During my formative years, back in the Old Europe of the ‘90s, the cars that most teenagers lusted after were the famous hot hatches. The Golf GTI, 205 GTI, Delta HF, Fiesta XR2 and many more – those were the ones you had to have, and there was a slight chance you might be able to get one. Or at least something close to the real thing. BMWs, Porsches or Jags were not on anyone’s radar, as nobody could afford those. Same for anything Detroit-made, and Korean cars hadn’t yet become a thing.
Japanese cars, on the other hand, were definitely on the menu: the Civic CR-X and the Corolla GTi 16, to cite but two, were known quantities and had an audience. But we never had the City Turbo II over in Western Europe, as far as I know – a real shame, too. Surely Honda would have sold boatloads of these to folks who lamented the passing of the Renault 5 Turbo or who thought the MG Metro was too lame.
That’s not to say that the first generation Honda City was never exported to Europe. They did ship those over, albeit renamed as the Honda Jazz, as Opel owned the City nameplate for the European market. But these hairy-chested Turbo versions never left Japan. They tended to keep the good stuff for themselves in those days, and who could blame them?
The City was launched in late 1981 and slotted right under the Civic as Honda’s smallest car, given that the carmaker had given up kei cars in the mid-‘70s. It was small in terms of wheelbase, but somewhat wider and a lot taller than the average early ‘80s Japanese subcompact. Honda called it the “Tall Boy” design, and it eventually caught on – particularly on kei cars.
However, the City is not a kei car. It’s a bit bigger than one size-wise and quite a lot engine-wise: under that small sloped hood lays an all-alloy 1231cc OHC 4-cyl. driving the front wheels. The European variant was calibrated to be economical, not exciting: the Jazz got a simpler 8-valve head and produced a modest 44hp in base form; on the JDM, the standard City had a 12-valve setup that, coupled with CCVC, churned out a minimum of 60hp.
Alongside the standard-issue hatchback, the full City range eventually included the 100hp Turbo (top left), a high-roof version dubbed Manhattan (top right), a two-seater City Pro “van” (bottom right) and finally, by 1984, the Cabriolet, a Turbo II (minus the engine) allegedly decapitated by Pininfarina. Still, kudos to Honda for squeezing so many variants out of so tiny a platform. Plus, they created the Motocampo, a 50cc folding scooter shaped and styled like a toaster that could fit in the City’s cargo area.
The 110hp Turbo II, freshly provided with an intercooler, arrived in October 1983 and was thus spared the goofy fender mirrors seen on Turbo number one, which continued to be sold alongside its bulkier and brawnier brother.
A lot of muscle was added to the Turbo II, giving the City a far more squat and chunky appearance, hence the nickname “Bulldog” that came to be associated with this particular iteration of the Honda City. And you really can see it, with that scrunched-up face and those bulging sides. This really is a case of City by name, Bulldog by nature.
The City Turbo and Turbo II were given the R treatment by Mungen and turned into bona fide racers, lightened to about 650kg (standard-issue Turbo IIs weigh 745kg) and their engines given a 25hp boost. “City Bulldog Races” were organized in mid-‘80s Japan and much merriment was had, although the “Tall Boy” body gave the City a higher centre of gravity than was ideal for track use, causing a number of Bulldogs to engage in uncommanded roll-overs. Woof, woof.
Our feature car is not a racing special, fortunately. As can be seen inside, it’s a completely stock time-capsule with all the creature comforts one might expect from a 40-ish-year-old JDM city car. And that apparently includes a refrigerated glovebox, a digital speedo, and a very decent sound system, by all accounts.
In non-racing guise, the Turbo II is said to be great fun to putter about with, thanks to its all-independent suspension, slightly wider track and “scramble boost” function (which adds 10% of turbo pressure for ten seconds). The Bulldog was a real-life Mario Kart before Mario Kart even existed. Actually, the Honda City was so charismatic in its home country that in 1985 Nintendo actually d a game, City Connection, where the character jumping about the platforms is an orange Turbo City. Few cars were rendered so faithfully in 8-bit form – another testament to the City’s design… I think…
But no matter how iconic the City was, it wasn’t an incredible sales success that brought new customers over to Honda: just over 300,000 units were made over five years, which is not that impressive a result for a small hatchback. A second generation was nevertheless launched and, eventually, the City grew and grew, as cities are wont to do, until it turned into something of a bland, cut-rate four-door Civic, chiefly seen in Asia-Pacific and South American markets. Some markets used other appellations, like Fit or Ballade; the JDM ones were dubbed Grace until recently and the European ones kept the Jazz name.
The Turbo II lasted until late 1986, like the rest of the first gen City range. In the end then, the Bulldog got “fixed” and sent to a farm upstate. Such a shame. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but when the old tricks are as barking mad as this, there’s no need for gratuitous novelty. Doggone cute little pooch, this little City.
