth FK8 Type R
This might seem like an odd pairing, but “See You Again” and fast Honda Civics go together like Corona and excessively tight vests. Sure, the graphics on this thing look positively amateurish and the music is bland, but the FK8 Type R is so good that you might be able to drive it with tinted windows instead of, I don’t know, a bag over your head.
One Direction FG3
Sure, the 2015 Honda Civic isn’t the most inspiring Civic ever made, and One Direction is a divisive boy band, but this graphics package is fun in an Easter Egg way. This is a car that’s hard to hate, I just wish it were an Si or something.
Grouplove and Portugal, The Man FG3
It was properly tough choosing between this and the One Direction livery, but I have to give it to Grouplove and Portugal, The Man on discography alone. Two great liveries, two okay Civics, but the music stacks the deck. Them’s the breaks, I guess.
Fall Out Boy FA3 Hybrid
Remember when Fall Out Boy was just a pop-punk band from Chicago? By 2007, the four-piece act had already pushed its way to the forefront of the scene, but that whole pop-punk thing was scrappy enough for the Honda Civic Tour. Unfortunately, the elevation we saw on Infinity On High just isn’t present on this Civic. It’s not the most cringe example, but it certainly isn’t the least. On the plus side, the Civic Hybrid was an efficient and well-built car, and Fall Out Boy made some great stuff.
Paramore FG2 Si
Paramore makes some great music. The eighth-generation Civic Si is a great sport compact car. This particular Paramore-branded eighth-generation Civic Si? It hasn’t aged the greatest. Still, how about that redline, though?
However, the aging of this Civic doesn’t change the fact that This Is Why was one of the best albums of 2023. If you haven’t listened to it, I highly recommend giving it a spin. It’s a mature post-punk project that’s clever, catchy, and well-written overall.
Demi Lovato FC1
Hey, not bad. Now we’re getting somewhere. Like much of Lovato’s discography, this particular Civic is easy to like, although not massively memorable. Look, the bar is low here, and this thing exceeds it by quite some margin.
Sure, it might be too new to have really aged in or out of anything, but that’s not a bad thing when it comes to longevity. After all, 2016 was eight years ago.
OneRepublic FL5 Type R
I don’t know how OneRepublic got the memo, but taking the cartoonish FK8 Type R and amplifying its existing attributes isn’t the worst way to create a custom Civic, especially when you look at what happened for Everclear. After all, the Type R already had some red accents, so why not add a whole lot more red? Is the execution flawless? Absolutely not, but I’ve seen worse. Granted, this one’s buoyed substantially by the fact that the FK8 Type R is phenomenal. “Good Life” is also a solid feel-good pop song, but it’s not enough to get this thing on the podium.
Panic! At The Disco FA3 Hybrid
Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. Admittedly, the discography of Panic! At The Disco is a mess, but this Civic comes from the act’s Pretty, Odd album run, and the psychedelia-inspired nature motifs rock pretty hard. With a little more low, I’d actually rock this.
New Found Glory EP3 Si
It’s hard to tell from the press photo, but like the Good Charlotte Civic, this thing’s been extensively kitted-out, with a widebody, two spoilers, a fade-out paint job, and ghost flames. This is 2003 in a bottle, just like New Found Glory’s particular brand of pop-punk. Sure, the music isn’t phenomenal, but the car is a wicked snapshot of a moment in time. So why doesn’t this beat that other Civic from 2003? Simply put, Good Charlotte has a slightly less checkered history.
Blink-182 FG4 Si
Blink-182 returned to headline the Honda Civic Tour in 2011, and man, what an improvement over the band’s last branded Civic. Sure, matte black is stale, but that cartoon rabbit is looking fresh. It’s not the most labor-intensive Civic ever made for the concert series, but it’s up there with the better examples.
I wouldn’t be surprise if someone eventually co-opts a take on this livery for a drift car or something, given how it’s simple but translates well.
