Honda N-ONE

Can I talk about the Honda N360 now? Good. You see, over the years, Honda's first ever kei car, the N360 is quite a charm when it was launched in the 1960's. Now however, Honda Motor Co., Ltd made themselves that what we called it "the Honda N360 of the 21st Century"

This isn't it. It's still the N360...

Actually, the one we've pictured above isn't it. This is the Honda N360 from the 1960's. Produced from 1967 to 1972, the N360 is the brand's first kei car; small in size but big on fun. The N in the N360 name stands for norimono, which is Japanese for vehicle. The design of the N360 though looks similar to the classic and original Mini, perhaps this is more of a Japanese take on the Mini Cooper in the 60's.

2013 Honda N ONE

2013 Honda N ONE

This is the new version. Honda says that they took some inspiration from the old one. This is known as the N-ONE, the next chapter of the Honda N series kei cars since the Palette-rival N BOX and the more convenient N BOX+. The N stands for "New Next Nippon Norimono" and that's because Honda's trying to change the kei car paradigm. Come to think of it, when you put the classic N360 to the modern N-ONE together, they look exactly the same, except for one thing.

The old car, the N360, is smaller, which means, within my height, I can't fit inside because the N360 has 1346mm of height. Happily, the new N-ONE is taller than the N360, meaning I can fit myself in and take it for a joyride. Bye!

I've actually saw one of these in last year's Tokyo Motor Show but that was just a concept. This is the 1,150,000 Yen finished product that Japanese customers would actually buy. Under the hood lies the 660cc inline 3-cylinder water-cooled horizontal position (S07A), which produces 58PS of power, mated to a CVT and an idling stop system that promises a JC08-rated fuel consumption of 27.0km/L. That's a Daihatsu Move territory if you know what I mean. Get it? It's TNP27! It has the same fuel economy of the Daihatsu Move! Don't get too conscious though, because they did have a different variant of the N-ONE called the N-ONE PREMIUM, a more stylish version of the N-ONE and also, both the standard and the Premium variants does offer a turbocharged version of the S07A engine.

2013 Honda N ONE interior

2013 Honda N ONE interior

Just like the old N360, this is like a college student who realized a dream of becoming a representative of the  famed basketball team of his college. It feels a bit more civilized inside and out. And it's easy to park too as well because it's small. Considering it as a poor man's modern Mini, the N-ONE still looks like the modern Mini and when you parked them together, it does look a bit similar. Sure, because of its 1,150,000 Yen pricing for the entry-level model, that's about pricey-wicey than the entry-level Mira Cocoa and the Suzuki Lapin but they're like fashion statements from Shibuya. Eccentric, strange, odd, and cool.

If I'm driving one of these with optional features, especially the one with the i-MID on it, I would never ever get out of it right until the part that I ran out of petrol. Still, I love this modern version and I would never ever get out of it. A modern take of the N360 with the TNP27 fuel economy. Simply clever for this norimono.

Photo: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.