We’re headed out to Port Orford for five days, so this is going to be quick; mostly pictures. But what else is there to say about what I consider to be the most appealing Accord ever? Tight, lithe, quick, great styling, superb visibility, durable, reliable; what other superlatives can we add?
This is the last EX of this generation around my neighborhood, and every time I walk by it, I wish I’d had one back in the day.
The EX was of course the one to have, with its upgraded 140 hp 2.2 L fuel injected four, a honey of a motor if there ever was one. And it’s got those very attractive bigger alloy wheels, and all the other little goodies to make it a genuine sport sedan of s very high caliber; a four door Prelude.
Of course it has to have the slick-shifting 5 speed manual. The seats were excellent, and the upholstery high quality. The dash was perfect too. A driver’s car, if there ever was one.
The back seat was bigger than its predecessor, thanks to an almost 5″ stretch in its wheelbase. This generation hit the sweet spot, before it got bigger, longer, softer and more Camry-like.
The new 2.2 L F22 engine was now a full 16 valve engine, and was fuel injected across the line. The EX had better breathing, and was rated at 140 hp @5600 rpm. For 1993, that was mighty fine, especially given its modest weight, some 2,728 lbs.
What’s not to like?
The dent in the hood.
A more detailed CC on this generation Accord is here
I agree; mainstream sedan perfection.
That double-wishbone suspension allowed for a very low hood height, which in turn allowed for a low cowl. It also allowed for huge side windows, and your left elbow would rest much lower than almost any contemporary or modern car.
This gave a tremendous view forward. It also made you feel very close to the road, as you could really see it whizzing by just below you through the corners of the windshield and the side windows. It gave a sensation of speed that belied the actual speed. 40mph felt more like 60mph. The Prelude and NSX were better expressions of this feeling-fast-going-slow sensation, but the Accord absolutely had it too.
Nice find! I haven’t seen one in years.
My sister had one, gold paint with the same interior as this one. I borrowed it a few times and loved driving it, between the 5-speed and the crisp handling it was light years ahead of my parents’ Buick and my AMC Concord.
It got to about 350,000km when an oil change mishap killed the engine. She sold it to one of my co-workers for $150, he installed the high mileage engine from his own rusty Honda and it went over a half million before succumbing to the rust monster.
Fantastic cars
Call it nostalgia, call it habit or just hoarding but everytime I think it’s time to sell mine I take it out for a drive and I just can’t imagine being without it.
Still going strong after more than 28 years and still impressive even before the market lost it’s mind and inflated these to unimaginable levels.
By “The market” you mean the upper middle class and rich (mostly elderly) white men that make up Bring A Trailer and Cars & Bid’s buyerbase that don’t want anyone else to be able to partake in the old car hobby.
My perception of the BAT buyers is they are obviously at least somewhat affluent, but not rich, yes, probably pasty white as I am, not young, but in a position to buy what they really wanted when they were young and couldn’t afford. A hobby car. Yes they over pay, yes they drive the market up, no many at least aren’t really enthusiasts, but they’ve got some money in their pocket and in a position to spend it.
I can think of lots worse things to do with money, in many ways.
Here is mine, a 1993 CP SE, 86,000 mi
Just brought it for 5k. 1 owner and in mint condition. It’s my first ever foreign car and I’m 60.
Never too old to learn Mark!
I’m 67 and had my first Honda revelation when I was 34. Couldn’t believe the refinement, quality and sheer driving enjoyment compared to my previous GM cars. I started with a new Accord SE-i in ’89 and bought my current one in ’93. No regrets despite minor issues.
Sadly Honda today isn’t up to the same standards it once was (who is). Partly because everyone else has upped their game and mostly due to cost cutting but comparatively speaking their still very competitive.
Guess that’s why older Hondas and this generation in particular are so highly coveted…
Best of luck with yours
The CC effect – Just two nights ago I caught a glimpse of one of these parked in a dark parking lot, and was reminded that they are starting to become quite rare.
It took awhile for me to really warm to these. I was one of the cohort who had owned the prior generation (86-89) and saw these as larger and more conservative (which I considered bad things for the Accord). But I have come around, and finally realized that the extra size was handled with virtually no loss of sportiness. I still like the earlier version’s styling, but the tradeoff was that the older models still rusted like mad while these did not.
