Nestled into an unassuming warehouse not far from Honda’s American headquarters sits a diverse collection of vehicles that would make just about any car enthusiast green with envy.
Honda has long produced some of the world’s most interesting vehicles, even if its 2014 lineup is a little lighter on excitement than it once was. Sharing space with workaday Civics and Accords from years gone by are sporty coupes – like an early 1990s Prelude with innovative four-wheel steering and a pair of low mileage Acura NSXs representing both bookends of that mid-engined rocketship’s lengthy run.
Artfully but not pretentiously arranged, rows of Honda and Acura production cars share space with a smattering of concepts, various racing cars, motorcycles and, of course, a few oddball items like a vintage generator. After all, Honda likes to say that it’s more of an engine builder than a carmaker – and generators are engines.
Getting a feel for Honda
Although it is not formally open to the public, Honda’s unofficial Torrance, California, museum does occasionally host car clubs and enthusiast groups.
Unlike the visitor-friendly Honda Collection at Japan’s Twin Motegi race circuit, which is open to the public and even includes a gift shop, the Torrance facility is more of a warehouse that happens to be arranged as a museum.
The cars stored in Torrance are occasionally used for Honda’s marketing efforts – for photo shoots, auto shows, media gatherings and occasional enthusiast events. They may not be used often, but the collection’s cars run and drive. In addition to the cars in the well-lit space we had the opportunity to visit, Honda keeps some other vehicles in a less picturesque storage facility. For example, there were no SUVs, crossovers or vans represented in Torrance during our visit – even though Honda has a number in its North American collection.
What was shown was a diverse fleet of vehicles ranging from the brand’s earliest efforts in America – like the 1962 Super Cub 50, a small motorcycle that was the first Honda-badged product sold here – to the brand’s FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle. That Super Cub is parked in front of a facade identical to the small shop where American Honda first set up operations. Today, of course, Honda occupies numerous buildings dedicated to designing, engineering, marketing and servicing its vehicles.
Honda doesn’t necessarily pluck cars from its assembly lines to fill the museum. Instead, the museum’s curator, Brad Long, told us that the automaker has often been forced to track down extra clean used Hondas and Acuras to fill its needs. Today, Honda often allocates a press fleet or early production “pilot” model for its American collection – but not always.
Ironically, the museum is located just a couple of block away from Toyota’s museum. Long told us that the two museums plan to collaborate on open house days in the future.
We hope that Honda will open up its Torrance facility to the public more often; these cars provide an intriguing glimpse into the automaker’s illustrious history.
Highlights
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A remarkably avant-garde blue over red N600 occupies very little space in the museum. Surprisingly roomy inside, this little runabout is in unrestored condition after being used as a marketing vehicle by a seatbelt manufacturer.
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A 2000 Civic Si customized in a pretty typical early 2000s Southern California tuner style served as a model for one of Hot Wheels’ most successful toy cars ever.
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A burgundy 1983 Accord sedan showing just 8,000 miles. Acquired for about $16,000 recently out of an Indiana Honda dealer’s collection, it is representative of the first handful of Hondas built in the U.S. at the automaker’s Ohio assembly plant.
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One of the last Acura NSXs ever built, a bright red example that displays less than 100 miles on it. If anything, we consider this to be something of a shame since the NSX remains one of the best-handling cars ever. Across the museum was a 1991 NSX with more than 80,000 miles on it.
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1964 Honda E40 Generator. Easily one of the smallest Honda-badged items ever made.
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