Some car fans that are around my age lament the fact that almost all of the affordable exciting sports cars are to either be found in the pages of the classified ads or in the pages of history, like our cute mid-engined subject for today. You can make your own opinion on whether this is just rose-tinted glasses for a bygone era or if regulations and demographics are making sure that sports cars (or even sporty cars) are but a niche market. What I know is that there hasn’t been a point since the the 50s where there has been a sports car-free market and, as you’ll see at the end of this article, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change.
The Kei Car was supposed to be a practical affair since its inception; a vehicle to make sure that the Japanese masses could move themselves and their families while taking the least amount of space and resources and at a price that would make them a much more attractive proposition than a bigger and more wasteful car.
Over the years however, the goalposts have moved, when the masses had been mobilized and the bad times had moved on, the Kei Cars started pushing the bar on just how much you could get away with without breaking the rules. The results have been nothing less than amazing. And because kei cars are rarely sold overseas there’s no concern on whether someone in London or Milan will find the design pretentious or revolting, they just do what they like and the results have to be some of the most interesting and creative designs of the modern age.
In comparison to the turbocharged bite-sized rockets that were also being produced around that time (Kei car regulations stipulate a maximum top speed, there’s nothing in the rule book telling you how fast you can reach it), the Beat looked positively traditional in its engineering. It didn’t even max the limits in engine-size, having a 656cc (40 ci.) engine instead of 660cc.
It could be considered a successor to the chain-driven Honda S800’s of yore. Perhaps not as much in naming or layout, but in spirit as a fun, affordable roadster that took advantage of Honda’s legendary engineering excellence with drivetrains to produce the most smiles per minute. Of course the S800 would then get a true successor in the amazing Honda S2000, but that’s a story for another day.
So what did you get? The maximum amount of horsepower you can get in a kei car (63 horsepower), a five-speed manual transmission, halogen headlamps, steel wheels and that’s about it. I know, in a 4WD, 4WS, twincharged kei car world it doesn’t sound like much but don’t be fooled. What it lacks in equipment, it makes up for in details.
Most of that can be found in the interior. Get a load of the ‘90s-tastic white-tiger (or is it Zebra?) seats and the white-on-red dials that wouldn’t look out of place on a superbike from the time. The dinky little fire extinguisher on the passenger footwell seems to be there to remind you that it means business.
There’s also the matter of pedigree. This humble little roadster was the last vehicle ever to get the personal approval from Soichiro Honda, the man who started it all. Even if he had long since retired from the presidency of the company, he was still an acting director and was named “Supreme Advisor”. Because you don’t simply let go the man who made the whole thing from scratch and whose name is on the building. The Beat started production just three months before Soichiro tragically passed away due to liver failure at the age of 84.
In 2010 it also made the headlines as 569 Beats reunited at Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi race track, earning it a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest gathering of Honda vehicles ever organized. To me it seems amazing that the biggest gathering of cars from a company that has made so many great and prolific vehicles was composed of what is a relatively obscure car. In fact, I’m guessing if you’re not Japanese or living in Japan your first exposure to it was Gran Turismo. I know mine was. And yet it seems to have an amazing following, so much so that Honda has given it a successor.
Everyone, I’d like you to meet the new Honda S660. Very much a modern interpretation of the ideas that created the Beat, it too is a mid-engine kei-roadster. Now with either a six-speed manual or a CVT and a curb weight of just under 1830 pounds. This too seems like a recipe for fun. And joy of joys this time it’s not a Japan-only exclusive.and it’ll be sold around the world (Yes, even the U.S…maybe) with a bigger 1.0-liter turbocharged engine and 126 horsepower to make it an S1000. So the marketplace of the near future has a new MX-5, an upcoming Fiat 124 Spider, the current crop of retro-muscle cars, the Toyobaru and this on sale. I don’t see what those car fans around my age are complaining about.
Hoping a proper coupe version is on the cards for the Honda S660 and that non-JDM variants feature the rumored 126 hp 1.0 Turbo engine.
As for the Kei Car class, would love to see max engine size and power increased to 770cc and 80 hp respectively along with a return to more sportier and lightweight models.
Fun fact: The Ford Mondeo (Fusion), the wagon included, is available with a 125 hp 1.0 liter 3-cylinder turbo engine. Of course the 1.0 EcoBoost is more common in the Fiesta and Focus.
Like downsized engines such as the 1.0 EcoBoost yet even in the Fiesta, always felt such engines deserved to be powering much lighter cars.
