My first Honda love. Can you remember yours?

[rafael73]

As the subject states, my first time in an Honda was when dad bought a 1979 Civic 3 doors sky blue. Back then we where 5 at home - pops, mom, sis, bro & me. Then he realized the car was too small for all of us and he went back to the dealer and trade it for an 1979 Accord Sedan. That was the car!

The cost of the car was $7900 (remember, that was in PR - Puerto Rico) and it had lots of features:
1. "automatic" door locks was a leveler by the side of the e-brake which close and open the rear door locks.
2. Jeco Analog Clock in the center console.
3. AM/FM Radio, 5 Preset 2 AM, 3 FM
4. Tach
5. Door, Trunk & Brake bulb indicators (Ours does not have the last one)
6. Low Gas Indicator (which bulb blew as dad used to run car with less than 1/4 tank)
7. CVCC 1.8L Engine
8. Hondamatic Transmission (P-R-N-2-1). You can go all the way to 50 MPH and then shift to 2 w/o clutch!
9. Lead Fuel (94 octanes!)
10. Oil, Oil Filter & Tire rotation indicators. In the rotation, the spare, which BTW it was full size, was included in the process.
11. Power Steering & Power brakes.
12. Inside trunk open control

I learned to drive on that car and I love it. There were only a few Hondas in the neighborhood and our house had 1. I remember when I got my license, I took it for a ride and got a flat on the movie theater parking lot . By then I knew I was meant for the Honda and Honda was meant for me!

Dad traded the car in 1989 for a Pontiac Grand Am because the car was too small for us. And it didn't have A/C. He got $1250 for it. Car had over 175K miles and the only major repair was the timing belt around that millage as dad is not a car guy, so he never took good care of the Accord but the Accord never failed to us. I felt bad because he took me away the Accord. In retribution, he gave me the CJ5 he had. Bad trade but it was 2 choices: walk to school or drive the Jeep. The latest was the obvious.

Its been 30 years since I sat on one of the Soichiro's company creations and still feels the same way: There is only 2 car brands - Honda and the others. Long live the Honda Motor Co!

[A&Fbro28]

Yes,

After I read the "best handling car under $30,000" issue of car and driver mag and the winner was 1997 Honda Prelude Type SH, I had to have one. I purchased a 1998 San Marino Red SH that i had ordered. Looking back, it was expesive at $27k when u think for the same money I got my EX-L NAVI Accord for the same cash. However, it was built in japan and it was def worth that premium. HONDA please bring back the Prelude or add ATTS to the Accord coupe and rename it Prelude...lol.

[rafael73]

Originally Posted by A&Fbro28

HONDA please bring back the Prelude or add ATTS to the Accord coupe and rename it Prelude...lol.

You know, I think that is why the Prelude is out of the market. Think about this:
On 2001 you had 3 choices near the same price:
A. Accord V6 Coupe
B. S2000
C. Prelude

Same thing with the S2000 now.

A good combination: Accord Coupe V6 6MT (engine, tranny & body), Acura RDX AWD & Turbo as the new Prelude. That will rock!

[A&Fbro28]

Originally Posted by rafael73

You know, I think that is why the Prelude is out of the market. Think about this:
On 2001 you had 3 choices near the same price:
A. Accord V6 Coupe
B. S2000
C. Prelude

Same thing with the S2000 now.

A good combination: Accord Coupe V6 6MT (engine, tranny & body), Acura RDX AWD & Turbo as the new Prelude. That will rock!

You've just named the rumored TSX coupe that comes out just as my loan on accord is done 2011/12... It will also have sh-awd.

[J_Honda14]

My cousin had a red CRX. It was long ago and I don't remember much about it except that he had a vanity tag and monograms on the sides with the pinstripe. I was too young to drive at the time but I thought it was the coolest car and always wanted to ride in it.

[Dreamacre]

My 1981 Accord HB, that I bought new!

I loved all the little things that came standard.

[bluestars80]

Oops.....I thought the thread was the "first time you MADE LOVE in a Honda"....my bad...........

[nolefan32]

Originally Posted by rafael73

You know, I think that is why the Prelude is out of the market. Think about this:
On 2001 you had 3 choices near the same price:
A. Accord V6 Coupe
B. S2000
C. Prelude

Same thing with the S2000 now.

A good combination: Accord Coupe V6 6MT (engine, tranny & body), Acura RDX AWD & Turbo as the new Prelude. That will rock!