Dashboard Confessional EM2
Yeah, this works. While Dashboard Confessional’s reputation for somewhat sappy love songs seems at odds with this Civic’s appearance, it’s all just right for 2004. Body kit? Check. Loud but not entirely ridiculous graphics? Check. Multi-tone paint? Check. Lip kit and cheap wheels? Check. This right here is a tuner time capsule done well. Points are docked for being an EM2, but that’s about it. Hands down, this is the best Civic coupe ever created for the tour.
Good Charlotte EP3 Si
Weirdly, this isn’t the only time Honda co-opted Good Charlotte, as “Motivation Proclamation” was on the promo CD for the Acura RSX. However, this is most certainly the most brash pairing of that particular band and this particular brand. Flares? Check. Skirts? Check. Wings? Check. Chrome wheels? Check.
Like the historical Civic lineup, Good Charlotte has had some bangers like “The Anthem” and “Little Things,” so why hasn’t this collab ranked higher? Well, the green script on each door hasn’t aged well at all, and the rear end could use a pop of color. It’s a good effort, but a better all-around package exists.
Incubus EP3 Si
Who’d have thought that Incubus could have what is undeniably the best music-themed Honda Civic? The Calabasas alt-rockers first headlined the Honda Civic Tour in 2002, and that year’s specially branded Civic feels right on-brand for the time. Flashy wheels? Check. Loud graphics? Check. Lip kit? Check. It also helps that Incubus has some solid hits. “Drive,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Anna-Molly” still get the people going. Mind you, the first Incubus Civic isn’t perfect — the band’s name on the rear bumper is far too large — but it’s the best of the bunch.
So, if you had to drive one of these band-themed Civics, modifications and all, which one are you picking? As ever, make your voice heard in the comments below. Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go queue up “Nice to Know You” on Spotify.
(Photo credits: Honda)
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Honda should totally continue this in the future. A future all-electric Civic with AC/DC theme comes to mind.
Hiiiigghhh voltage, rock-n-roll!!!
That silly rabbit on the Blink-182 Civic is calling to me. It’s the only one that elicited any kind of emotional reaction besides an “oh, that’s mildly interesting” kind of way. Having that in my driveway would be just fine if I was forced to pick from one of these as a new daily.
I don’t think Honda could have picked a worse set of bands if they tried.
LP is the only great one.
> 3BallMTY
Who the f is that
There are only a few possibilities:
– they knew a weightlifter with three testicles in high school, “3-Ball Mighty”
– they went to an Australian high school where throwing the trackballs from old mechanical mice at each others’ testicles was a game played between friends, “3-Ball Matey”
– they subscribe to the fan hypothesis that Marty is not his own father in Back to the Future and had a third, genetically heterogeneous testicle that provided the successful spermatozoa for reproduction, “3-Ball Marty”
I sense a theme here
Definitely. The band’s name was clearly chosen in or around high school.
I had to check the byline to see if this was Torch or Bishop getting into the recreational pharmaceuticals of questionable quality again.
Yikes that some of those were real.
Were these packages you could actually buy? The Good Charlotte one is so egregiously 90’s that it rules though.
First: Your Incubus references are to their worst (radio hits) songs.
Shame!
Second: Maroon 5 has one of the all time best (top 10, better than the original) cover songs. Sex and Candy…
Give it a listen and some respect.
Thirdly: Almost half of these newer generation Honda bands were just riding Arcade Fires coat tails.
With crap song results.
As if the arcade fire wasn’t embarrassing enough
I’d totally drive the Linkin Park one. Looks far better than whatever the last 3 are imo.
Severely underrated on this list
ok that Demi Lovato one is quite nice, would have looked even better if IRL it was that rose gold color instead of the more bronze color, the Paramore one is pretty good too, either of those I wouldn’t mind. if anything just remove any of the decals that are actual words/letters.
What, no New Kids On The Block? No Hanson? No Menudo? No Justin Bieber?
Thank you!
I was unlucky enough to see Dashboard Confessional in their hometown of Orlando in 2003. They were the second opener for Beck and got more catcalls than cheers. I had never heard of the first band and most of the crowd was still trickling in as they played. It was the Black Keys, who i saw play again a couple of weeks later in a bar in Tampa…
I knew a girl who won one of the Good Charlotte Civics. She couldn’t afford to pay for insurance or the taxes on it. It sat in her family’s driveway for about a year until she sold it if I remember the story correctly. I had completely forgotten about the Honda Civic tours until just now.
