, we kinda felt saddened that Honda will stop making cars with SH-AWD and cars with VCM (Variable Cylinder Management). The Honda Legend is unique for the SH-AWD and the Honda Inspire is unique for the Variable Cylinder Management. With those two sedans out of the picture, it appears that these technologies will die together. Sadly then, Honda sedans are becoming ENDANGERED SPECIES. Why not taking a look back at the sedans of Honda?
 |
| The first Honda Accord |
The sedans of Honda are truly one of the many creations why Honda wants to be more competitive than Toyota and Nissan. Those Honda sedans are more than just art because what made them great are its quirky brilliance.
 |
| Honda 1300 |
This is the Honda 1300. Launched in April 1969, the 1300 serves as Honda's competitor against the Toyota Corona and the Nissan Bluebird. It was designed by the founder, Soichiro Honda, and to include engineering efforts for both the product and assembly procedures. There were two versions; the "Series 77" with a single carburetor 100 PS (74 kW) engine and the "Series 99" with a four carburetor 115 PS (85 kW) unit. It was introduced at the 1968 Tokyo Motor Show but it was a pre-production model. The production model went on sale since May 1969 but there was a reminder that it got delayed because the founder found the styling of the car as presented at the Tokyo Motor Show the previous year unacceptably bland and called for a redesign.
 |
| Honda 145 |
In the 1970's, the Honda 1300 was been replaced by the Honda 145, which is essentially an updated version of the 1300. Like the 1300, the 145 is available in sedan and coupe variants but the 145 is powered by water-cooled 1433cc engine. Sadly though, the 145 wasn't a hit and only 9,736 were produced. This car was discontinued in 1974 and it was replaced by the Honda Civic, which in the beginning when it was launched in 1972, they're just old hatchbacks but a sedan appeared when the Civic was in the 2nd generation.
 |
| Honda Civic Sedan (1980) |
Now that's how a Civic sedan began. It was introduced in the 1980's and it was dubbed as the FF NOTCHBACK STYLE of Honda. A five door version of the Civic in the old days is now became called the Honda Quint and it was introduced in the 80's at Japanese dealership sales channel called Honda Verno along with the Honda Ballade, a high luxury model based on the sedan. Speaking of which, none of the Honda fans remembered...what's HONDA VERNO? What's HONDA CLIO? (Nope, not the Renault one...) What's HONDA PRIMO?
Back in 1978, Honda diversify their sales distribution channels, starting with HONDA VERNO, a dealership specializes a higher content of standard equipment and a more sporting nature. The Hondas that were sold on the Honda Verno dealerships in Japan were Honda Prelude, Honda Integra, Honda CR-X, Honda Vigor, Honda Saber, Honda Ballade, Honda Quint, Honda Crossroad, Honda Element, Honda NSX, Honda HR-V, Honda Mobilio Spike, Honda S2000, Honda CR-V, Honda That's, Honda MDX, Honda Rafaga, Honda Capa, and the Honda Torneo.
 |
| Honda Rafaga |
With Honda Verno dealerships' success, they created two more sales channels, called Honda Clio in 1984, and Honda Primo in 1985. Honda Clio dealerships sold products that were traditionally associated with Honda dealerships before 1978, like the Honda Accord, and Honda Primo sold the Honda Civic, kei cars such as the Honda Today, superminis like the Honda Capa, along with other Honda products, such as farm equipment, lawn mowers, portable generators, marine equipment, motorcycles, and scooters.
 |
| Honda Ascot (1989) |
 |
| Honda Ascot Innova (1992) |
 |
| Honda Ascot (1993) |
Cars sold at the Honda Primo dealerships are Honda Civic, Honda Life, Honda Acty, Honda Vamos, Honda Hobio, Honda Ascot, Honda Ascot Innova, Honda Torneo, Honda Civic Ferio, Honda Freed, Honda Mobilio, Honda Orthia, Honda Capa, Honda Today, Honda Z, and the Honda Beat.
Cars sold at the Honda Clio dealerships are Honda Accord, Honda Legend, Honda Inspire, Honda Avancier, Honda S-MX, Honda Lagreat, Honda Stepwgn, Honda Elysion, Honda Stream, Honda Odyssey, Honda Domani, Honda Concerto, Honda Accord Tourer, Honda Logo, Honda Fit, Honda Insight, Honda That's, Honda Mobilio, and the Honda City
Speaking of different Honda dealerships; how come that Honda cars that once were the same thing were sold in different looks in different dealerships? This is just like Toyota when they have the Alphard sold only on TOYOPET dealerships and the Vellfire which is sold only on NETZ dealerships, which in fact most Toyotas sold in NETZ dealerships are incorporated with the N badge.
