Honda quintet

Post by **paul bristol uk** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:27 pm

Stop taking the p1ss out of old drivers with auto's. I have two a 1992 JDM BB1 auto with a Lsd box and the lexus 4.0 ltr V8 with a variable auto box. I pour money into them to keep them smart and roadworthy. I also don't eff about when I drive as some youngsters have found to their embarrassing cost. There is an art to driving an auto quickly and the detractors obviously have not learnt it. Yes I am 70 next birthday but old does not always mean slow(except when I walk)

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:12 pm

The other main point is that older people who wanted / needed an auto, and had the funds to match, basically only had two manufacturers who produced bloody good auto boxes in that era.... Mercedes... or Honda. If any of you tried Ford Cortina or Sierra autoboxes back to back with a Honda one at the time, you'd know what I mean.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Coincidently i have 2 autos. One is a prelude and the other is a mercedes. And yes ratty the flappy paddles were the attraction with the auto. 7 speed auto v 6 speed manual meant the manual was simply not an option.

Post by **paul bristol uk** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 12:19 am

Well Ted word has it that you are getting an old fart like me. Nice to be comfy when you drive though isn't it?

Post by **4thgenphil** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:15 am

getting old?

Post by **Donald** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:06 am

All body lemonade taking aside, I honestly thought Paul was older

Must be the jokes.

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:28 am

In defence of those that may be getting older, I received insurance renewal quote this morning.... 3 bikes and the prelude on one policy.... and the premium has come down by 50 odd quid for this year. Any guesses on the figure, all insured F/C.

Post by **Donald** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:42 am

It's cheap because they know you'll probably only have 1 or 2 days a year when you can actually get your leg high enough to get on the bike. Or that you're part of that group that likes to ride a superbike at 40 mph everywhere.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:59 am

I'm not having a go at old people or auto's, I'm just beffudled why all the old Honda's out there are auto's, when auto's WEREN'T popular in this country, back then.
Look at basically any other make car from that era and they're all manuals. But all the Honda's are auto - it just strikes me as really odd!
I guess Sailor might be right in that they were bought by 'older' people, who prefered an auto. I've never really understood the old man' image people associate with Honda - but perhaps they were right back then and I just didn't notice, because I just saw the quality and excitement of Honda, Nissan and Mazda in comparison to the (main-stream, i.e Vauxhall/Ford) euro crap of the time.

YouTube · Post by **Sailor** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 12:48 pm

To be honest, the Honda line-up in the late 70s and early 80s wasn't all that exciting. Accord, Ballade, Civic or Quintet? Even the Prelude didn't really stir the blood, although it has a charm no one really noticed at the time. Datsun's Z range and the rare Silvia lent a bit of glamour to what was also generally dreary; Toyota had Celicas and a bit more of rallying presence, but also turned out boring boxes.

Meanwhile the European manufacturers were trying a bit harder. Believe it or not, the Sierra looked weird and futuristic when it first came out and the Fiesta had an XR2 version. Rover's SD1 got rave reviews. After slipping down the rankings, Vauxhall had a great deal of success with the Cavalier Mk2 and the popular, if crap, Nova. And the Metro was wiping the floor with many of its competitors. Peugeot had the 205, Volkswagen had the Golf.

The Jap invasion was building a reputation for reliability similar to that it had managed a decade earlier, but dealer networks weren't as widespread as those for the home-grown market. This was important, I think; the generation buying new cars had recent memories of stuff going wrong. The cars we like were getting there but it was only half a generation since we all thought of the Japs as being good at copying but not much else (like the Chinese today?).

Then there were the import 'agreements'. In 1975, Japan was limited to 11% of the UK market. The EC limit was still 15% half a dozen years later. This meant that we were more likely to see their bread-and-butter cars than anything exotic. We'd heard of a saloon car called the Skyline that could outrun sports cars, but we never got to see one.

The Japs sent in a Trojan horse. They first set up assembly operations, particularly of light commercials vehicles, and then Nissan went for it, building a proper car plant in Sunderland in 1984. The rest, as they say is ...