Look, up on the page! It’s a wagon, it’s a minivan, it’s… it’s… today’s Honda Civic! Let’s see if this rare Shuttle comes with a price that you might just consider to be super-duper.

If you give a moose a muffin… No wait, that’s not right. Maybe it’s if you give a Jalop an option to buy a boxy old Volvo wagon that needs some lovin’ and that just so happens to have a funky engine, a stick shift, and a price without too many numbers in it, and they might just give it a pass. Or, like yesterday’s , they might just give it a 65% Crack Pipe vote. Really it could have gone both ways.

You know, I’ve read that the reason people like baby things—puppies, kittens, and even human babies—is due to a predilection most of us have for the disproportionate large head to small body ratio. Maybe that’s why we like cartoons so much as well. With it’s ridiculously high roof, today’s (wagon here in the U.S.) looks all kinds of disproportionate, but in a semi-comical and, I would expect, pleasing way.

The fourth-generation Civic spawned the Shuttle just as the third had birthed its predecessor, the oddly named Wagovan. I’m glad they changed that damn model name as my autocorrect hates it with a purple passion. Shuttle however, well it’s just fine.

These cars, along with Toyota’s Tercel Wagon were crossovers before there were crossovers, and were intended to compete with Subaru’s AWD wagonsin the hotly contested tiny 4x4 market. They were made available, and this one is so equipped, with Honda’s Real Time on-demand AWD. They also came with a stump-puller first gear in the six-cog box when you went stick. The AWD editions were also jacked up slightly, which just added to the already exaggerated roof height.

Why would you want a car with such a tall greenhouse? Who knows, maybe you’re a Lincoln cosplayer and don’t want to take off your stovepipe hat. Or, maybe you live in a big hair state.

The thing of it is, that’s not a question most people generally contemplate these days, as when was the last time you actually saw one of these and it wasn’t all goofed out slug-low on the pavement with some sort of YO VTEC douche behind the wheel? And no offense intended to YO VTEC douches. Seriously, I love you guys.

Here we have one that’s a little battered and bruised, but seemingly all there and in pretty stock form. The dented paint still carries what seems to be its factory hue and the steel wheels stand proud and white in the wheel wells. A roof rack up top adds to the cargo capacity and it even has it’s original D16A6 under the hood.

That 1.6-litre four was shared with the contemporary Civic Si and pumped out 108-bhp and 100 lb-ft of torque when it left the factory. As noted, that’s backed up by a six-speed stick and the car sends power to all four wheels when it feels the front ones slip sliding away.

The ad claims that the car “runs and drives great” and that it is good for 30 MPG. It comes with a new muffler, brakes, a driveshaft, plus tires and battery, and seems rust-free despite the dents and dings.

Being a ’91 you do have to fight mouse belts to gain entry, but once inside you’ll note an interior that seems to have held up well, and which hasn’t succumbed to egregious stereo-iffication, as it rocks its factory-spec’d head unit and speakers.

This is a rare car, and its condition makes it a rare example of that rare car. Sure, the body’s seen better times, but that’s not something that isn’t repairable, and it also isn’t something that would affect its drivability if you said eff-it and enjoyed it dents and all.

To do that you’ll need to come up with the car’s asking, which is $3,950. What’s your take on that amount for this Civic? Does that seem like a deal for a Shuttle with so much space? Or, is this Honda’s price a mission abort?

You decide!

Chicago , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to TeXWD for the hookup!

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