Honda S360
The Honda S360 is a sports car with a 360 cc (22 cu in) engine manufactured by Honda. It was one of the first automobiles created by the company known for their motorcycles. The S360 was unveiled on 5 June 1962 during the 11th Nation Honda Meeting General Assembly held at Suzuka Circuit, but was never put into production. It used a 356 cc AK250E series DOHC inline-four engine shared with the Honda T360 kei truck.
Honda S500
The S500 was the second production car from Honda, released in 1963, following the T360 truck into production by four months. It was a larger displacement variant of the S360 roadster which, though developed for sale in 1962, was never produced.
Like the S360, the S500 used a high-tech engine developed from Honda's motorcycle expertise. It was a dual overhead cam straight-4 with four Keihin carburettors and a 9500 rpm redline. Originally intended to displace 492 cc, the production version was 531 cc and produced 44 hp at 8000 rpm. Weighing just 1500 lb (680 kg), the tiny S500 could hit 80 mph (129 km/h).
At the time of its introduction, its dimensions and engine displacement were larger than established Kei car regulations.
The S500 used a four-speed manual transmission with chain drive at the rear wheels. A four-wheel independent suspension was also novel, with torsion bars in front and diagonal coilover shock absorbers at the rear.
The car was priced at $1,275 in 1963. An optional fiberglass hardtop was also available. 1,363 S500s were produced from October 1963 through September 1964.
The S500 saw competitors during its introduction, with examples called the Datsun Fairlady, the Toyota Sports 800, and the Daihatsu Compagno.
Honda S600
The Honda S600 is an automobile manufactured by Honda. It was launched in March 1964. Available as a roadster – bearing strong resemblance to the Honda S500 – and as a fastback coupé – introduced in March 1965 – the S600 was the first Honda available in two trim levels. During its production run up to 1966, the model styling would remain pretty much the same, with the most notable changes coming to the front grille, bumper, and headlights.
Powered by a DOHC, water-cooled, four-cylinder inline engine with four Keihin carburetors, the engine capacity was increased to 606 cc from the S500's 531 cc. The engine produced 57 hp (43 kW) at 8,500 rpm and had a top speed of 90 mph (140 km/h). With the convertible weighing in at mere 1,576 lb (715 kg), the extra sheet metal of the coupe only added 33 lb (15 kg) to the overall weight. Suspension was independent with sealed roller chain drive to each rear wheel.
The S600 was the first mass marketed Honda car. First offered only in right-hand drive, it soon became available in left-hand drive to appeal to export markets. There were a few pre-production S500s manufactured in left hand drive, two or three even being shown in some early sales brochures.
Both the S600 roadster and coupé were available in standard trim and a special, upgraded package called the SM600 which included, among other items, special paint colors, exclusive badging, a standard radio and speaker, a special antenna in the passenger side sun visor, standard reversing lights, a standard cigarette lighter, a standard heater, better cushioned seats, and a detachable seat track for quick removal of the passenger seat.
Honda built 3,912 roadsters in 1964, with production climbing to 7,261 convertibles and 1,519 coupes in 1965. Production dropped off in 1966 (as they were shifting to the S800) with only 111 roadsters and 281 coupes, giving tallies of 11,284 convertibles and 1,800 coupes for the 3-year span.
Honda N360
The Honda N360 is a small front-engine, front-wheel drive, two-passenger two-box automobile manufactured and marketed by Honda from March 1967 through 1970 in compliance with Japan's kei car regulations.
After a January 1970 facelift, the N360 became the NIII360 and continued in production until June 1972. A larger-engined variant, the N600, was marketed through 1973. All models complied with Japanese kei car dimensional regulations, though vehicles with the 401 cc and 598 cc engines exceeded the kei engine displacement limits and were largely intended for international sales.
The N360 featured front wheel drive and an air-cooled, four stroke, 354 cc, 31 PS (23 kW) two-cylinder engine. This same engine was also used in the Honda Vamos, with a beam axle/leaf spring rear suspension.
With the N360 nameplate, along with its variants, Honda used the "N" prefix, designating "norimono" (translating from Japanese to English as "vehicle" ) — to distinguish the car from its motorcycle production.
In 2012 Honda introduced the Honda N-One, an homage inspired by the 1967-1973 N sedans.
Honda T360
The T360 was a pickup truck from Honda. Introduced in June 1963, it was Honda's first production automobile, beating the S500 Sports by four months.
The T360 used a 356 cc AK250E series DOHC inline-four engine also found in the Honda S360 roadster prototype, with which it also shared the chassis. The mid-mounted unit propelled the truck to a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and was accessed by lifting up the bench seat inside the cabin. The engine generated 30 hp (22 kW) at 8,500 rpm, reflecting Honda's motorcycle heritage. A total of 108,920 T360s were produced from 1963 through August 1967, all painted in "May Blue". It has a wraparound clamshell-style bonnet which leaves the headlights in place when opened.
The similar but somewhat larger T500 used a 38 hp (28 kW) 531 cc version of the engine, excluding it from the Kei car class. The T500, first shown in September 1964, was mainly intended for export markets. Its engine delivered high in the rev range (maximum power arrived at 7,500 rpm, with redline at 9,000 rpm) and was a slightly downtuned version of the one found in the Honda S500 sports car. Top speed was 105 km/h (65 mph). A total of 10,226 T500s were built from 1964 through November 1967, and were all painted "Moss Green". Aside from the different color and engine, the T500 was 20 cm longer (all behind the rear axle), as its overall length was not dictated by the Kei regulations.[2] Another minor distinction was the fittings for license plates larger than those of a Kei car, as well as a higher 400 kg (882 lb) load capacity.
The T360 was produced as a conventional rear wheel drive pickup truck, a flatbed (the T360F), flatbed with folding sides (the T360H), and as a covered van (the T360V). There was also a version of the T360 called the "Snow Crawler", equipped with tracked propulsion units at the rear. Due to its expense, the Snow Crawler remained a rarity in spite of its usefulness in certain parts of northern Japan. The T500 came either with a conventional pickup body (T500), or with the folding side flatbed, this time with the "F" suffix; called the T500F.
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