If I had to choose I guess it would be the Paramore Si because I could just repaint it in orange or just take the decals off if they were decals.
I had no idea this was even a thing. Did other automakers do it? Is there a Limp Bizkit themed Hummer H2?
Snoop Deville
Who’da thunk that the Demi Lovato version would be the best
I have no ideas who half of these bands/artists are. Probably because I turn 40 next month.
I’m 28. I recognize all but 3BallMTY and Dashboard Confessional. But for most of them I might only be familiar with one or two songs.
You may not know Dashboard Confessional but you definitely know Vindicated.
VINDICATED, I am selfish I am wrong! I am right, I swear I’m right, I swear I knew it all along and I am FLAWED! Etc. That tune was inescapable in the early 2000s…which is fine, it’s a great song.
I must be one of those odd “1 in 100,000” people because I just listened to it now and I don’t recognize it at all. On the other hand, I was 10 in 2005…I dunno. Still, yeah, it has appeal.
I just listened to Vindicated and I don’t recognize that song at all. I find that a bit odd since I was in my 20s in the early 2000s; I figured I would have heard most of what was popular then.
I’m 44 and recognize at least the names of everyone by 3BallMTY, Grouplove and American Authors. No idea what paramore or one republic sound like though.
Paramore is great!
Incorrect
I recognize One Republic because they did a song my daughter was obsessed with when she was 2. Beyond that, you could play 10 of their songs for me and I wouldn’t be able to name the band.
I am 40. I think I recognized maybe half of them and could name one their songs for maybe 3 of them. I highly doubt we are missing out on anything good by not knowing these bands.
I would lightly argue otherwise, but even at 28 I concede to knowing how hard it is to listen to and appreciate new music as you get out of your teens.
But for my experience there’s some gems with Linkin Park and Paramore.
For me, the thing that kept me away from new music was Pandora. I stopped listening to the radio when that Pandora became available. I’m sure I would like some of bands mentioned above if I listened to them, but I doubt I will ever take the time to do so. I generally listen to podcasts instead of music, but if I do listen to music it is usually some weird stuff on pandora instead of the radio.
I deleted Pandors when I made a Rob Zombie channel, and after playing 2 Rob Zombie songs, Pandoras algorithm “suggested” that an awesome addition to this channel would by My Girl by The Temptations.
Huh. That is weird. The only problem I have had with Pandora is that it sometimes mixes in random songs from very different channels. The two I listen to most often are Cajun/Zydeco and a channel based on Rancid, so sometimes I get random Zydeco interspersed with punk and vice versa. I can’t complain too much since it is free, I guess.
I’m already 40, and I know pretty much all of these. 3BallMTY is the only one I didn’t know.
I turned 40 yesterday and knew all but 2 of these. Now I could only name 2 songs for several of them, and I have no idea why Honda would want most of these groups out of all the choices from their time period.
Jeez dude, I’m 60 and I knew more than half..
I definitely disagree with the ranking as you get further up (/down the page). Honestly, the OneRepublic one is my favorite.
Kinda disappointing you ranked Incubus on top and we don’t even get to see the hood…
While I can’t say I know any Maroon 5 fans, there are good Maroon 5 songs. “Moves like Jagger” was huge when I was in high school and it doesn’t particularly bother me to this day.
Maroon 5 is like Tom Cruise…we like some of what they produce, even if we’re not particularly fans of them themself.
Incidentally, another commenter is spot-on with “Maroon 5 = Adam Levine”. At a friend-group trivia night, the final question was “name any Maroon 5 member that isn’t Adam Levine.” Obviously no one got it. Not even after we finally stopped laughing.
This Love is still a good song. Their famous stuff is generally fine and if it came on at a bar I wouldn’t complain.
This Love is a killer tune. They should have retired right after.
That One Republic CTR is what I’d want to do to a car when I was 18yo.
So, based on that, it’s spot on.
Did you just throw shade at New Found Glory and the foundational masterpiece that is “Sticks and Stones”?
