The Honda Z (marketed also as the Z600) is a two-door
hatchback kei car/
city car
The A-segment is the 1st category in the passenger car classification system defined by the European Commission. It is used for city cars, the smallest category of passenger cars defined.
A-segment sales represent approx. 7-8% of the market in ...
manufactured and marketed by the
Honda Motor Company, from 1970 until 1974. Exports mostly ended after 1972, when the domestic market models received redesigned pillarless bodywork.
Honda subsequently marketed a kei-class SUV from 1998 to 2003, bearing no relation to the first 'Z', but bearing the same nameplate.
1970-1974
The two-door Honda Z debuted in October 1970 and was marketed until 1973 in most countries. American sales (only with the larger 598 cc engine) lasted for model years 1970 through 1972, ending prior to the 1973 introduction of the
Civic
Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things:
General
*Civics, the science of comparative government
*Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community
*Civic center, a comm ...
. Marketed as the "sport coupé" version of the
N600, the two were sold side by side at American motorcycle dealerships until the first stand-alone automobile dealers opened to market the Civic. Total production was 40,586 units.
In certain countries, such as the US, the Z600 name simply reflected the engine's size of . The smaller-engined Honda Z360 was available in Japan (and other markets, such as Australia) with a twin. In the UK they came only in 600 cc form and were called simply "Honda Z" with no mention of the engine size in the name.
As with all cars in the
kei
Kei may refer to:
People
* Kei (given name)
* Kei, Cantonese for Ji (surname), Ji(姫)
* Kei, Cantonese for Qi (surname), Qi(奇, 祁, 亓)
* Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
* Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Kor ...
class, the Z360's specifications were tightly governed. The Z360 originally featured an air-cooled, 354 cc, two-cylinder
SOHC engine with a four- or five-speed transmission driving the front wheels. Outputs were at 8,500 rpm for the Act and Pro versions, and at 9,000 rpm for the sportier TS and GS models.
The Z600 model's 598 cc
SOHC engine was rated at . In December 1971, the Z360 received a facelift and a water-cooled engine, it also produced at 9,000 rpm. Only a month later, the 31 PS engine used in the lower spec variants (Standard, Deluxe, Automatic, Custom) also became water-cooled. The engine's technical achievements reflected influences from Honda's larger, 1.3 L, air-cooled four-cylinder used in the
Honda 1300
The Honda 1300 is an automobile which was produced by Japanese manufacturer Honda from 1969 to 1972. The largest car ever manufactured by the company to that point, the front wheel drive 1300 was released as a sedan and coupé intended to compete ...
coupe and sedan.
The Z featured
coil sprung and independent front suspension and leaf springs on a beam axle rear suspension. The interior accommodated two adults, with a very small rear seat. A rear glass hatch with a black plastic surround opened to a shallow cargo area. Below the cargo area a compartment, accessible via a lid beneath the number plate, held the spare wheel and tools. Later versions, after a November 1972 facelift, deleted the extra lid and also moved the license plate down to the position it vacated. These also received the new ''EA'' engine of , now only available in a more powerful, version. Production ended in 1974, after the new Civic had arrived and the
oil crisis had diminished the market for "fun" cars.
Europe
In Europe only the Z600 was marketed, as the Z360 had been considered underpowered. 918 cars were sold in Europe, most of them in France and Switzerland. A large number of these cars found their way to Germany (where it had not been marketed), where the engines were downsleeved to 242 cc in order to fit a particular "Class IV" category of
driver's licenses
A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...
which did not require an exam. These models first appeared in 1969 after the last 250 cc car in regular production, the
Goggomobil 250, had been discontinued. The engine offered from and provided a top speed of .
1998-2002
The Honda Z was a
retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...
-styled
subcompact
Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications.
According to the U.S. Environmental Prot ...
(656 cc) SUV by
Honda Motor Company, introduced in 1998 at ''
Honda Primo
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
'' Japanese dealerships, and discontinued in autumn 2002. It was a two-door version of the
Honda Life
The Honda Life is an automobile nameplate that was used on various kei car/city cars produced by Honda: passenger cars, microvans, and kei trucks. The first series of the nameplate was built between 1971 and 1974, with the nameplate revived in 1 ...
with the engine installed in the center of the vehicle.