Count me as another who would happily drive one of these every day. But then I get to drive my 07 Fit every day, so I still get the experience of old-school Honda Joy.
I was given one of these as a loaner (in this exact color combination) when my ’94 Integra was in for service. I was blown away by how solid and well built these were. My loaner was 3 years old and had about 60,000 miles as I recall, but it look, felt, and ran as if it were brand new and didn’t have a single squeak or rattle.
Alas, like most Japanese cars of this vintage, its Achilles heel was tinworm, so I don’t see many of these on the road in Northeast Ohio anymore.
I owned a ’90 EX, bought used in ’94 with 60,000 miles on it. I have forever regretted trading it in at 130,000. It was really a great car, and for the time I think the styling was just about perfect. The only reason I let it go in ’97 was due to a home purchase. I was worried about making another year’s worth of payments on a car with that kind of mileage and a new mortgage and looming home improvement projects. The leftover ’96 Sentra that I traded it for turned out to be the best vehicle purchase I’ve ever made, but it was a major letdown after the Accord. I had a 120 mile round trip commute in those days, so I became very worried about reliability, knowing I’d be making the last payment on a car with 175k miles on it was daunting. In hindsight I probably had nothing to worry about. I absolutely loved that car.
This model has always been my favorite Accord model. I like the large windows, but when I had a chance to ride in one, I felt the back seat was tight, maybe because of the cut of the rear doors, and felt a little cramped, but I liked the car just the same.
Many pleasurable trips being shuffled to and from catholic school in one of these owned by my friend’s mom. They replaced it with a brand new purple special edition 6th gen when those came out in ’97 so they must’ve loved the Accords, too.
For fun, I will take the negative perspective on these cars. In my family there was a 90 (or so) Accord LX wagon, and an 88 Pontiac Bonneville SE. Very clear Japan vs America comparison, even though they are not in the same size class. But hear me out…while there is no comparison in build quality and driver satisfaction; these were family cars, automatic…kid car seats, road trips etc. They were priced the same -the accord may have been a touch more. Here is my recollection (as a hard core Honda guy at the time).
1. The Bonneville was more pleasant to drive in the real suburban world. The 3.8 was punchy and quick off the line, where the low torque Accord was sluggish at best. Also, the Accord 4cyl was a bit thrashy above 4k rpm – which was required to move through traffic.
2. The Bonneville returned better mpg. This was a surprise, but the BEST we ever got on the highway with the Accord was 29 – cant remember city mileage. But that 3.8 was magically good on gas for the car’s size.
3. The Bonneville had more mechanical problems than the Accord, especially as the miles added up. This was not a surprise.
4. Fast forward 5 years; thanks to the SUV boom – there were no more Hondas (or other japanese vehicles) in our family. It was all Ford Explorers and Chrysler minivans. Like it or not, torquey lazy american engines are very pleasant to live with in a suburban setting.
I was in law school when these debuted, and commuting 100 miles, six days a week, between home and school. I really wanted one of these, but it was not financially possible at the time. I especially loved the coupes in green. I also liked the next generation Accord, as well, which had slightly smaller exterior dimensions, if I recall correctly.
We had a ’93 EX manual, and of the various Accords we have owned it was my favorite. The lean, cohesive appearance and the superb outward visibility combined to make it a memorable sedan. It was far superior dynamically to the V6 Taurus I then had.
Given the control the manual gave the driver it was rather fun down in the twisties heading to northern Alabama on a vacation using secondary roads.
With its metallic green exterior and cloth, Ivory interior the car was both easy on the eyes and comfortable and supportive inside. A very nice sedan! 🙂 DFO
The ’90 Accord, first year of this generation, was first to market with window-clear headlamp lenses and all the optics in the reflectors. The technology was first developed by GM’s Guide Light division in the early 1970s, but first commercialised by Honda’s Japanese lighting supplier, Stanley Electric, on these Accords. Instantly everyone else’s optic-lens headlamps looked old-fashioned.
Close, but…
It was the NEXT generation that was peak Accord. They had the guts to let it be a little smaller and break up the inevitable ‘each generation must be bigger and heavier’ pattern.
