Surprised motorist gets a crash course in imported cars

When the first Civic came out, Yoshihide Munekuni, head of the automotive division at American Honda, invited me to lunch.

I remember Munekuni's assistant was driving a light beige two-toned Civic. I was in the passenger side. We were going from Honda's offices to a golf course near the San Diego freeway, and Munekuni and [American Honda executive] Cliff Schmillen were in the back seat.

We were going down the street, and there was a guy in a big Chevy van. He was astounded by this neat car coming by, and his foot slipped off the brake and he hit the accelerator and ran right into the side of the Civic. It was amazing. We couldn't drive the car.

Fortunately, Munekuni wasn't hurt because it hit the rear wheel. They had to make phone calls -- that was before cell phones -- and the company sent another car to pick us up to go to lunch.