Honda N600. The beginning of the export

The Honda N600, rarer than a Testarossa

A Honda N600 is a rare classic. Mike Buttinger, the founder / owner of CMSNL.com has one in his collection, Venema in Drempt found a coincidental, perfect-looking specimen that - after the gearbox was put back in order by a specialist - was sold almost immediately and in Leek, at Hofman, we found the third Honda N600 since a long time.

The nice thing about that specimen is that the small Honda was once delivered new in the Netherlands by Honda dealer Ruinemans in Enschede. The first owner, Mrs. Teulink, said goodbye to the car after 17 years of loyal service. Honda specialist Hilderink in Haaksbergen bought the N 600, restored the little Japanese and has cherished Hondaatje ever since.

Then the Honda came into the picture at Hofman where they - also known in the professional classic trade - shot "We must have!" Mode.

It started with the N360

That was a small front-wheel drive that was made between 1967-1970 under the - of course Japanese - 'Kei' car regulation: the N360. The smallest cars that were also allowed to drive on highways were under that 'Kei' heading. The Honda was a success. To conquer the world - read: “America” (and Europe) - the N360 got a 600 cc big brother: The N600. The 'N' in the designation also stood for 'norimoto', 'vehicle'. That as a distinction from the motorcycles.

More engine capacity for the USA

The N600 was introduced in 1969 as an 1970 model in the United States and was the first Honda car to be officially imported into the United States. The N600 was also the basis of the Honda car dealerships. Because until that time, the four-wheel Hondas were sold via the motorcycle dealer network. The engine upgrade was the result of higher speeds on motorways in the USA and Europe.

A lot of power from a small block

And the press was enthusiastic about the '1100 cc performance from a 600 cc block'. It was also concluded that it became very noisy in the N600 when the block was driven to its maximum performance. The N600 was technologically advanced for its time, with an air-cooled all-alloy block (the Mini still had a cast iron block *) that could spin 9.000 rpm.

The engine power was 45 hp and the N600 ran with it 130 km / h. A later version was tuned a bit milder. The whole delivered surprisingly spicy performance due to the low weight of less than 550 kg, the compact dimensions and the use of some plastic parts (such as the boot lid). All in all, about 25.000 have been made.

Honda N600s are rare

How many of these are left over is unclear. We do know that the parts supply is poor. At CMS in Lelystad there is still a considerable supply of NOS. The rest of the stuff can be found in the USA.

* There are strong indications that 'Honda San' was inspired by the Mini when coming up with the N series. The suggestion has been made that with the N600, Honda had actually made the "Mini the way it should have been," according to Honda.