Had a friend who worked for Microsoft in the late 1990s and I bought his 1994 LX Coupe when he went upmarket– as MS employees with generous stock options did– to a BMW (he liked cloth seats and the EX meant leather – but he had to relent on that at the BMW dealer). Even with the automatic and 4-banger, that car was everything an 80s-90s Thunderbird wished it was from a NVH and handling standpoint and absolutely, unquestioningly reliable. If the Accord coupe hadn’t taken that wacky styling turn in the late 90s I might’ve gone there when the promotion happened, but the 2000 Prelude I ended up with served me well.
The CD Accord was not “smaller”; Yes the wheelbase lost .2 inches (overall length was inconsistent- some models were shorter, some longer, 1.2 inches being the largest gap possible in the CB’s favor), but they were all heavier, 3 inches wider and at least 2.5 inches taller. In Japan they lost their more favorable “compact class” tax break as a result.
Co-worker has one of these and there’s another green one at her house which I pass on the way to work
My wife had a 93 LX, purchased a few years old, perhaps off lease. It remains the most trouble-free, reliable car that has ever crossed my path. It was comfortable, performed well for what it was (thanks in part to the 5 speed), and did what we needed it to do without fuss or complaint. The only repair other than basic maintenance that I recall was when the antenna motor died.
By that point in my driving career I had owned a series of larger vehicles from the Big 3, so was accustomed to frequent adjustment, parts with short lifespans, rough running engines, and poor fuel economy. The Accord was the opposite of those (35 mpg!), and I occasionally found myself looking around under the hood, searching in vain for an oil leak or something in need of replacement or adjustment. We got close to 200,000 happy miles out of that car, with little other than basic wear items replaced.
Sadly, thieves were also fonda the Honda. It disappeared during a prenatal care appointment shortly before the birth of our son, and was later recovered by the police, albeit lightened of some important parts.
It introduced me to the wonders of Japanese cars, and our daily drivers have consisted of Subarus and Hondas ever since. She has a 2016 Accord right now. It’s a great car so far, though I’m a little concerned about the long term prospects of the CVT.
I had a 95 Accord EX in that dark forest green and loved it. Having come from a blundering Buick LeSabre, the mileage was excellent. At the time I couldn’t drive a manual and my aunt wasn’t going to help me get a car I couldn’t drive (10 years used, covered 1 payment, as a high school grad gift), so I had the 4 speed auto. I traded it later for an 03 Accord LX coupe. Bigger engine, more power, dreadful upholstery, similar mileage.
I liked both of my Hondas and have sought to get another several times, but the dealer experience has always left lots to be desired and I haven’t owned one since trading the 03.
Side note: I miss having a gloriously huge gas tank. My 95, I believe still considered compact, had a 17 gallon tank. My current car a Mazda3 Turbo AWD has an 11 gallon tank; the stated reason being that the AWD gear makes a larger tank impossible. Even the front drive version only has a 13 gallon tank.
I was hit head on in my 2011 Buick regal and that totaled it. So after owning several Monte Carlo’s, Olds Cutless and most recently before the 2011 a 1998 and 1999 Buick Century I tried
to find another 2011 Regal but because of the nationwide shortage of used cars there was nothing but beat up high mileage, over priced ones available. About 6 weeks ago I happen to strike a conversation with an older gentleman at the gym and he mentioned a friend was selling a 1993 Honda Accord and that he would have bought except it was a 2 door CP and that wasn’t practical for him. Well the man gave me the sellers address. I was skeptical but desperate to get a car. I went over to look at it and was blown away at the condition of it, I mean it was mint condition in every aspect.
I knocked on door and this older gentleman answered and I said are you still interested in selling your car and he nodded yes. I was so happy. This Accord was his mom’s who bought it brand new and he had taken it over when she passed away. It had 18,000 mi on it then and now has 85,000. Well even though I’ve never owned a foreign car, I decided I couldn’t pass this up. He said $5000 and not a penny less, and for the first time in my life I didn’t even try to haggle with him I said I want it. I am so happy and I can’t believe the looks I get in my new Accord. People pull up next to me to ask about it. And I have yet to see one like it.
Here is a pic of it.