 |
| 2nd generation Accord |
What you're looking here is the 2nd generation Honda Accord. It was launched in 1981 in Japan and it was the first to be introduced in the United States. Sadly, nobody remembered the 2nd generation Accord. This car was sold on the Honda Clio dealerships in the past and the Honda Verno equivalent of the Honda Accord was...the HONDA VIGOR.
 |
| The first Honda Vigor |
The Honda Vigor...well, it was launched in 1981 as a Honda Accord with a different flavor because it was sold in Honda Verno stores. The first Vigor was a higher grade 4-door sedan and 3-door hatchback, with the 1.8 L engine as the only engine available, using Honda's CVCC-II system. Nobody remembered that the Honda Vigor was the Accord's evil twin because it is the sportier, faster, "vigorous" Accord with a higher level of equipment. Thanks to this, the Vigor set standards for the market to accept a luxury equipped car from Honda, which appeared in 1985 with the Honda Legend, which is sold only on Honda Clio dealerships.
 |
| Honda Legend (1985) |
 |
| Honda Legend (1990) |
 |
| Honda Legend (1996) |
Believe it or not, when the Honda Legend was launched in 1985, it was the first production Honda vehicle to offer only a SOHC V6 engine worldwide. This car became the opening salvo of the Honda Clio dealerships and in case you never know, it was the result of a joint venture with Britain's Austin Rover Group called Project XX that started in November 1981 with the Austin Rover-Honda XX letter of intent signed by the two companies to replace the Rover SD1 and to provide a luxury vehicle for Honda, and was codenamed as HX. The two companies agree to make the Honda Legend in Britain but quality issues prevented many from going into the market and ended up being used as in-plant transport. Speaking of British, what about the Honda Concerto?
 |
| Honda Concerto |
This car served as the replacement of the Honda Quint and just like its predecessors, the Qunit and the Ballade, it shared its platform with a Rover product, namely the Rover 200 and Rover 400. Even when the Concerto was produced in Japan since 1988, it was also produced in Great Britain in the late 1989, making it sold in European markets. A minor difference between the JDM and the European Concertos was the front suspension because versions built in Longbridge had MacPherson struts, unlike their Japanese counterparts which had double wishbones. Quite a shocking fact but nobody remembered those. When production of the Concerto ended in 1994, it was replaced by the Honda Domani, which is a luxurious version of the Honda Civic Ferio.
 |
| Honda Domani (1992) |
 |
| Honda Domani (1997) |
The Honda Domani is just like many of the Hondas taking one product and selling multiple versions at different dealership sales channels in Japan, called Honda Clio for the more upscale Domani, Honda Integra SJ at Honda Verno locations from 1996-2000, and Honda Primo for the Civic Ferio, along with the Civic 3- and 5-door hatchbacks.
 |
| Honda Integra SJ |
How surprising. A Domani is nothing more of a rich man's Honda Civic Ferio but the Integra SJ is somewhat a Civic Ferio with a different flavor. Crikey! Hmmmm....It appears nobody remembered the Honda Integra SJ because as always, when people think about the Honda Integra, the image they've conjured was an FF Sports cars but nobody remembered that there are sedan versions of the Integra...
 |
| Honda Quint Integra Sedan (1986) |
 |
| Honda Integra Hardtop (1989) |
 |
| Honda Integra Hardtop (1993) |
As always...nobody remembered those...Can we just move on?
 |
| Honda Civic Sedan (1983) |
 |
| Honda Civic Sedan (1987) |
 |
| Honda Civic Ferio (1991) |
 |
| Honda Civic Ferio (1995) |
 |
| Honda Civic Ferio (2000) |
 |
| Honda Civic (2005) |
For eight generations, the Honda Civic is becoming from simple family car to a tuner's favorite because starting from the fifth-generation, most Honda Civics became gods in the parking lots. Street heroes, better even than girls. Most Honda Civics are cheap and they were easy to modify. They became the darling of the cruise scene and more people spend a lot of money modifying their Civics with some engine upgrades, aero kits, and something else that turned their Civics into a moving nightclubs because of neons, box speakers, some weird gizmos and something else.
