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Like the 1983 Accord that boasts no more than 8,000 miles of use, but was indeed used, if only for a short while. Despite its age, the second-generation sedan remains in near-showroom condition exactly 30 years after its assembly and serves as a reminder of the first Honda built in America. Clearly, the museum's make-up is not one you're likely to find anyplace else. There are no RLs, no TSXs, no eighth-generation Civic Sis. Even the S2000 remains absent, although an early AP1 is said to be a long-overdue addition, according to Heath. Instead, Honda's first American commuter, the N600—this one donated by the Takata Corporation—greets visitors as they walk through the doors. First available in Hawaii and then the mainland, Antonius jokes of the N600's paltry $1,395 price point: “At 1,300 lbs, that's about a dollar a pound for this car!”
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| This second-generation, 1983 Accord that's accumulated no more than 8,000 miles is especially important to Honda's curators, mostly because it represents the first Honda model to be built entirely in the U.S., assembled at the company's Marysville, Ohio plant. |
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| The N600 was the brand's official entry into the U.S. automobile market. Honda personnel are quick to point out that at its $1,395 price tag, the N600 sold for about a dollar a pound. |
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| A sport coupe version of the N600, the Z600 shares similar specifications under the hood, including a 599cc, two-cylinder engine. |
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| According to museum curator David Heath, every effort is made to stock Honda's collection with what they feel are the brand's most poignant cars—but poignant doesn't always mean top-of-the-line. Like this 1993 Prelude Si 4WS. Curiously, the Si 4WS wasn't available with Honda's popular H22A1 VTEC engine, but it was the first Honda to feature electronically controlled four-wheel steering (older Prelude 4WS models were mechanical), not unlike what the company has once again began implementing into some of its newer models. |
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| Instead of Honda's 2.2L, H22A1 VTEC engine, Prelude Si and Si 4WS models are fitted with the H23A1, which is essentially a slightly stroked version of the 2.2L engine but with a non-VTEC architecture up top. The H23A1 bottom end served as the basis for many record-breaking drag racing passes throughout the late-1990s and early 2000s, including those from Stephan Papadakis, who piloted the first FWD Honda into nine-second and later eight-second territory. |
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| With the exception of its third and fifth generations, Honda represents its Prelude lineup in three parts, here with a second-generation, 1983 model. Civic and Integra owners who praise their cars' widely lauded double-wishbone suspensions need only look to the 1983-1987 Prelude to give thanks, which was the first Honda to bear such a configuration. |
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| Honda launched its Prelude in 1978 for the 1979 model year and, in Japan, was one of the first vehicles to go on sale at the company's premier Verno dealerships. In America, the Accord-like Prelude, which shares the same suspension, brakes, and engine, was hailed as a capable competitor to the likes of Toyota's Celica. |
