Classic of the Month

Honda S 800

The Honda S 800 is an automotive history milestone – it was the first model by a Japanese manufacturer to be officially exported to Germany. From 1967 onwards, the compact two-seater, available as a coupé or a roadster, defined the sporty image Honda cars had in this country, and also heralded the start of a major export push by Japanese car manufacturers – new, it cost a comparably affordable 7,750 Deutschmarks. European engine builders closely studied the S 800, which was considered exemplary due to its state-of-the-art technology: in the 1960s, 791cc engines with 70bhp and up to 10,000rpm were known only in motor racing.

Honda's debut as a car manufacturer

Founded in 1945 under the name of Honda Motor Company Ltd., the company became Japan's leading motorcycle producer in the 1950s. With the launch of the S 360 and S 500, a small sports car available in two cubic capacity versions, Honda presented its first car in 1963 – the "S 600" convertible followed in 1964, and a "S 600" coupé in 1965. Honda showed the S 800 for the first time at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show. The manufacturer set up its own distribution company in Hamburg in 1967 and started to export its cars to Germany. A total of 11,523 Honda S 800s were produced during the period the car was built, from 1966 to 1970.

Due to their extremely advanced engines, European engine builders closely studied the Honda S 600/S 800.

At the time, most of them doubted that an engine with a rev counter that went up to 11,000rpm and did not go into the red until 8,500rpm had been reached would be particularly long-lasting.

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Look forward to more Classics of the Month: Learn exciting details about popular and less popular milestone models. Some of the anniversaries of the vehicles in our collection will surprise you.

The ZeitHaus multi-brand car museum is one of the world's leading automotive museums and part of the Autostadt in Wolfsburg. Its collection comprises around 260 vehicles by more than 60 manufacturers.

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