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Once inside, company founder Soichiro Honda's signature etched alongside a single Kanji character translated as “dream” hangs at eye-level from the opposing wall, ceremoniously greeting Honda nerds. Adjacent is the warehouse door where behind it 51 of the rarest and even not-so-rare Hondas America's ever known rest in states of preservation. According to unofficial museum curator David Heath, the plan was “to assemble the company's milestone cars that best represent its growth.” And since the museum's inception by retired American Honda executive vice president Tom Elliot a little over 10 years ago, it's done just that. “Tom decided that the cars that were being stored in the warehouses needed to be assembled together,” Heath says of the collection's origins. “He knew that some of these were destined for a museum one way or another.”
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| A recent addition to the museum, a steel mezzanine housing much of the company's motorcycle history is accompanied by a massive American Honda timeline that once loomed in the company's nearby headquarters. |
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| By the 1960s, Honda was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Trouble was, Honda wanted to make cars, too, which led to the N600, a sort of spiritual predecessor to the company's legendary Civic platform. A small, 599cc, 45hp engine powered the 1,356lb compact, which topped out at 80 mph and yielded 40 mpg. |
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| Every automotive museum needs some sort of cutaway, this one of a second-generation Insight, a car that's arguably too new for Honda's Private Collection, but when lopped in half, all of a sudden seems like a good fit. |
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| A fitting contrast to the Insight and Honda's globe-saving heritage, Super Street magazine was commissioned to assemble its own rendition of the company's 1999-2000 Civic Si. Nothing says late-1990s Honda embarrassment quite like full-bodied flames and chicken wire grilles. |
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Honda's sixth-generation Civic Si is considered by many to be Honda's best Si to date. As it turns out, thieves would agree, making the 1999-2000 model a rarity. Its twin-cam, B16A2 engine and close-ratio gearbox are what made it the Si everyone wanted.
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A closer look at Honda's timeline and just some of its motorcycle heritage. The connecting warehouse reportedly houses much of the company's motorcycle history, but remained off limits to us.
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