You can?t talk about the birth of Honda as a global automotive juggernaut without talking about motorcycles. And in the 1970s, when the Honda Civic?even on the West Coast?was somewhat of a curio, Honda?s CB750 was fully accepted as a complete and legitimate machine. While Honda?s Super Cub, backed by the storied, ?You meet the nicest people on a Honda? ad campaign, seemed practically an overnight success in the United States, the automotive market was a tougher nut to crack. Crack it, however, Honda did. And now American Honda is celebrating by chronicling the restoration of the car that drove the first tiny wedge into the market, a diminutive N600 bearing serial number 001.
In 1967, Honda took 50 of its N360 kei cars and fitted them with a larger 599-cc engine, with the idea that power-mad Westerners might cotton to the frugal little beasts, if only they offered a bit more oomph. The 50 cars were shipped stateside and driven around as evaluation mules. Over the years, Tim Mings [pictured below] has found himself in possession of three of the first 50, including the first one built.
Among tiny-Japanese-car dorks, Mings is a bit of a legend. He?s spent most of his life around the cars, dating back to his uncle?s purchase of the family?s first 600 in 1970, the first year the N600 was actually sold in the continental U.S. The best part, as Mings notes in the video below, is that he had no idea he even owned the first car. It wasn?t until he wiped away considerable grime, muc...