And again, one of those cars I’ve never seen before. I do like that new Honda S660.
The Daihatsu Copen was available here for a while. And yes, that is a big guy sitting behind the wheel.
Oh, wow. Left hand drive!
Want.
Yes, the left-hand-drive version was finally introduced in 2005 for 2006 model year on in Europe.
I saw a bumper crop of right-hooker Copen with German numberplates in German cities in the mid aughts. I didn’t realise the right-hooker Copen was sold through official sales channel in Germany. I erroneously assumed they were grey import from the British Isles or Ireland.
That thing looks like it’s pedal-powered.
Ever seen one with Lambo-doors ?
They sold the Copen in Australia too. I’ve only seen one.
Gerardo don’t tease me… if Brings the s660 stateside…. well……
+1
+2
+3 😉
+4 🙂 Hell yea!! I’d dump whatever I was financing at a loss to get this.
I think the Beat would have done better than the Del Sol in USA. That said, some will never forgive the end of the CRX. I think it is still true that the smaller the Honda, the better.
As an owner of several Hondas and Acuras over the years, I’ve always admired the Beat. However, I suspect that at 6 ft 4 and 230 pounds I wouldn’t fit easily into one. Plus, some of the “details” are a bit on the Hello Kitty side.
The styling looks like it might have influenced the last Toyota MR2.
I like the looks of the new model but suspect I still won’t fit in it and I can’t afford it anyway.
That’s an emergency flare, not a fire extinguisher, in the passenger footwell. All cars in Japan are required to have one aboard.
I was about to say the same thing. My three cars all had them, too. My kids thought they were red markers or crayons or something. I’m glad they never managed to actually open one of those up!
When will they make a sportscars that fit people that are 6’4″ with 36 inch inseams. I can’t shift a Miata as my knee doesn’t fit between the door and the steering wheel. Same for the new Corvette. The older gen 3 Vettes are more roomy. I guess I will have to stick to my TC-3 that I modifed with more leg room, no back seat, and a V-8 5 speed.
Well, they do make them, but they’re rather expensive. The SL63 AMG and the BMW M4 come to mind. As does the Cadillac ATS coupe twin-turbo.
There are rumors that Honda’s planning a smaller and cheaper NSX-derived sports car to be sold by the Honda brand.
And that’s pretty awesome zebra-print interior, not gonna lie! Oh how I miss the ’90s!
Close enough: the Smart Roadster, as introduced in 2003.
Brabus got 101 hp from the 700 cc engine. Note that it only weighs 1,835 lbs.
The only things that detracts from the Smart Roadster (and the Daihatsu Copen) were styling that alienated half the population and that dreadful gearbox.
From a Car and Driver review of the 2003 Smart:
Zero to 60 mph: 10.7 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 39.8 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 11.6 sec
???
Those figures would be impressive for, say, 1960…..
Cool little cars–I knew about them before Gran Turismo, but only because Road & Track did an article.
That upcoming S660/S1000 looks very interesting too. Only complaint is tha the tail shape is very reminiscent of the 350Z convertible. But I’d still love to see it here!
Another example of how Honda often goes off the beaten path & tries something different, even though they could play it safe & just rake in the ¥ with their cash cows?.
Didn’t know Mr. Honda died of liver failure. I hope it wasn’t too many after-work sessions.
Funny, here in the States we get mostly boring Hondas now, and complain that Honda has lost it’s edge relative to Toyota and Nissan, and now Mazda holds the sporty, edgy place in the Japanese quartet. But as I see non-US market Hondas, maybe the blame lies with us not the company. This is amazing and I’ll hold my breath to see if it makes it here.
Dman,
Honda has the same image in Europe that it has in the U.S., that is, a car for nearly dead retirees. The only “bright spot” is the Civic Type R. The newest CTR will be a 5 door hatch, like the previous generation, but the new one will have a turbocharged 2 liter engine with 300+ horsepower. Unfortunately, the price in the U.K. is the equivalent of about $50,000.
CAR magazine’s latest issue ranks the CTR ABOVE the Golf GTI and Renault Megane Trophy-R.
“a car for nearly dead retirees”
This was certainly not the case in the recent past. Honda was always referred to as the Japanese BMW. Thanks to cars like the Accord 2.2i Type R from the late nineties. Young folks, and the youngs of heart, liked the Honda brand.
