It's hard to imagine a world without Honda and Lamborghini, but they both first started making cars in the early 1960s. Honda's first-ever passenger car (its first "car" was actually the T360 "truck") was first shown in 1962 as the Sports 360 and Sports 500 prototypes with 356- and 492-cc four-cylinders. The S500 made it to production a year or so later with a slightly larger 531-cc four, which was eventually supplemented by the 606-cc S600 and the 791-cc S800. The aluminum engine was the highlight of this tiny roadster (and coupe), with DOHC, hemispherical combustion chambers, and a roller-bearing crankshaft. Its design allowed it to rev to the moon — up to 9500 rpm in the case of the S600 — a redline that no other production passenger-car engine has beat even today. The car itself was a marvel of simplicity and elegant engineering, with chain-drive independent suspension (later replaced by a conventional solid axle), a 4- or 5-speed synchronized transmission, rack-and-pinion steering, and (later) front-wheel disc brakes. It was also available in red and white — two colors previously illegal in Japan, as they were reserved for police and emergency vehicles. Soichiro Honda fought the government on this — and won. This is one of many of his victories against the Man, and the Honda Sports series was one of his many victories against the challenges of engineering a car. --- Subscribe to our YouTube channel for new videos every day! http://bit.ly/HagertyYouTube Visit our website for daily automotive news, cars stories, reviews, and opinion: https://www.hagerty.com/media Stay up to date by signing up for our email newsletters here: https://www.hagerty.com/media/newsletter/ Follow us on social media: Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/Hagerty Instagram | https://instagram.com/Hagerty Twitter | https://twitter.com/Hagerty If you love cars, you belong with us. Hagerty Drivers Club is the world’s largest community for automotive enthusiasts. Members enjoy valuable automotive discounts, exclusive events and experiences, roadside service created specifically for collector vehicles, and a subscription to the bimonthly Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join Hagerty Drivers Club here: https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club Like what you see? Watch our other series including: Redline Rebuild | Engine Time-lapse videos from start to finish http://bit.ly/RedlineRebuild Barn Find Hunter | Tom Cotter searches the country for abandoned cars http://bit.ly/BarnFIndHunter Chip Foose Draws a Car | Reimagining popular cars with new designs http://bit.ly/HagertyChipFoose Contact us: Suggest and feedback - tips@hagerty.com Press inquiries - press@hagerty.com Partnership requests - partnerships@hagerty.com

• published: 04 Mar 2021
• views: 925863