Visit to Honda Collection Hall, Motegi
In hilly countryside about eighty miles north of Tokyo lies Honda's Twin Ring Motegi circuit, which we all know from GT. Within the circuit grounds, Honda also maintain their company museum, the three-storey Honda Collection Hall. On this most recent trip to Japan, I finally got organised to visit the museum, so I thought I'd share my pics, along with a bit of background info on some of the exhibits.
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The S500 was the first Honda car; initially designed to Kei-class regulations, Honda decided to extend the boot and engine capacity, from 360 to 500cc, to make it a 'proper car'. The roller-bearing crank, sky-high redline, and independent rear suspension using drive chains down the trailing arms all show how Honda applied their motorbike expertise to the four-wheeled world.
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This was the original plan - S360 Kei sports with cropped tail (never put into production)
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As a company, early Honda seemed torn between founder Soichiro's instincts and the needs of Japanese post-war society. Honda-san was a true petrolhead whose priorities were revs, power and speed, and whose passion for racing, both at the Isle of Man and in F1, matched that of Enzo Ferrari. The rapidly motorising Japanese society of the sixties and seventies, however, needed economical, practical vehicles. The upshot was Hondas like this T360 - a practical work truck meeting the Kei-class limits, with the same roller-crank engine revving to 9,000 rpm and putting out twice the horsepower of competing Kei trucks.
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