NFG made 2003 the only year this tour was worth going. This tour was always way to expensive. It was like over 40 bucks.
Pimp My Ride – Honda Civic Edition
“Yo dawg, I heard you like forgettable white bands from the 2000s … “
So many of these have that “graPHic DeSIGN IS my PASsioN” sort of feel. Disjointed, no sense of colour theory, and with massive negative space in all the wrong areas. Only the Paramore car seems to have been properly done.
I don’t know if I’m just too accepting of aesthetics, but none of these really bother me. They’d grab attention, sure, but I don’t hate any of them.
I’m surprised more people don’t like the OneRepublic one. That one seems fairly tasteful to me. Name on the sides, basically just two colors. Symmetrical.
The OneRepublic car has detailing that seems unfinished. There’s a huge splotch of colour on the hood, and only accenting on the sides. The Good Charlotte car is particularly bad, but it’s a prime example of how much of a bad idea it is to take album art sometimes done by amateurs that is meant to fit into a square and try and transfer it onto a complex surface. You don’t really have a lot to work with if there aren’t many abstract patterns or shapes to extend.
Why isn’t the Incubus Civic painted A Certain Shade of Green?
COTD
Serious question: is there such a thing as a Maroon 5 fan? I’ve literally never encountered one. I never hear anything about the “band” (it’s just megadouche Adam Levine let’s be real here) other than a few people randomly defending Songs About Jane. No one ever talks about them outside of Levine doing douchey shit like sliding into peoples’ DMs while his wife is pregnant.
And yet they’re inescapable. You’ll inevitably hear them whenever you’re at the grocery store or Target or something. They played the goddamn Super Bowl halftime show. Just…why? Why is Maroon 5? The fame to talent ratio is mind boggling.
Anyway, justice for the Linkin Park SI. That thing is cool as hell and the band has always had connections to Japan. They were pretty pioneering when it came to mixing anime aesthetics/visual art with their music. Not a lot of folks were doing that back then and I believe Joe Hahn collaborated with a Japanese animation studio on the Breaking The Habit video and some other stuff.
Linkin Park and JDM go together like carbs and cheese….slash even if they never hit the heights of Hybrid Theory and Meteora again they’re still an exceedingly important and influential band.
I feel like there’s a large overlap of fans of Maroon 5 and Nickelback. No one wants to admit they like either one, but somehow they’ve both sold trillions of records.
Side note: I saw Nickelback in concert once. I was dating my now wife and she bought me tickets to a multi-band show that included them. She was trying to do something cool for me, bless her heart, but at the time didn’t quite have a grasp on my musical tastes. Anyhoo… they sucked. They were so unbelievably bad. 3 Doors Down was in that same show, and they were better.
Also, I shouldn’t like Paramore, but I do. Guilty pleasure, I guess.
You don’t have to apologize for liking Paramore! You’re among friends. They’re a great band.
Thanks man. Another reason why I know I’m with my people here.
As someone from (more or less) the home of Nickelback and the spiritual epicenter of Butt Rock, I can say that the most basal and ardent Butt Rock fans dislike Maroon 5 as much as everyone else.
I have come to have a substantial appreciation for how removed my market is from pop music. T Swift? Sure, still total saturation, but everything else is Rock/County Rock/Whatever you call Americana if it’s not made in the US and isn’t about the US.
