1965 Honda S600 Convertible

The big financial news tomorrow is probably going to be whether or not General Motors and Chrysler get any sort of economic boost from the federal government. For the time being at least, Ford seems to be holding its own. That's what you get when you have sense enough to begin building a moderately sized, hybrid SUV, the Escape Hybrid, years before the crisis attacks. This story mostly concerns the Big Two Clowns, since Ford does seem to have its act together. As the current owner of three Fords and one Chevy, I can tell you that if I had to purchase a new car tomorrow, the first one I would consider would be the Chevrolet Malibu. I have generally always been a Chevy man, but the company lost a lot of my respect throughout the '90's. I still drive my '90 Z24 as a routine set of wheels. It only has 70,000 miles on it, and it was the last version of the Cavalier built in Ohio, where anything named Cavalier or Z24 ought to be built.

The car pictured here on the cover of the brochure of its first year imported into the U. S. is a 600cc, four-cylinder Honda. Its inline four is only 34cc larger than the engine in the Honda Nighthawk two-wheeler in my garage. My first sports car was a 1968 Fiat 850 Spider with an 817cc engine, so don't let the tiny displacement fool you. This was a racy little jewel of an engine! Like that 850 Spider, the top went down on this little two-seater in a lot slicker manner than did the top of any contemporary British antique, such as an MG Midget or Triumph Spitfire. In other words, this was a thoroughly modern technological marvel.

General Motors should have been paying attention back in '65. This was the year that Honda officially stuck its flag in the heart of every English, Italian, and American motorcycle brand sold in the U. S. Honda sold more bikes in '65 than all the other brands put together, and we know where those statistics have led. How many years was the Honda Accord the best-selling sedan in America? I like American cars and I generally buy American. Wake up, GM, and get your head out of your tailpipe!