The Honda S600 is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

manufactured by

Honda 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 ...

. It was launched in March 1964. Available as a roadster – bearing strong resemblance to the

Honda S500 The S500 was the second production car from Honda (and its first passenger automobile), released in 1963, following the T360 truck into production by four months. It was a larger-displacement variant of the S360 roadster which, though develope ...

– and as a

fastback A fastback is an automotive styling feature, defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail. The kammback is a type of fastback style. Some models, such as the Ford Mustang, have been specifically marketed as ...

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

– introduced in March 1965 – the S600 was the first Honda available in two trim levels. During its production run up to 1966, the model styling would remain pretty much the same, with the most notable changes coming to the front

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...

bumper Bumper or Bumpers may refer to: People * Betty Bumpers (1925-2018), American activist, First Lady of Arkansas, wife of Dale Bumpers * Dale Bumpers (1925–2016), American politician, governor of Arkansas and senator * Bumper Robinson (born 197 ...

, and

headlight A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage (language), usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the ...

Specifications

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

, four-cylinder inline engine with four Keihin

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

s, the engine capacity was increased to 606 cc from the S500's 531 cc. The engine produced at 8,500 rpm and had a top speed of . With the convertible weighing in at mere , the extra

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...

of the coupe only added to the overall weight. A four speed manual transmission drove the rear wheels via a

hypoid A spiral bevel gear is a bevel gear with helical teeth. The main application of this is in a vehicle differential, where the direction of drive from the drive shaft must be turned 90 degrees to drive the wheels. The helical design produces less ...

differential outputting to chain final drives for each rear wheel. Each wheel was driven by either single or dual chains (depending on production date), contained in a pivoting, sealed case with oil bath lubrication and adjustable tensioners. These pivoting chain cases functioned as trailing arms for the fully independent, coil-sprung rear suspension. The front suspension was also independent, with a-arms, longitudinal

torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...

springs and rack-and-pinion steering. The S600 was equipped with 13" wheels and finned aluminum drum brakes.

Production history

The S600 was the first mass-marketed Honda car. First offered only in

right-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

, it soon became available in left-hand drive to appeal to export markets. There were a few

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts ...

S500s manufactured in left-hand drive, two or three even being shown in some early sales brochures. The S600 was the first Honda car sold in Europe. It was never officially sold in the United States, although a small number were imported by individual owners via Canada, Okinawa or Guam. Both the S600 roadster and coupé were available in standard trim and a special, upgraded package called the SM600 which included, among other items, special paint colors, exclusive badging, a standard radio and speaker, a special antenna in the passenger side sun visor, standard reversing lights, a standard cigarette lighter, a standard heater, better-cushioned seats, and a detachable seat track for quick removal of the passenger seat. Honda built 3,912 roadsters in 1964, with production climbing to 7,261 convertibles and 1,519 coupes in 1965. Production dropped off in 1966 (as they were shifting to the S800) with only 111 roadsters and 281 coupes, giving tallies of 11,284 convertibles and 1,800 coupes for the 3-year span.

References

{{Early Honda vehicles S600 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1964