It made its debut in 1972, and since then 24 million examples have been built and sold around the world. Unlike the famously long-lived Model T Ford or Volkswagen Beetle, there have been many changes in that time – so many, in fact, that today’s Civic is almost unrecognisable from the one which came on the scene half a century ago. And it’s super-successful: it was the 10th best-selling vehicle in the US in 2021, and the second-best selling one if you exclude pickups and SUVs. The model also propelled Honda to become a truly global car company.

Here is the story of one of Japan’s, and indeed the world’s, most famous and popular cars.