THE Swindon-built 150mph Civic Type R, regarded as one of the world’s best sports cars, is now on sale in Japan.

It is rare for Honda in Japan to import cars from other factories in other countries so this is quite a feather in the caps of the 3,400 workers at South Marston.

The decision to sell the car in Japan follows on from introductions in Australia and South Africa.

The three and five door Civic body styles were originally conceived as Europe-only models, but the combination of a powerful engine, tenacious grip and radical styling has seen a flood of requests from Honda fans across the globe.

The Type Rs were shipped from Southampton and the export marks only the second time since 2001 that the European-built Civic has been sold in the Japanese home market.

The Type R was first shipped to Australia more than two years ago when the first batch of 2,000 was shipped and they were snapped up almost immediately by dealers. It was the same story when the car was exported to South Africa.

“We are particularly proud of this car and the fact that it has been exported to Japan speaks volumes,” said Julie Cameron, head of corporate communications at the South Marston factory.

“We have had a tough year here in Swindon and the four-month closure of the production line was particularly difficult.

“But we are on line to produce 100,000 vehicles in this financial year and we hope there will be an improvement in the economy next year.”

Just 2,010 of these Type Rs in Milano Red, Alabaster Silver or Championship White machines, will be available to Honda enthusiasts in Japan.