An American-born Japanese car that was officially sold by Honda

A left-hand drive Honda Accord Coupe was spotted at the Neo-Classic Honda Fan Meeting 2023 on Friday 3 November 2023. This could be a US-produced vehicle officially sold by the manufacturer at the time, i.e. an official left-hand drive version!　We hit up the owner, attracted by the moderately American style of the lowered and shiny chrome wheels, while still retaining the stock condition.

Rare car inherited from his son

“The 1991 Accord Coupe was owned by my second son for many years. I think he had it on hand for maybe 12-13 years. He was also driving a Civic at the time and left this Accord Coupe uninspected. It would have been a shame to let it decay into a piece of junk, so I took it over as my favorite car.”

At the time Mr. Uehashi acquired the car, it was in pretty bad shape. He consulted the shop where he bought the vehicle and asked them to find a car for parts, which they did.

“I’ve never seen a left-hand drive Accord coupe in this area. I remember seeing one for sale at a local car shop a long time ago, but maybe that’s about it. I have seen a later model of this vehicle, 2200cc displacement, right-hand drive, parked in the Moji area, but that’s about it.”

This CB6/7 model, the fourth generation of the Honda Accord and the second generation of the Accord Coupe was sold from 1990 to 1994. Moreover, it was initially sold as an American-born left-hand drive model. Right-hand drive versions were also imported along the way, which is a rather unusual story for a vehicle that was sold new in Japan. It is therefore not surprising that, more than 30 years later, there are very few units remaining.

Revived a car so low that it could not be driven, by gradually returning it to stock

When he first acquired the vehicle, it had been customized to his son’s taste, but its condition was such that the vehicle was too low to go anywhere. However, the vehicle he got for parts was also already fitted with dampers, so the suspension was transplanted. Although not stock, it was still high enough to drive at some level. The rest of the work was concentrated on returning the car to stock. The exterior was also repainted three times, going from white to white and arriving at the current gold color.

“I think the wheels are the factory limited edition wheels for the next of this type, the CD7/8. The only other thing I did was to shave off all the black parts of the engine head cover, which was originally black, as it had peeled off and looked shabby. I tried to make it look as genuine as possible, and arrived at the current state.”

The Accord Coupe had an appealing American-born atmosphere, with its striking red leather seats and specially developed BOSE audio system. As a fellow car enthusiast, his son must be proud of the way his father has restored his battered car to this state and is still enjoying it.

translated by DeepL