Launched on October 9, 1998, the PA1 Honda Z was manufactured for Honda by Yachiyo Industry Co, a Honda subsidiary manufacturing light trucks. The basic structure of the Z, including its midship-mounted engine placement and 4WD drivetrain was shared with its
Honda Acty
The is a series of cabover microvans and kei trucks produced by the Japanese automaker Honda from 1977 to 2021, designed for the Japanese domestic market (JDM). "Acty" is short for "Activity".
The Acty's primary competitors were the Subaru ...
sibling. Unlike the Acty though, it was a four-seater passenger car which also meant that it had to pass passenger car safety standards. The 656 cc
E07Z three-cylinder engine was available in a naturally aspirated as well as in a turbocharged variant.
The Z was only ever available with a four-speed automatic transmission, the same that was used on the EF
Honda Civics. The centrally mounted engine was placed in an upright position underneath the rear seat, a layout called "UM-4" (stands for ''Under Midship 4WD'') by Honda. Engine oil changes and minor maintenance work is done through an interior door. As with other mid-engined, four-wheel-drive vehicles, such as the
Lamborghini Diablo VT
The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance Mid-engine design, mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It is the first production Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess ...
, a
viscous
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the inte ...
center
differential was used. Some noteworthy and unusual design features of the Z included the comparatively large-diameter tires, chunky "grip-style" door handles, and the adoption of perspex double-cover headlights.
![Honda Z 202](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Honda_Z_202.JPG)
While the
Honda Capa
The Honda Capa, short for "capacity", is a tall wagon produced by Honda between 1998 and 2002 for the Japanese market. It was introduced at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show as the concept car "J-MW." It went on sale on April 24, 1998, with Honda series ...
was the first car in the "J-Mover" series, the third generation
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
and new Honda Z made up the "K-Mover" series. Famous rock group
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...
made the introductory commercial, including a song and video ("ZZ Top on the Z"). Since the car's name has always been pronounced "zed" (ゼット) by Honda, in the British fashion, the Americans in ZZ Top had to follow suit.
In June 2000 a special "Super Emotion" package appeared, with body-colored bumpers, CD player with speakers and tinted glass for a small extra cost. This proved so popular that body-colored bumpers were soon made standard on turbo models. In August 2002, with stricter exhaust emission about to take effect, Honda ended production of the Z. This was to be Honda's first and last SUV Kei-car. Honda also sold a side-mounted step and wheel-arch protector, but these were only for after-market fitment as they made the car too wide for
kei
Kei may refer to:
People
* Kei (given name)
* Kei, Cantonese for Ji (surname), Ji(姫)
* Kei, Cantonese for Qi (surname), Qi(奇, 祁, 亓)
* Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
* Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Kor ...
regulations and were not crash tested. The naturally aspirated version had at 7,000 rpm, while the turbocharged and intercooled version pushed out at 6,000 rpm. The engine had four valves per cylinder, Honda's
PGM-FI
Programmed Fuel Injection, or PGMFI/PGM-FI, is the name given by Honda to a proprietary digital electronic fuel injection system for internal combustion engines with port injection. It is available since the early 1980s. This system has been impl ...
fuel injection system, and were classified as
LEV
Lev may refer to:
Common uses
*Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria
*an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah
People and fictional characters
*Lev (given name)
*Lev (surname)
Places
*Lev, Azerbaijan, a ...
s.
Land speed record
![Honda Z600 Coupe -Evil Tweety- Bonneville 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Honda_Z600_Coupe_-Evil_Tweety-_Bonneville_2009.jpg)
On August 19, 2008, a 1971 Z600 coupe named ''Evil Tweety'' set a new speed record for stock body production cars with engines at , with a stock 600 engine bored to . The record was set by Eric Burns at the
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
. The next day Chris Clay took "Evil Tweety" to a new record for altered gas cars with engines at
These records were beaten three years later, the production car record by a
Saab 96
The Saab 96 is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four-passenger seating and at first a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine, later a four-stro ...
.
References
*Honda Z360, Japanese sales brochure, #ZK1-7009 (1970)
External links
1970s Honda Z Sales BrochureHondazcar2002 Honda Z (japanese)Honda Z family tree (japanese)
{{Early Honda vehicles
Z600
Cars introduced in 1970
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Mini sport utility vehicles
Kei cars