Honda Integra Type R

The 1995 Integra Type R was Honda's engineering department off the leash. The B18C got hand-finished ports, 11.1:1 compression, and 200 PS at 8,000 rpm; the shell got seam welding, extra bracing, and less weight; the front end got a helical limited-slip that made corner-exit wheelspin a rumor. Contemporary Japanese and British press reached the same verdict, repeated ever since: the best-handling front-wheel-drive car ever made, full stop.

It earned that reputation on television — Best Motoring's touge and circuit battles showed the DC2 hounding machinery with twice its output — and on track in one-make and touring car competition. In America the Acura-badged ITR became the enthusiast's secret handshake, then the thief's favorite target: the B-series theft epidemic is genuinely part of this car's lore, and a major reason clean survivors are so scarce today.

That scarcity now runs the market. Low-mile USDM cars crossed $100,000 at auction, dragging JDM values upward once 96 spec cars cleared the 25-year rule in 2020. The connoisseur's buy is the JDM car: lighter, full 200 PS, Championship White over the red-carpet interior — the definitive naturally aspirated front-driver from the company that did NA front-drivers better than anyone.