Junkyard Find: 2004 Acura EL
Last year, I found a 2009 Chevrolet Chevy (a Mexican-market Opel Corsa) in a Denver car graveyard, presumably driven here on Mexican plates and then abandoned and towed away when it couldn’t be registered in Colorado.
We can assume that today’s Junkyard Find came to the Mile High City in the same way, but via the northern border rather than the southern one.
The Acura EL was a luxed-up Civic, based on the Japanese-market Honda Domani sedan. The EL sold well in Canadaland, and I’m sure plenty of them commute daily into Detroit or Buffalo. This is the first one I’ve ever seen in Colorado, though.
Those of us accustomed to seeing Freedom Distance Units in big type and Communist Enslavement Distance Units in small type on our speedometers might be startled by this gauge showing KiloLenins first. Actually, I’m surprised some local seventh-gen Civic owner hadn’t grabbed this instrument cluster, because km/h is more JDM, yo.
Metric temperature settings, even! What’s the point of the metric system, anyway?
Despite some timeworn seat upholstery, this car was in decent shape when it got to its final parking space. The original French-language manuals were still in the glovebox, suggesting that it may have been a one-owner machine.
The rear bodywork, being Domani-based, doesn’t look like a US-market Civic sedan from the era, but otherwise we’re looking at a nicely-optioned Civic sedan that almost blends in here.
Attain the balance between luxury and excitement.
Just the car for the salt flats.
If you like these junkyard posts, you’ll find links to 1700+ more at the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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"Freedom Distance Units" There is nothing father from truth. It is British colonial units symbolizing suppression of freedom of religion and taxation without representation. Tyranny in other words by English King. If you want Freedom, Equality, Fraternity and Republic Units you should insist on switching to French revolution inspired and mathematically superior French metric system, considering that French Republic was US ally during anti colonial war for independence in NA. You should leave rotten English system to Canadian who stayed loyal to tyrant King and oppressors in red coats.
Whoever wrote "3.5L" on that engine -- pretty sure it's not :)