2012 Honda Civic Si Race Car Can Be Yours for $3500

Sounds too good to be true? Well if you’re a racer the news is probably music to your ears. Recognizing how popular the Civic Si has become in motorsport circles, particularly road racing, Honda Racing displayed a 2012 body-in-white Civic Si at SEMA last year and is now offering them up for $3500 a piece.

Following on from a practice used by other automakers, the body-in-white program is available exclusively to bona fide racers, and enables them to get a basic shell along with suspension, differential, brakes and a toe strap. It’s then up to them to add the rest such as the engine, gearbox, roll cage, instruments, seat, harness and other necessary equipment.

Body-in-white programs are popular with racers since it saves them both time and money (without such programs racers often have to go out and buy a production vehicle and then strip it down to build a race car – this way half the work has already been done for them).

The new 2012 Civic Si body-in-white is eligible for competition in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge series, as well as the Continental Tire Sports Car challenge and other club racing categories.

Besides the body-in-white program, Honda’s motorsports arm also offers a number of other race components to build a competition ready machine; these include engines, transmissions, exhaust systems, suspension and brake parts.

However, if you’re thinking you can purchase one of these shells to build your next high performance street car, think again. Besides requiring race credentials to get your hands on one, body-in-whites do not have VIN numbers and are not eligible for use other than motorsport competition.

That said, if you want to add a bit of sparkle to your regular street going Civic Si, there’s always the HFP ( Honda Factory Performance) package. This includes a performance tuned suspension that lowers vehicle ride height, 18-inch wheels and tires, aero extensions and red instrument lighting among other things.

[Source: Detroit News]