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It's easily the most expensive Civic yet, costs a wallet-withering £38,599 and in one sense is an absolute bargain.

Why? Because each of these tuned 240bhp Type Rs costs about £190,000 to build, netting creator Mugen a £150,000 loss for every example sold. Which makes it easier to understand why there will only be 20.

There is method to this fiscal madness, however, the establishment of Honda engine tuner Mugen in the minds of UK petrolheads being the aim. We Brits buy more Type R Civics than any other country, including Japan, presenting this tuning specialist with a tempting commercial opportunity. Mugen means "unlimited" – supposedly of power, rather than price – and though it's owned by the Honda family, with a history stretching back to 1973, it operates separately from Honda.

Unusually, the process of making these 20 special Civics occurs entirely in the UK, Honda shipping British-built Type Rs from its Swindon plant to Mugen's premises in Northampton. The priciest element is the total strip-down and high-precision rebuild of the engine into what's virtually a full-race, hand-built £19,000 motor.

View the rest of this news article at Telegraph.co.uk.

TAGS: HONDA CIVIC TYPER MUGEN REVIEW TUNER