“Has no one mentioned a Lotus Elise?”
Not in the same breath as “daily driver”.
I think the Honda CRX Si is just plain one of those rare cars that really works. Good performance, great mpg, decent looking, etc. About the only downside is the small size and you’ve had no issues with that for all these years. If you sell it you’ll regret it in about 1 day and for the rest of your days. Keep it, and spend whatever it takes to fix it up; body work, mechanicals, everything. Make it look like new and keep it.
I’d wait to try out the FT86. Problem is, your CRX can’t be made today, it would meet none of the modern safety requirements. So it’s impossible to build something with all the qualities of your CRX. Like my '83 GTI, the modern equivalent is heavier, thirstier, but safer. How about a Civic Si? The Mini’s fun, but you’ll miss the Honda reliability.
These have been some really good suggestions guys. I hope you’ll keep them coming.
The Lotus Elise really does look like it would be the closest comparable thing … but as someone pointed out, probably MUCH less the daily driver the CRX is.
I am coming to grips with the fact that you can’t make this car anymore. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have kids to get to practices/music lessons and a house/yard always needing attention … I would give serious thought to doing a full rebuild (haven’t completely ruled it out). As it is though, I have 2 motorcycles and a set of golf clubs I never use because who has the that kind of “free” time on a sunny weekend day? 
Oh, one more interesting item. The Honda salesman who drove my CRX told me NOT to trade it in if I did buy a new car. He said that a dealer ship would only look at my CRX from it’s mechanical/age perspective. He told me to find a Honda enthusiast who knew what that car was … they would be willing to pay me it’s REAL value. 
I do plan on continuing my quest but now have a new tactic. I will go to a dealership, ask for a salesmen who knows sports cars, ask him to take my CRX for a spin, then ask him to show me anything he has that can approximate that feel. I’ll let you guys know how that works out.
Now that you mention “sports cars,” you will start another conversation.
Have you driven the Honda S2000 or the Mazda Miata?
“…who has the that kind of “free” time on a sunny weekend day?”
You have plenty of free time. Your wife doesn’t pay you for all those honeydos does she?
These cars must have been fun to drive in their time, but with less then 5 inches of ground clearance, they and others like them today are useless to many including myself.
LFFG, can you afford one of these?
LOL
I LIKE IT!!!
In answer to an earlier question.
I hadn’t driven the S2000 or a “recent” Mazda Miata.
(and thank you all for not even mentioning the Honda Del Slow)
The Civic SI is fun…But I doubt you’ll get the same gas mileage. With the safety requirements these days, it is hard to make a 1,900 lb. car.
GOOD NEWS!! - Believe it or not I found a “modern” comparable car to my 1990 CRX Si.
Bad news - it isn’t being sold here in the US. 
I was fortunate enough to be in Italy and needed a car to drive around in the hills of the Tuscany area. When I went to pick up my rental car I jokingly ask the guy at the desk if he could upgrade me to a Ferrari. He grinned and said “Well, I can give you his cousin” (you have to imagine that said in an Italian accent.
I ended up with an Alfa Romeo “MiTo”.
Here is what mine looked like - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfa_Romeo_MITO_adria_back.jpg
This thing had the same size and feel of the CRX Si, from the “cockpit” feel of the interior to the handling and “zip” of the drive. The BIG surprise was that it was a DIESEL!
My narrow American view had left me thinking that diesels were these big, stinking trucks or ugly sluggish Volvos. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Other then an odd initial acceleration delay from a stop, this thing had ZIP! I had no problem what so ever, pulling out and passing vehicles while going up steep hills.
… and oh, those hills? Those winding, narrow, twisty turny, steep country roads? The MiTo handled them like a slot car.
As for it’s interior “appointments”? It really didn’t have any. So what. I want to drive it not live in it. It was slightly nicer then the CRX Si and we were able to get 5 adults in it! While the 3 in the back were quite close, they were not uncomfortable. I will note that the “twisties” did induce queasiness in at least one back seat passenger and the one time I rode in the front passenger seat instead of driving, the winding mountain road caused me to feel ill as well (but did I tell you how much fun it was to DRIVE those roads?).
Anyway, I know nothing about what maintenance would be like on an Alpha Romeo but if that thing was available here I’d swap my beloved CRX Si for it today!
BTW - reading the wikipedia entry I see they made GTA version with a 1.75 litre turbocharged engine that could produce 237 hp! Oh how I’d love to take THAT for a test drive!
give the Hyundai Veloster a test drive. I drove one a couple of weekends ago and it was the closest thing to a CRX I’ve driven since the CRX. Slightly underpowered and excellent handling, just like the CRX was
Thanks for the heads-up on the Veloster. I may go and try to test drive one tomorrow!
RE: The Mito. Unfortunately, It’s an Alfa. I spent many, many years in Europe, and while they’re sporty, good looking (for the most part), and tend to have lots of go, they also tend to be plagued with problems more than any other make I dealt with.
Subaru is coming out with a sporty handling-based car with an F4 and 28k base price. Dont know about mileage though.
So … I drove a Veloster.
WHAT a disappointment.
I got to the dealership and had really high hopes. It’s exterior looks were pretty good, the size was right, the fuel mileage looked like it might be okay (“might” because they listed it as 24 to 40mpg … that’s a pretty inexact and wide range).
The inside were perfect for me. It had that CRX “fighter cockpit” feel to it while having back seats that were more than adequate for my kids. The 3rd door was a particularly nice touch.
Then came the test drive.
The 1st thing I did was check the turn radius there in the lot and it was REALLY nice and tight.
Next I tried to pull out into traffic. Supremely disappointing.
From a stop or any of the first three gears - “punching it” only got you this tepid, mushy, anemic response. I could find no way to get the thing to press me back against the seat even the least little bit.
Since it failed so miserably in the “raise your pulse” test I didn’t bother putting the suspension through it’s paces. I can say that there was very little front nose “dive” under heavy breaking and taking one right hand turn at about 30mph yielded no body roll.
Summery … the Veloster passes the “looks” test, the “mpg” test, the “feel” test and showed promise in “handling” department. It got an F minus in acceleration.
So my qwest continues.
A GTI would work. But there’s not way you’ll find a CRX today, safety laws won’t allow it.
I think you need to stop looking and have your CRX overhauled/rebuilt. No other car is going to make you happy.
What safety laws? I have not heard of any changes in the safety laws that would prevent a car like the CRX Si from being produced. What has changed is the government safety ratings and the insurance institute ratings. The CRX would probably get the lowest ratings from both and we the people have now gotten used to and have an expectation of more stars etc.
I heard that Fiat will be bringing some Alfa models to the US. I also heard something about the Fiat 500 getting a turbo, would that be a suitable substitute?