Is their still country on the radio where you are? Around me, the country stations are autotuned pop music with a slight southern accent and lazily self-referential lyrics, plus copious mentions of “moonlight” and “tailgates”
Radio country is as described, but I can tell you if you hit the independent radio station (oldest non profit radio station in North America) you can find actual country music, depending on the show
Maroon 5 is a thing because hot white guy who didn’t piss off the record executives. Ever since Clear Channel (now iHeartRadio) bought most of the radio stations in the U.S. starting in 1998 they homogenized the music market and allowed record executives to target the broadest appealing slop without interference. That’s why rap got neutered into crossover hip-hop, why rock died, and why Katy Perry’s even had a career. Radio’s been stagnant since 2007 and the people who appeared on top back then (Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Drake) on the pop charts are still on top now because of the level of control iHeartRadio had before TikTok screwed it all up. That era of pop stars have all had the longest careers out of anybody, with Taylor Swift being in the Billboard Year End every year since 2010. One of the broadest appealing people they had ever found was Adam Levine, and so they threw him around everywhere. I refuse to say Maroon 5 is even a band, because that implies that A.) there’s anyone else aside from Adam Levine in there, and B.) they actually play instruments. If Clear Channel hadn’t snuck under the FTC’s nose and formed a monopoly throughout the 2000s neo-soul and RnB would likely be dominant, nu-metal and alt-metal would have evolved and spawned new genres, rap wouldn’t have been diluted and defanged, summer fluke indie hits would still be a thing, and Disney wouldn’t have damaged so many child stars. Country however would still be Country, because Nashville just yanks the shoes off of whatever’s passing by and wears them to look cool and relevant.
I’d argue that if you have a mother in law, she probably has a Maroon 5 CD in her Hyundai Santa Fe. When they were… prominent? I guess? I feel like a lot of women in their 40s/50s bought their albums on the basis that Maroon 5 authored every third song on the handful of available Clear Channel stations. This was probably the first CD they had bought for their car in 5+ years.
There’s a lot of mother’s-in-law out there, so I presume that would explain them selling a lot of albums. Outside of that demographic? I’m not sure.
Back on June 11, 2017 a buddy and I are grabbing dinner before a Rise Against/Deftones show and and walk past a venue around the corner from his place with “Everclear Tonight” on the marquee. So we start making fun of them. Not fun fun, we were being overly dickish. As we pass the bus we notice that Art is standing at the door scowling at us for our comments. Somehow that civic is both bad and yet better than their music.
Also I saw Dashboard Confessional open for Weezer in 2002 and constantly have to look up if it was them or Death Cab for Cutie who was on the tour. I just have a total blind spot for either bands music. But their civic does look cool and very era appropriate.
Poor Art. But then again he could have made music that sucked less, so it’s partly on him.
Aesthetically, I think the Demi Lovato one is the best and her music is fine. Nothing wrong with a pop tune!
She’s at least an excellent singer. Her music isn’t really my cup of tea but she’s incredibly talented and has been very open about her own mental health/substance abuse issues which is rad and courageous of her. She’s a okay in my book.
She’s also a legit rock fan.
These all look like someone got drunk and used the livery editor in Gran Turismo for the first time.
That Dashboard Confessional Civic would have been right at home in the original Fast & Furious. Which makes sense because it is only 3 years after the movie.
The Linkin Park one should be higher up the list on looks alone IMO. It’s way better looking than the Onedireciton or Charlie Puth ones. Also I’m not afraid to admit that the Black Eyed Peas put out some bangers at their peak.
I got to go to a bunch of Sweet 16s in high school, and DJ’d a few myself. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “I Gotta Feeling”…well, I could probably get some nice middle-shelf liquor.
But yeah, between that, Boom Boom Pow, The Time (Dirty Bit), Just Can’t Get Enough…they’re pretty alright.
Dunno where “My Humps” fits into the conversation but it’s catchy in a bad way.
I first heard “My Humps” as I was in traffic on the east side of Baltimore on the way to New York via I-95 rather than the CBBT on a greyish but decently warm Veteran’s Day Friday. “Catchy in a bad way” fits, if only because “Catchy in an alienating way that leaves you staring at the door speaker wondering why you kind of like this” is a bit too wordy. But it was fun on the same trip when “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” started as the opening theme song to some music show on a probably less commercial station after I passed New Brunswick, which has always seemed like the point at which you’ve entered the obvious approach to the city, even though I wasn’t heading to Brooklyn but to the Bronx.
Also saying calling Linkin Park a “mixed bag” and then putting Hybrid Theory and Meteora in the “good” category is a deranged statement. Their best work are the records that made them huge? Duh?
I’m all in for Linkin’ Park. I became a fan when I first saw the Speedvision WRC opening credits featuring “In The End”. There is a grainy copy on YouTube. It is still epic.
https://youtu.be/c6ws_9tLSWU?si=IUwcj9w5HnTrsXIE