Our Prime Find this week is a fairly rare small Japanese roadster, a little jewel of a car, but before we take a closer look at the actual car on sale, let’s take a brief look at how it came to be.
In the 1960’s the Japanese motor industry was still relatively undeveloped, and there were few cars from the Land of the Rising Sun sold in Europe at that time. Many Japanese cars were small, tiny-engined by average European standards, with the tax-beating kei cars exceptionally popular – we were still a few years from more conventional sports coupés such as the Datsun 240Z or Toyota Celica GT – although there would be signs of things to come in the form of cars such as the superlative Toyota 2000GT, first shown in 1965, and the futuristically-styled Mazda Cosmo which appeared in 1967 but these were made in small numbers.
The Honda S500 roadster was only the second production car and first passenger vehicle made by the company, which had previously focused on motorbikes, most famously, the Honda Super Cub – said by some to be the bike that changed the world, with over 100 million sold by 2017, making it the most produced vehicle in history.
The S500 did not follow suit – fewer than 1400 were built, but it set in train the manufacture of a series of high-revving, lightweight two-seaters that performed as if they had engines twice the size, mainly due to their ability to rev and rev….
The S500 was succeeded by the S600 in March 1964 as a roadster, with a coupé being added to the range the following year. Engine capacity was increased from 531cc to 606cc, with power output now at 57bhp, enough to propel this tiny car – less than 11 feet long and just 4 feet 8 inches wide (or 3.33m x 1.4m) – to a remarkable top speed of 90mph/145kmh. The 0-60mph sprint was accomplished in 13.6 seconds – by comparison, an MG Midget needed twice the engine capacity at 1275cc to achieve similar figures. Designed as a take on European sports cars, the tiny S800 succeeded admirably, yet retains its Japanese-ness.
Some of the S800’s competition
After producing 11,284 convertibles and 1,800 coupés, in late 1965 the pocket rocket was given another upgrade, this time with the insertion of a 791cc engine. Now pumping out 70bhp at 8,000rpm (it could rev to 10,000rpm), the S800 was Honda’s first 100mph/160kmh car, yet returned 35mpg – a remarkable combination of performance and economy. Honda claimed a power-to-weight ratio of 91bhp per tonne, which went a long way to explaining both the car’s sparkling performance and relatively miserly fuel consumption.
Production ended in May 1970 after just 11,536 units were built, so it was never a particularly common car, even in its home market, and Honda didn’t build another two-seat sports car for almost three decades, when the S2000 was launched in 1999.
The S800 was the first Honda to come to the UK officially in April 1967 and 1,548 found their way here – an easy import since the Japanese drive on the left as we do, of course – and of that number, 63 remain on our roads, with another 28 SORN, and it’s one of the 63 that is our Prime Find.
Our car comes up for auction with Mathewsons – who feature in the TV show Bangers & Cash here in the UK – over the weekend of June 4th and 5th. Frustratingly, there’s almost no information about the car on the auctioneer’s website, but plenty of photographs, some of which we’ve borrowed.
The first thing to note is the colour – mauve. I haven’t seen this on any S600 or S800, nor does it appear in any of the brochure images that I’ve been able to find, so I have to assume this example has had a respray in a non-original colour, though there is no indication of when this was done. From the photos, it looks good, so perhaps not so long ago? The interior and hood are black and look to be in good condition. The odometer reads 46,863 miles, but again, no mention of whether this might be genuine or not.
I like the look of this miniature sports car a lot and imagine it’s a lot of fun to drive. The auctioneer’s price estimate is £14,000 to £18,000, which seems good value. I can’t find another currently for sale in the UK, but there are a couple in Germany with asking prices of €18,900 and €20,999, so comparable to the higher end of Mathewson’s estimate. However, they can cost a great deal more – Japanese imports seem to be around £40,000 plus shipping.
You can see the full lot entry here, and as usual, we highly recommend arranging prior inspection if this small but perfectly formed Nippon classic has piqued your interest.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk