People tow 800lb with underpowered, SWB SMART cars. People also tow small trailers with motorcycles.

While not rated for towing, a 1.6L-or larger Civic sedan or coupe can manage 1000lb just fine. You should REALLY only be doing the speed limit or less while towing anyway. Speed isn't the issue to be concerned about either. BRAKING is the issue to be concerned about. A Civic has adequate wheelbase, braking performance, and heft to manage 1000lb safely if you're not a moron behind the wheel.

Just don't expect to pull well up slippery boat ramps, high-altitude mtn passes, and the like.

You will also want to be careful with how you wire in the lighting for towing. Civics have sensitive electrical systems.

You don't need a 1-ton dually pickup to tow 800lb. Something as small as the Israeli Jeep Wrangler Unlimited JT is rated to tow around 8 THOUSAND pounds with a 4cyl. Towing 800lb is like having 4 200lb passengers in your Civic...without even accounting for their luggge. The suspension doesn't have to handle all 800lb. Tongue weight should only be about 80lb for that, which is more than most people carry in their trunk on a roadtrip. Towing 800lb should actually be easier on the car than carrying 800lb, under most conditions.

 

...or maybe 12 year old boys?