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long time in the future, decades after the UK ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars, there will still be motoring enthusiasts who like to spend their weekends carefully detailing their coveted combustion cars. A future in which engines are banned completely is difficult to imagine; collectors might instead be required to run their old machines on clean e-fuels rather than environmentally unfriendly dinosaur juice, but there’s no sign that they’ll be forced off the roads altogether.
As is the case today, the numbers of old cars will be limited and some will be much more valuable than others. Predicting which cars will be future classics is a risky business, but some are a much more certain bet than others, and hot hatches are likely to be sought-after. And I reckon I have found my favourite of the breed: the current Honda Civic Type R.
This year marks the Japanese model’s 28th anniversary, and sadly it won’t get to celebrate its 30th birthday in Europe: Honda has said the Civic Type R is being withdrawn from the market at the end of this year due to tougher emissions regulations that come in from January 2026. Over five generations and many special editions, the Type R has established itself as a giant-killer, occasionally setting the benchmark for driver engagement and dynamic thrills, outperforming legends such as the Golf GTI and Ford Focus RS.
