Honda planning sub-Fit CRX hybrid?

When Honda reinvents the sporty CRX for the 2011 model year, it will reportedly feature a hybrid powertrain under its hood, rather than a small, rev-happy motor like the first CRX, which was sold in the U.S. through 1991.

Winding Road reports that the reinvented CRX has been pushed back from '09 to '11 and that Honda's product planners have decided to make the updated CRX more like the now-defunct Insight. They also report that neither the Small Hybrid Sports Coupe concept nor the REMIX conceptwas a preview of the upcoming CRX, which will be shown in October at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The original CRX was sold in two generations in the U.S. from 1984-91 and it featured 1.5-liter four-cylinder engines that ranged from 58 to 108 horsepower. The CRX truly was diminutive, measuring just 148 inches from bumper to bumper. The Fit, Honda's smallest car currently sold in the U.S., is ten inches longer but has four doors. The Fit isn't available with a hybrid powertrain.