It’s no secret that we are huge Honda fans and will report any and everything that has to do with the Civic Type R, or really any Honda model that’s worthy of attention. For example, we even reported on the 2000 Honda Civic Si that surprisingly sold on Bring a Trailer for a staggering $50,000. And since rarity and unreasonable pricing is the name of game when it comes to sporty Hondas nowadays, here’s another one for you; a Civic Type R that sold for close to $90,000 due to, you guessed, it’s extreme rarity.

This isn’t just any Honda Civic Type R

In case you didn’t know, the Honda Civic Type R has been around for decades in Europe and Japan, we were just lucky enough to finally get one in the U.S. a few years ago, although we’re not sure why it took so long. Whatever the case, the Civic Type R in question is from the FN2 generation of the Civic, which was in production from 2007 to 2011 in Japan and Europe. But what’s mainly so special about is that this Civic Type R is a Mugen-built version that was sold in the European market as being the “ultimate Civic Type R.”

Mugen is a tuning and racing outfit that has worked alongside Honda for years and has had a part in everything from Formula 1 cars to grassroots racing projects, so it’s safe to say they know a thing or two when it comes to extracting power and performance out of a Honda. The particular Civic Type was hand-built by Mugen and was even able to be custom-tuned based on the customer’s preferences and driving habits. As such, there were only 20 of them ever built.

The Civic Type R Mugen was an engineer’s plaything

While it’s easy to see that the Honda Civic Type R Mugen was practically a race-spec streetcar, a closer look shows us why. Motor trend once reported on the limited-edition Civic and noted that Mugen added a new set of camshafts, high-compression pistons, an upgraded exhaust, and an upgraded intake. Custom tuning was also available and would be done based on each customer’s specific needs out of the car. Mugen stated that the car’s power output was 237 horsepower and the modifications also added about 10 percent to the torque rating.

That might not sound like much, but the modifications didn’t end there. A limited-slip differential was also added as were a set of four-piston calipers and a completely revised Mugen suspension. Connecting the car to the ground is a set of forged wheels that lighten up the upsprung weight by 17 pounds. On the outside, Mugen added a bigger spoiler, a more aggressive front fascia, a rear diffuser, and a new grille.

Why did the one for sale cost so much?

The Civic Type R Mugen that you see here recently sold at a shop named Contempo Concept, which is located in Hong Kong. The Civic sold for $688,000 HKD, which exchanges to around $89,000 in today’s U.S. dollar rate. The Drive recently noted that this Civic Type R likely had such a high price due to the higher price of cars in general in Hong Kong and also due to the fact that it was labeled as production #21, which is due to the fact that Mugen skipped making #13. Again, it’s a hefty price to pay, but as we now know when it comes to rare Hondas, someone is always willing to pay the price.