Related post:
CC Capsule: 1981-86 Honda City – They Grow Up So Fast!, by William Stopford
Ah, the one with the optional motor bike 🙂
“It’s not quite a Jag U ar.”
You should see what those motor bikes sell for in the US. Last one I saw had a $5000.00 sticker on it.
I was living in Tokyo when these were introduced and I developed a real fetish for them. I didn’t realistically have the money, the need, or the parking space for a car, but a Bulldog in black would have been my first choice if I had.
Although very small, that high roofline made them seem airy and roomy. 100 horsepower in a 1700 pound car geared low for city street work? What’s not to love about that?
As a side note the mention of the sound system made me recall something popular among the street-set at the time: the “Rolling Party”. In those dark days before cell phones, the “Rolling Party” was a CB system (I believe it was CB) radio set up with voice activated mics so a group could cruise in three or four cars and everyone could chat with each other while they were driving around. I don’t recall the City having this from the factory, but anyhow, I thought it was an interesting and cool accessory.
Finally, although the scooter was a bit gimmicky it had a valid functional use. The theory was that although you could drive your car into downtown, parking near any major train station was very expensive – if you could find it at all. So, you would park your car “cheaply” four or five (or more) blocks away from the station, then pull your scooter from the trunk and zip ‘the last mile’ to the station, leave the scooter there, and take your train. I never saw a Motocampo scooter in the wild though.
They do turn up every once in a while for sale, even here in the US.
I’m just fascinated with these things. In the video it sounds sort of like a weed-wacker or leaf-blower.
The NCZ 50. Also known as “Trunk Bike”.
Not to be confused with “Trunk Monkey”.
I love these (in all variants), and find them a perfect size, perfect name, and part of the (very long) peak Honda era. I wasn’t aware of the high roof City though, sort of a Tall Boy Long Neck, interesting.
Here’s my own City, in ahead of Pete, part of my bookcase scenery since 1985.
You just knew I’d have to have built a City, Jim! 🙂 Not a Turbo, though.
I did this one for a FB-based 24-hour build challenge a few years back.
Yours IS a turbo, at least judging by the sticker on the front!
Nice build, I assume that’s the Tamiya one like mine?
Okay Jim, not a Turbo II with the cool bodykit like the one Prof. T87 found. 🙂
And yes, Tamiya.
Here’s another application of the Motocompo scooter. Taken at a local-to-me collector’s location.
Being a “tall boy” myself, and a lover of tall cars, I was quite infatuated with the City when it came out. Sadly, not for us Americans, though.
Local fanbois love these things but the turbo models are rare though when I returned from OZ these Honda Cities could be had cheap, hundreds of $ for tidy examples prices have climbed since
I first heard about the City Turbo through my interest in Tamiya RC models in the 80s. I wanted one so badly, I did eventually buy one that Tamiya re-released:
What is the reason for those steel platforms the cars are parked on?
They look to me like mobile platforms to allow cars to be shuffled around in tightly-confined parkades. I see some overhead, too, suggesting there are more cars parked up there. Saw similar setups the last time I was in NYC in 2007.
This is timely, considering the recent Takara release of MP-53 and MP-54:
https://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/skids-reboost/
I dig that 1980’s asymmetrical hood, air dam and extra funky wheels. The mobile parking platforms is a new one for me. They must use some type of custom ultra low profile forklift to scoot them around. Thanks to CC I was already made aware of the Ferris wheel type of automated parking.
Those Mugen CF-48 wheels were not a cheap addition to that car; in 1985 those 14 inchers would have set the buyer back ¥120,000 before even considering rubber. Sadly, they are missing their aero disc hub covers (aren’t they all now?).
The bulldog nickname isn’t so much from their look being a logical connection as it was from the out there yet memorable commercial for the Turbo II only the Japanese can do that burned the association into the public consciousness:
Amongst Honda’s best, the City. And why not put a snail up your exhaust and have a faster phone box? Yes! Please, sir, may I have one with more?
Though, make mine minus the bodykit, which does the usual mathematical impossibility of such addenda, that being reduction by addition. The basic unpainted-bumper City original is a perfect execution of a short, tall and difficult brief, eponymous in both ways (aesthetically city-like and original). surely Patrick Le Quement owes a bit of a debt here, as his much-acclaimed Renault Twingo pretty well has this very face (and a bit of the shape) a good ten years later.
Quite interesting faux-Panhard wheels on this bus. From Honda, I wonder?
Here is an interesting read that gives some good insight as to how well vetted the regular City was at the time, and also some discussion about mini cars in general that allows you to infer why it never crossed the Atlantic (hint: just Civics probably ended up printing more money). Click the link below for Car and Driver’s take from August 1982:
“1982 Honda City Makes a Case for Minicars in America”