You have to hand it to Honda: they really had a knack for designing iconic cars. At a time when most economy cars were boring, boxy-looking things like the Fiat Panda, the Mini Metro or the Daihatsu Charade, Honda created a one-box kei car that was years ahead of their competitors, style-wise. On the other hand, its 2-cyl. engine was a bit passé. Well, you can’t do everything…
Honda made their mark in four-wheeled transport via smaller-sized vehicles – tiny roadsters, miniature trucks and kei cars – all under 800cc. This was certainly due to their experience in motorcycle technology, but when the firm’s assurance started growing, their cars did as well. By the early ‘70s, Honda were targeting mid-size family transport – the star product became the Civic. At the same time, the firm decided to leave the kei car game altogether in 1974, though they kept a kei truck/van in the range.
Honda’s big return in the small car game came with the City in 1981, followed by the 1985 launch of the Today. Whereas the City was a small car with a relatively large (i.e. normal, for the rest of the world) engine, the Today was a JDM-only proposition in the kei class. At the time, this meant a maximum displacement of 550cc and a maximum total length of 320cm (10.8 ft). Tiny!
And just look at how well Honda utilized that tiny space. In profile, the Today looks like a Renault Twingo prototype – a car that came out in the early ‘90s. The hood and windshield form a straight line that, back in 1985, was only seen on the likes of the Espace. Another Renault? Hmm…
The Today is actually classed as a “van” by the Japanese taxman, even though it has a rear seat. Said rear seat looks very cramped, as there is supposed to be some space left over for 200kg’s worth of cargo. That’s asking a lot of just 320cm.
Most kei cars on the market in the mid-‘80s had already moved on to 3-cyl. engines, but Honda had only leftover ‘70s technology in their cupboards, so they had to make do with that initially. The 545cc water-cooled twin, also used on the Acty kei trucks, was essentially half a Goldwing’s flat-4, albeit limited to 31hp.
Behind the scenes, Honda were frantically working on a brand new triple, to keep up with the likes of Suzuki, but that engine would only be ready by 1988. The Today celebrated that new engine with a facelift, and we’ll look into one of those in greater detail in due course, as I have already secured a specimen for our scrutiny.
But I feel the basic one-box body, shrunk down to kei car size, was the Today’s main automotive legacy. That and however you call this giant double-jointed single wiper, which looks like one of this car’s most technologically advanced features.
If you want to see how cutting-edge the Honda Today would have been back then, just cast your eyes back to my post on the Mistubishi Minica. But more than that, the Today has more personality than all of its rivals put together. Yesterday’s Today was the car of tomorrow, but now that it’s the future, we’re waxing nostalgic about these. That’s Today’s CC paradox.
The round headlights on this car bring a certain whimsy and glee to its “face” that is lost on the second generation.
I’m with you on that, Evan.
The pictures car would be a post 1988 facelift model with the 4valve per cylinder 3 pot motor then?
Hondas’s Renault Clio????
More of a proto-Twingo, I’d say.
You are correct. I thought Twingo and wrote Clio…..
A brilliant design; I took notice of this back when it came out and have admired it ever since. From Honda’s golden era.
+1
I drove one of these in the UK back in 1986 and loved it. As you say, the one box design was a mold breaker and logical to maximize interior space. I remember that it drove very nicely.
I later had an early Twingo and a Toyota (Scion) IQ, both small one box vehicles which I enjoyed immensely.
I am presently working on the design of a small electric one box car and van for the rideshare/ delivery market – maybe the Today is still influencing my automotive taste?
“…Honda, they really HAD a knack for designing iconic cars. ”
As a former Honda owner (3 different generations of Civic and an Acura Integra), I agree Honda used to design and build iconic cars. I often thought of them as a sort of Japanese Chrysler Corporation (before the Malaise Era set in at The Big 3), designing new ways to tackle problems and sticking with their solutions until other car companies ” saw the light “. But lately their hasn’t been a stream of iconic cars, just a slow trickle.
I remember seeing one or 2 articles on the 1st generation Today, but wasn’t aware that there was a 2nd generation model. And having visited Japan 3 times in the 80s I never saw one of these. Mitsubishi Minicas? They were like toadstools after a rain…and ALWAYS painted red.
I like the looks of the 1st generation car, but would prefer the 2nd generation for its better mechanical parts. And I have always wondered why this chiseled one box design didn’t show up from more car manufacturers.
It’s all moot anyway as at 6 foot 3 I doubt that I would Fit in a Today.
The Today was also a car star in the anime “You’re Under Arrest”.
https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/jnc-theater-youre-under-arrest/
Indeed! And the animation of the first three episodes is superb!
Looks like a shrunken 3rd gen Civic Hatchback, with even better space efficiency.
Looks like a “WB” toon car.
What gets me is how beautifully proportioned this car is. If it wasn’t for the Japanese licence plate (330x165mm), you wouldn’t realize just how small the car is. And essentially half a Gold Wing engine? I’m assuming a parallel twin to fit an existing gearbox, but wouldn’t put it past Honda to craft a 2cv-style (or half-Subaru style) flat twin.
As for the one box style, that carried over/popped up later on the Jazz/Fit. Just yesterday my daughter was pulling out of a tight parking spot and saying how much she loved driving a car that had no nose.
What a shame that car is Honda Yesterday. Honda today is meh. Overwrought styling with so-so engineering. It’s not the company it used to be.
The proportions are quite something.
On a side-note, I musk ask if your daughter’s car had a nose before that tight parking spot manouvre?
The greenhouse and general body shape remind me of a smaller Honda Civic “breadvan” but with round headlights for extra whimsy. I suppose there’s also a touch of VW Polo since they had a similar style, but again in a Civic sized package.
As an aside there’s a first generation Civic in my neighborhood and it’s astonishing how small they are, only a little bit bigger than a Honda 600.
I am sure I am not alone in wondering if T’s Today of today, a car then clearly a car of tomorrow, but clearly, today, a car of yesterday’s tomorrow, is a car that would today represent only today today, or only yesterday today, if released tomorrow?