Cou•ture : /ko͞oˈto͝or/ : noun : The design and manufacture of fashionable clothes to a client’s specific requirements and measurements. It’s a strong coincidence that Jonny’s last name is Couture. Because nearly every part of this Honda CRX is tailor made.
Jonny Couture loves old-school Hondas…
And honestly, who doesn’t? For a lot of our generation, old-school Hondas are a nostalgic breath of fresh air at this point. They reflect an absolute sweet-spot of simpler cars… and simpler times. Hondas were our gateway into sport-compact hotrod culture. Hell – there’s probably a golden-era Honda in the backdrop of a lot of your core memories. Dates, spring breaks, mall boulevards, parking-lot pastimes… early-2000s pop-culture in general. Honda was a brand that truly deserved/earned its fanbase. Honda used to be passionate & daring. Subtly defiant. More than the sum of their parts. If you drove one – you knew. They built accessible cars… that were actually good… and gave you real connection. Cars for mass-market people… but built by enthusiasts… with a secret Tasmanian Devil inside. It was nothing short of lightning in a bottle.
The ultimate goal with this CRX – 1 of 1…
Today’s car culture landscape is the result of copying. Command-C… Command-V. What do you expect – we have a screen in front of our face nearly 24/7. It’s almost inevitable. We watch more than we do. The outside influences are louder than the ones coming from inside. So with this CRX, Jonny wanted to keep turning the screws until… there was really nothing else quite like it. Right-hand-drive… all-wheel-drive… k-swap… ITBs… with rare Honda Almond Cream paint.
Jonny Couture purchased the JDM Honda CRX…
From a guy on the West Coast who imported it, then had a change of plans. Jonny got the car back to his hometown in Arizona around 3am… and by 7am he was in the garage dismantling it. He took the CRX down to its barest possible shell, had it put on a rotisserie for a full color change – Almond Cream inside & out. The underside was fully resprayed with black undercoating. Upon reassembly, it was practically all new everything – from bolts, to bushings, to seals.
The attention to detail on this Honda CRX is next-level…
We’ve all seen meticulous Honda builds. The Rywire type builds where the attention to detail just makes your tongue itch. I’m so envious of that. Because look – what ever that is… it skipped me lol. Maybe I’m immature, maybe I’m impatient, maybe their ADD is more ADD than mine… but I want it on the road yesterday! So when I see this level of execution & discipline, it just blows me way. The thought of the logistics alone… of sourcing obscure parts down to the finest detail… gets me knotted-up.
I’m totally oversimplifying it, but just for example…
The hood hinges – gone – shaved. Meaning the k-swapped engine is forever a part of the CRX’s exterior. And – the engine bay backlit at night… just to show off. Practically every bolt is Downstar… even the ones you can’t see throughout the suspension & drivetrain. And – every last one of them is tightened so all the logos line up. All the wiring has been redone. And as mentioned, every trim seal in the car had been replaced. Arguably – it’s a new CRX (Honda please take notes). Jonny even had the metal sunroof custom remade with glass.
The Engine…
Is a fully rebuilt & repainted K20A. It sports 58mm TWM individual throttle bodies. And the it’s got a fully tucked Rywire harness. The valve cover is from Ktuned, and Jonny matched its satin black aesthetic with a powder-coated custom 3-piece strut bar. A Killer Glass upper (and lower) radiator hose draw people in like a shiny fishing lure.
The CRX runs a rebuilt K24 CRV all-wheel-drive transmission…
With a CRV transfer case, S1Built locking plate, and Hasport axles. S1Built also did a custom driveshaft & header – since no one makes headers for a right-hand-drive, all-wheel-drive CRX (RHD chassis have subtle differences).
Many of the suspension components are from Ktuned…
Including their K1 street coilovers. In back though, due to the AWD conversion, a lot of the key components come from S1Built (see modlist for specifics). For braking, Jonny Couture did a full Wilwood pedal assembly, master cylinder, and ChaseBays brakeline tuck… along with a Wilwood front big brake kit.
Jonny’s already turned down 40k for his CRX…
Without hesitation. I’m not saying that to put a price tag on it. Rather, I’m saying it to paint a picture of the emotional value behind the car… and the process of building it. See – it’s not about the money. Hondas never were. If you’re looking for a car to be an avatar of your bank account… there are plenty of options for that. But you can’t buy the process… you gotta earn that part on your own. And that’s what golden-era Hondas like the CRX instilled into our rice-boy generation. They gave us the process. Built the lifestyle. Taught us how to become fluent in the language of car. Not just regurgitating the spec sheets & 0-60 times… but the stuff you can’t measure.
EXTERIOR:
ENGINE
INTERIOR:
SUSPENSION:
WHEELS / BRAKES / TIRES
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