By the way, it’s a bit strange to compare a 310 hp CTR with a 210-220 hp Golf GTI. Wasn’t it the more powerful (and AWD) Golf R ?
I wouldn’t say that’s the case in the present. While it seems to have lost any enthusiast luster it had, I know of plenty of younger (<40) folks who drive Hondas, and bought them new. When I think of the car for retirees, it's Toyota all the way.
Us broke retirees have to go to Nissan.
Car for retirees, huh? I just rented an XV40 Camry in CA, with 2AR-FE (4-cyl). It accelerated well (which surprised me), tracked well, had plenty of power, was comfortable yet was no slouch on corners. I ask you people: What’s so dull about that?
I think what’s “dull” about these cars is that 1) Consumer Reports likes them; 2) non-enthusiasts like them; and 3) they lack childish graphics, spoilers, & other boy-racer B.S. nobody really uses or needs.
“Camry’s are boring appliances for going from point A to point B.”
The mating-call of the auto enthusiast, rose-tinted reading glasses perched on the duckbill of his sports team hat. His dream garage is full of massive steel icons with GTO and SS and Shelby badges, whilst the actual garage has the wife’s minivan, and his own king-cab pickup, which is getting increasingly difficult to get in and out of, but hey, that ground clearance will be golden once we get snow. Oh, and I’ll just lay down the 4’x8′ sheets of plywood for the theoretical tool shed sideways and use the strap.
My wife’s Highlander (four cylinder/FWD) does all of this as well, with the exception of the cornering part. Every time I drive it (mostly on road trips) I’m pleasantly surprised as to how good of a vehicle it is. The transmission ratios seem to be matched well with the torque curve; I have never felt it to be underpowered or dangerously slow when accelerating or merging into traffic. If we were going to be pulling a trailer we would probably want the V6 but the four is fine for the way we use the car. Not much excitement, just extremely competent.
I’m sure it is me but I have never understood the love that Hondas get, or perhaps used to get. I have never owned a Honda (at least one that had more than two wheels) but I have driven or ridden in numerous examples over the years. The first one I can remember was one of those two cylinder coupes from the early seventies. A friend bought one and, while it was fun to drive, you could just tell it wasn’t designed to live very long under U.S. driving conditions. I’m sure Hondas are excellent cars but they seem bland to me.
Same here in Austria. Mazda certainly has the younger image and sells far better (better than the other Japanese also). It does not help that nowadays European Civics are built in the UK and even thought the quality horrors of the first UK-built Hondas are well behind us, for most people it is not the same as a Japanese built Mazda 3s (I confess I belong in that group). Perhaps that’s why Honda gives an 8 year guarantee on its models here?
PS: Adding that the Accord sold so badly here they stopped all import in 2012 (?) whereas Mazda sells quite a few 6s…
J Dutch,
Accord Type Rs are about 20 years old. Interestingly, according to an article in the now defunct magazine Sport Compact Car, AMERICAN Honda built Accord Type Rs for the rest of the world….but not for the U.S.
The car Europe knows as the Accord is known as the Acura TSX in the U.S.. In the U.S. the TSX has a good rep as a BMW 3 series type car. The Acura TSX left the U.S. market nearly 2 years ago, and now that the Accord is leaving Europe the U.S. has no BMW from Honda.
CAR tested the Civic Type R against the Golf GTI with the Performance Package….NOT a GTI R. They wanted to test the “top” FWD hot hatches so the VW was at a near 80 horsepower handicap. It therefore got 2nd place in a 3 car match-up. CAR said that the CTR combined the best bits of the Golf GTI and the Megane.
I see, thanks.
Meanwhile Mercedes’ and Audi’s most powerful C-segment hatches are beyond 350 hp. Both with AWD.
And Peugeot has just introduced its (FWD) 308 GTi, 250 or 270 hp.
The list of current C-segment FWD hot hatches and their power ratings:
VW Golf GTI (220 hp)
VW Golf GTI Performance (230 hp)
Ford Focus ST 2 (250 hp)
Renault Mégane RS (265 hp)
Skoda Octavia RS (220 hp)
Seat Leon Cupra (280 hp)
Opel Astra OPC (280 hp)
Honda Civic Type-R (310 hp)
Peugeot 308 GTi (250 or 270 hp)
Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV (240 hp)
I’ll have the Skoda please
OK.
There should be a Mazda 3 MPS with more than 300 hp and all wheel drive coming towards the end of this year (or so I was told by the dealers).