Japanese Car Auction Find – 2009 Honda Civic Type-R Euro

Today’s Japanese car auction find could not come at a better time. You’ll recall that yesterday Honda showed us the newest incarnation of their Civic Type-R Concept. When that car eventually makes it to production, be coming back as a fourth-gen model after a four-year leave of absence.

Today’s Japanese car auction find is a third-generation Honda Civic Type-R:

Believe it or not, this model was the last Civic Type-R ever sold in Japan. However, that’s not the only reason that it’s so unique… You’ll see on the auction sheet at the bottom of this post that the chassis code for this model is FN2.

But, wait a minute! The last Type-R chassis that Honda developed for the Japanese market was coded FD2… What’s the deal?

In 2008, Honda developed and manufactured the FN2 chassis for a new European Civic Type-R, which successfully launched later that year in the UK as a 2009MY. Unfortunately, Euro V emissions standards passed soon after which forced Honda to cease production of the model. Since they couldn’t even sell their remaining stock of vehicles, they exported them to Japan and sold them as a limited edition Civic Type-R Euro.

In Japan, Honda pitched the car as, “A premium sports model with a distinctive, stylish form and performance that was forged on European roads. Only 2,010 units will be available for sale in Japan.” The car you see here is one of those rare Type-R Euro units.

Of course, it was only a matter of time until similarly strict emissions regulations made their way into Japan, and it was summer of 2010 when the Type-R nomenclature was officially discontinued in the JDM. And that’s how the Honda Civic Type-R Euro became the last Type-R to ever be sold in Japan.

Okay! No more history lessons. Let’s talk specs:

Outside, you’ll see that this 2009 Civic Type-R actually looks quite similar to the brand-new concept we saw yesterday. It’s a bit rounder around the edges, and it lacks the bells and whistles that you’ll always find on a show car, but it’s definitely a stylish and fun-looking hot hatch.

Inside, you can see below that Honda went the extra mile to give this sports hatch a comfortable, premium appeal. They developed custom leather bucket seats specifically for the Type-R Euro, and you can clearly see the refined black and red color scheme. It’s a bit harder to see, but the steering wheel is also wrapped in leather.

Under the hood, you’ll find that this Civic Type-R runs on a 2.0L i-VTEC engine with 197hp and 142 lb-ft of torque. That torque is available across a surprisingly wide engine range too, thanks to a custom intake manifold which helps maintain high engine output. Meanwhile, a Drive-By-Wire system allows for finely tuned throttle response, and engine noise is kept to a pleasant hum thanks to an integrated secondary balancer. That i-VTEC engine is paired up with a high-performance six-speed manual transmission.

As you can see, today’s Japanese car auction find is truly something special. If you’d like to learn more about this 2009 Honda Civic Type-R Euro, keep reading below the auction sheet for a full, detailed translation.

Here is the translation.

“Interior B, first registered November 2009, grade 4.5, six speed manual gearbox, AAC, service pack, original alloy wheels, power steering, power windows, airbag, projector style headlights, pushbutton starter,t, seats or SIr type, left rear and right rear fender seals have been repaired, alloy wheels scratched, scratches and dents, left front lower cover is loose right front lower cover is loose, marks as per map”