This is one of the best Hondas ever made and most punks considered modified Civics as their bedroom wall pinups. Amazingly, there were Type R versions of them which is are even more gooder. Since the EK and the EP years, the Type R Civic are just hot hatches but for the FD2 Civic Type R, it's now a 4-door sedan, which thrown a curve among Honda enthusiasts.
 |
| Honda Fit Aria (2002) |
What you're looking here is the Fit Aria. You may recall that this is a Honda City because it was made in Thailand and exported to Japan as the direct rival to the Toyota Platz. Some people say that the Fit Aria is more of a cheaper alternative of the Honda Civic but due to slow sales, the Fit Aria was discontinued in 2008. Therefore, nobody remembered the Fit Aria but for the Asians, they still remember those because it is the Honda City. That current-generation Honda City that we have in the Philippines and some other Asian countries, it appears that this is the only Honda compact sedan that never speaks Japanese because it was not available in Japan.
 |
| Honda Ballade (1980) |
What you're looking here is the Honda Ballade. We really don't remember anything about that despite the fact that it was sold in the UK as the Triumph Acclaim.
 |
| Honda Ballade (1983) |
We really don't remember this second-generation Ballade either but we kinda remember that there was a variant of that and it was called BALLADE SPORTS CR-X, which later spawned into one of our faves; the HONDA CR-X.
 |
| Honda Tourneo |
This here is the Honda Torneo but actually, this is nothing more of an altered version of the sixth generation Honda Accord. Actually though, we don't really remember that kind of Honda sedan either.
 |
| Honda Accord Inspire (1989) |
 |
| Honda Vigor (1989) |
 |
| Honda Inspire (1992) |
 |
| Honda Vigor (1992) |
 |
| Honda Inspire (1995) |
 |
| Honda Saber (1995) |
 |
| Honda Inspire (1998) |
 |
| Honda Saber (1998) |
Actually though, we never remember some of the other Honda sedans sold in different Honda dealerships, even the Rafaga, Saber, Ascot, Innova, um....whatever that is until that fateful day...
When sales began to falter due to the collapse of Japan's bubble economy, their compact cars that were specific on the Honda Primo dealerships were badge engineered and sold to Clio and Verno sales channels. In March 2006, the names PRMIO, VERNO, and CLIO are discontinued and therefore merged into HONDA CARS dealerships. Furthermore, they won't be selling same cars with different looks and names in different dealerships, just as what Toyota do.
 |
| Honda Legend (2004) |
This is the first Honda car to incorporate Super Handling-All Wheel Drive or SH-AWD, its the fourth-generation Honda Legend that was introduced in late 2004. SH-AWD is a full-time, fully automatic all-wheel drive traction and handling system that provides cornering performance that responds faithfully to driver input, and outstanding vehicle stability. It is a world's first, it was lauded by Popular Science as one of the best automotive innovations of 2004, and as part of an already tech-filled vehicle helped to earn the 2005 "Tech car of the year" from CNET.com.
 |
| Honda Inspire (2003) |
 |
| Honda Inspire (2007) |
If the Legend revolutionized SH-AWD, then this here, the Honda Inspire (which is the Asian-American seventh and eighth generation Honda Accord) is the first car in the world to introduce Variable Cylinder Management (VCM), which uses the i-VTEC system to disable one bank of cylinders during specific driving conditions to save fuel. That was introduced on the 4th generation Honda Inspire (which is the Asian-American 7th Generation Accord) but on the 5th generation Inspire (which is the Asian American 8th Generation Accord), it made it even better by allowing the engine to go from 6 cylinders, down to 4, and further down to 3 as the computer sees fit.
Those technologies were highly immense but sadly, none of them remembered it as years passed by.
To sum up them, nobody remembered most of the Honda sedans of today because of that news. In 2010, Honda ceases to sell the ultra-popular Honda Civic, furthermore, the 9th generation Civic is not available in Japan. Now, Honda will stop production of the Legend and the Inspire, marking the end of the SH-AWD and Variable Cylinder Management technology. The sedans of Honda are now the endangered species of the motoring industry and as of now, the last of the Honda sedans...was the Honda Accord...
 |
| 3rd generation Accord |
 |
| 4th generation Accord |
 |
| 5th generation Accord |
 |
| 6th generation Accord |
 |
| 7th generation Accord |
...but only this...
 |
| 2012 Honda Accord Type S |
THE ACCORD EURO.
Ever since the fifth-generation Accord, the Japanese, American, and European Accords became very different. This applies the same as the sixth-generation Accord but on the 7th generation Accord, it became too far. The Japan-spec 7th generation Accord is sold in Europe and in North America as the Acura TSX, to avoid confusion of the Asian-American 7th generation Accord, which is essentially the 4th generation Honda Inspire.
With Honda sedans gone and go, the Accord is the last of the Honda sedans left in Japan. Pretty soon, the Honda Accord plans for a full model change with a hybrid model planned but only the Japan-spec one because the Accord Inspire is about to die and won't go for a full model change.
Anyway, while they'll diddling right about that now, the Accord is a very unusual Honda. It isn't pretty but my gosh it was good. This Accord will be the last hurrah of the long history of Honda sedans.
