These days, the sport compact car class is a shadow of its former self. The 80s and 90s were truly the halcyon days of import streetfighters, compact cars with small displacements but big hearts, and ready to tackle the backroads of your choosing. These were cars that prioritized low mass over sheer girth, and were quite sprightly as a result. The Acura Integra and the Honda Civic upon which it was based were the ringleaders of this upstart segment, along with cars like the Volkswagen GTI and the Toyota Celica. This first-generation Integra is a rare find and equipped with the preferred 5-speed and has under 70,000 original miles.

If you’ve spent any time looking for an early Honda Civic or Acura Integra, you will quickly learn these cars are practically extinct. With sensitive sheet metal taking out the cars that lived in the rust belt states and poorly-executed modifications by the boy racer crowd taking out the rest, it’s not exactly easy to find an Integra as clean as this one. The fact that it’s also a desirable color with the preferred 5-speed manual gearbox makes it an item all-around. And yes, even back then, the Honda manual gearbox was one of the smoothest ones on the market. You have to love the thick bolsters on the standard bucket seats, too.

The four-cylinder engine predates any sort of high-revving VTEC system that made later Hondas quite quick when being wrung out, but again, the low curb weight will help this Integra make the most of its 118 horsepower. The seller reports doing a fair amount of maintenance work to get it running smoothly, but doesn’t provide any details; hopefully, the work included a new timing belt and water pump. He does note the previous owner replaced the spark plugs and battery, and that prior to that, it sat idle for some time in the hands of the original owner.

Small details – the badges, the exhaust finishers, the rest wiper – are all in place, and speak to a car that has been largely undisturbed. The three-door hatchback configuration is arguably the most desirable, and the LS package got you some cosmetic improvements like the alloy wheels shown here. The Integra is listed here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $9,000 with bids to $2,500, and I don’t think that purchase price is out of line when considering what clean CRXs and early Civic Si’s sell for. This Integra is going to be hard to repeat any time soon, but definitely scan the listing for a variety of small repairs it still needs before casting a bid.