I've been on various boards where, when the topic has been great sporty cars and someone mentions the Honda Accord, there's been a lot of laughter from the other posters. Then it becomes clear that while the laughing hyenas were thinking of the mainstream family sedan, the poster that suggested it had in mind the coupe with the V6 and 6-speed manual.

And the 6-6, be it the 7th gen or 8th gen (personally I prefer the 7th), is a fine sporty car, the only real detriment to it is Honda's insistence on front-wheel drive. A review I read in one of the car magazines of the 8th gen 6-6 coupe rated the car low and said the four-cylinder with the 5-speed might actually be the better car, because of the high pricetag on the 6-6 but also because of the high horsepower being pushed through the front wheels instead of the rear, you run into torque steer problems.

Based on the stigma that Accord name carries with it and the front wheel drive issues, I do think Honda would do well to ressurect the Prelude (a name that gets much more respect amongst sports car fans), base it on the Accord coupe 6-6 with the primary tweak being an AWD platform or at least a rear-wheel drive based on the outgoing S2000. Honda did away with the Prelude when they brought us the S2000, well the S2000 is now going away. And while it made sense for the Accord coupe to carry the Accord badge in past generations (even though the 7th gen sedan and coupe share no sheet metal, they still have a very strong resemblance), in the 8th gen, the Accords have gone dramatically different directions, with only the interior styling being shared. So maybe Honda should consider turning the Accord coupe into a new Prelude for the Accord's 9th generation.

Getting back to the original topic of this thread, my first Honda was a 1996 Honda Civic EX coupe with a sweet little five-speed stick. The styling was essentially a scaled down version of the 7th gen Accord coupe I drive today, including the black exterior. I named her B.J., short for BMW Jr., as her gearbox reminded me of a BMW 316 I mastered driving stick in while living in Italy. My Accord is C.J., as in B.J. version 2.0, because there's so much of that little Civic in my Accord's DNA. I bought the Civic used with slightly more than 50K miles on it; I put another 200K on it before trading up. That car still ran beautifully, though the engine was just starting to show signs of losing its pep when I traded it in. Awesome little car.

[joshsch]

My first Honda ( actually my first car ever) was an 84 CRX. My Grandma bought it for me for my 16th birthday. She paid a whopping $350 for it. ( This was back in 1997) The body was straight and it ran like a bat out of hell with over 150k miles. Damn I miss that car!! First car I ever worked on. Still can remember the "toilet bowl" carb.

[golftango]

My 7gen is my first Honda purchase (well, my 04 Saturn VUE has Honda DNA, does that count?)

But my first love for Honda was back in 1986 when my friend's father purchased a 3rd gen Accord LXi. I remember it being so solid and quiet driving along the California freeways. That is the only vehicle that really struck a chord with me and I remember it to this day.

[DrumZ53]

First Honda is one listed in sig below..
Took it for test drive in Nov 2008...
HAD TO HAVE IT!!!...bought in Dec...

[Nighthawk08]

My first honda experience was in a red CRX, i think it was an 85. My dad bought it for my sisters first car, he got it for $500 and it was bare bone, 5spd manual. We believed it was involved in a wedding or something before it was traded in because the first time we cranked on the A/C it blew out handfuls of confetti...which was a pain to clean out. I loved that car, i would wash it for them because i could drive it up and down the street afterward (i was in jr. high at the time) and thats how i learned how to drive standard.
Unfortunately my sister hated the car, and wanted a conv. mustang... TYPICAL
He drove it for a while then sold it before i got my permit to a very masculine woman he worked with..ofcourse she trashed it and i died a little inside when i would come up there with him.

[ry05coupe]

The Jordans civic. I don't think they sold these in the US but they were around while I lived in Ireland. I dont know the history behind it but it was to celebrate the relationship between Honda and one of their F1 teams. It was the first Honda that caught my attention, and is probably one of the reasons I chose my Accord .

[Antarctica]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk08

because the first time we cranked on the A/C it blew out handfuls of confetti

LOL!

My first Honda was my 97 Accord LX sedan. I immediately fell in love with it because I was coming from a 91 Pontiac Grand Am and the Accord looked huge and powerful at the time. I like how the 7th gen kinda reminds me of the 5th gen.

[ElectricFuzz]

My '09 Accord Coupe, the only Honda I like in terms of looks besides the NSX and the S2000 with the Spoon "Mooncraft" hardtop.