When the minivan market started to grow, Honda was ready with its Civic Shuttle.
But that was just not enough. So, they decided to launch the Stream in 2000. The MPV was based on the seventh generation of the Honda Civic, using a McPherson front suspension and a multilink rear suspension. The Stream had a 2720 mm (107 in) long wheelbase, which was 110 mm (4 in) more than for the Civic sedan. This modification allowed engineers to install a third row of seats, thus making the Stream a 7 seater in a 2-3-2 configuration.

On the outside, the vehicle wasn’t too tall for a minivan, with only a 1590 mm (62.6 in) height. Since it was based on the Civic, they had to stick to the same engines, but they didn’t took all of them. For the Stream only two gasoline units were used, a 1.7-liter and a 2.0-liter. The latter was a detuned version of the well known K20 engine, which was installed on the second generation of the Civic TypeR.

For the 2003 facelift, the Stream received few updates for the bodywork, meant to enhance ride. The transmissions choices were kept to 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic. The 1.7-liter engine only came with the manual, while the more powerful 2.0-liter engine had either a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic transmission.

In Japan only, Honda engineers also experimented the 2.0-liter unit with gasoline direct injection mated to a CVT transmission.