The ’97-01 US-market Acura Integra Type R. For some it’s an over-hyped Civic. For others, such as me, it is the best front-wheel-drive car ever made. It may also be the best performance value Honda has ever produced. Whatever your opinion is, it is probably the rarest Honda/Acura on American roads. Most have been stolen, many have been wrecked, and some have been modified in the worst of ways. Fortunately there are several hundred kept safe by their owners and used as intended.
Among the ITR faithful, the Championship White ones are known to be the fastest [ <– possible undetectable sarcasm]. The 1997s, the first year ITR, the pre-facelift ones, are the rarest, and the most sough-after. They were lighter and more powerful (195hp vs 170hp) than the three year old (at the time) GS-R model. All ITRs came without sunroofs, but only 97s came without air conditioning and without rear wipers. They all had a stiffer chassis, bigger brakes with 5-bolt hubs, and a mechanical limited slip differential, among many other things.


Almost everyone expects these cars to become collector items, but few expected it to happen this soon. Recently, the perfect Integra Type R, a one owner all-original 1997 with 10,000 miles, sold on eBay for $43,300. I did not see that coming. I suspect that the owner will put it in a bubble for the next decade or two, and then sell it on one of those fancy auctions for much more money.
This makes sense, as Gen Xers, now in their mid-to-late 30s, are starting to make good money and are probably reminiscing of the days of their youth, they are likely spend some dough on cars such as these. In a few years they’ll drive their mint Supras, DSMs, Integras and other cars of the era to cruise nights where they might blast Biggie or Sublime through their Crutchfield sourced speakers. I may be one of those guys.