|
The Honda Accord is an automobile manufactured by Honda. It was introduced in 1976 as a 1600cc engine-powered medium-sized hatchback sedan, with styling similar to an upsized contemporary Honda Civic. A conventional four-door saloon was released in 1977.
Original plans were for a mid-size car, along the lines of the Ford Mustang. It was supposed to be a V6-powered car with a long hood and sporty pretensions. Honda chose the name Accord, claiming no other name was available. But this was during the fuel crisis era, and the initial design was changed for a high-mileage, low-emission vehicle, and in the USA and Japan, a version was produced using Honda's CVCC technology, meeting emission standards of the 1970s and 1980s without a catalytic converter.
Like the smaller Honda Civic, the Accord uses front wheel drive and a transverse "East/West" engine layout.
The Accord became the first Japanese car to be produced in the USA in 1982, when production commenced in Marysville, Ohio.
In 1982 the Accord became the best-selling Japanese car by name in the USA, holding that position for 15 years.
In 1993, the fifth-generation Accord was released, and it was a sales failure. While the larger, redesigned Toyota Camry was making waves in the American market, and the Japanese clamored for small, sporty cars, Honda sized the Accord perfectly so that it was too small for American tastes and too large for Japanese preferences. It also was a break from the previous four generations of the Accord, with their boxy, rectangular shapes, instead styling the car along the lines of the Prelude and Legend. A V6 engine, the 2.7 L C27 from the Legend, was introduced in 1995 to compete with the V6 Mazda 626.
After the catastrophe resulting from creating one car for three separate markets, Honda CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto decided on one basic platform for the sixth-generation Accord, with different bodies and proportions for local markets. In 1997 the Accord split into three distinct versions, European Honda Accord (which is sold in North America as the Acura TSX), JDM Honda Accord and USDM Honda Accord. The 90° C-series V6 engine was replaced by a more-compact 60° J-series unit.
By 2003, the Accord had evolved through seven generations, with 2003 models offering power plants from 4 cylinder to V6. The 4 cylinder was a K24, a detuned version of the TSX engine. The 6 cylinder was the same J32 V6 as the sixth generation's, but its intake runners, exhaust, and headers contributed to a 40 horsepower (30 kW) increase.
For the first time, Honda offered an "enthusiast" version of the Accord, mating their 6-speed manual from the Acura CL to the V6 Honda Accord Coupe. A specific 4 cylinder model is the first production car in the world to meet California's Ultra Low Emission standards.
The 2003 model year also debuted Honda's GPS assisted Navigation system as an option for the Accord. Prior to the 2003 model year it was only available on the higher end Acura line as well as the Honda Odyssey.
In 2004 Honda announced that they would release a hybrid version of the Accord. This vehicle is detailed in the Honda Accord Hybrid page. With the 2004 model year Honda also introduced an updated version of the Acura TL in North America, a mid-range luxury sedan based on the Accord. The TL added features such as a multichannel DVD Audio sound system and a Bluetooth hands free cellular telephone interface, the first of its kind to be offered with any passenger car.
Awards
The Accord has been on Car and Driver magazine's annual Ten Best list 19 times, in 1983-1991, 1994-1995, and 1998-2005. It is the winningest vehicle in the 22-year history of that award. The Accord was also Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1977 and Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1994.
See also
External links
| 
