Template talk:Early Honda vehicles
The "Civic" is shown on the template as starting in 1974. It debuted in late 1972, but was released (and exported to USA) as a 1973. There were several differences between the 1973, and 1974 models. The most VISIBLE is that the 1973 bumpers didn't protrude much. The 1974 bumpers stuck out further, as did all subsequent ones. It used to be said in the auto garage community that if you could sit on the bumper, albeit uncomfortably, that it was a 1974, that if you couldn't sit on the bumper, it was a 1973.
One source of confirmation is the "Honda 1973 Civic Service Manual" (Factory service manual published by American Honda and sold by the dealerships).
2600:1700:BF91:79F0:69D8:5E4:7EF:C276 (talk) 19:56, 20 June 2020 (UTC) -- Fred Cisin fcisin@gmail.com co-author of "How To Keep Your Honda Alive : A Step By Step Manual For The Compleat Idiot" https://www.amazon.com/How-keep-your-Honda-alive/dp/B01K3RRCM8/ ISBN-13: 978-0912528250