1997 Acura 2.2CL | Retro Review 

Still have a 98 Acura CL 2.3 with a manual in the driveway. Great car.

I owned a 98 3.0CL for a brief time back in 2001. It was a nice car, decent power for the era. I really liked the uncluttered boat tail design.

Had a black one just like the one in this video and it had 475k on it when I sold it! My Acura legend had 275k on it when I sold it.

you still see these on the road today

I have a 98 3.0CL, it’s just won’t die, even after being subject to Canadian winters since new, unbelievable really, I don’t see any others in the road though.

The 2003 CL Type S is still on my bucket list. 6spd manual of course.

Literally just saw one of these yesterday and posted photos of it in a Facebook group … had a family friend who was an engineer for Acura that drove a brand new turquoise one back then; appreciated it then and even so much so now.

I have a 99 2.3 CL everything still works the dash looks new and the back seat as well 169.000 miles and not ever one problem just the recall on the ignition I will be buying a brand new 2024 TLX here soon Acura is a excellent brand even though we all know it a luxury Honda

I had a 1998 CL 3.0 and loved that car. 200 hp V6 had plenty of power for that time, but the automatic transmission gave me trouble.

The first-generation Acura CL looks sleek and I recently saw one in the Milano red color in Orangeburg, South Carolina!!!

That's actually quite a sleek looking car!

"Facing stiff competition from BMW and even Chrysler" How times have changed. Chrysler would never be mentioned in the same sentence as BMW or Acura anymore 😅

Always loved this little luxo car...

This was a beautiful car. Not many were produced and don’t see them around anymore. That’s thanks to the emission testing.

Much more appealing design compared to what Acura is producing right now; it had character and elegance sorely missing these days. Too bad I was too young to snap one up when it was new; any CLs I find now would probably be in a rough shape especially since I'm in Canada!

Haven't had one of these CL's yet but the second gen is amazing. Can't wait to own one!

My first car! 🔥

1:17 “Mercury Mark VIIIs”….huh?

Aunt Nessa drove a Red one of these with the tan leather and V6. I thought she was the coolest person on earth when she’d pull up in this. Lol

I remember watching one of these rapids self around a utility pole during a street race going horribly wrong. I wonder how many JDM‘s and domestic sport coops met needless deaths after the first fast and furious movie came out.

Mercury Mark 8? I think you mean Lincoln, John.

Had a 97 Accord Ex which was the Honda equivelent. Was a fantastic car until someone ran a red light into me back in 2015.

Had a 99 in silver … my first ❤️

Fantastic car. The only fault I found was a horrible turning radius.

Mercury Mark VIII? Tsk tsk, John.

I bought a 01 Acura TL for $3,400 with 116000 miles only now got 190000 with rebuilt transmission that cost $3,000 been a really good strong car 3.2 VTech also tuned kicking 310 HP btw

My bestie died in this car back in '97 when she ran head-on into a Semi on 2-lane road.

Was thinking about switching it to a manual 6 speed in my 01 Acura TL would be awesome if I could get it done Lol

Currently have a 97 cl for my work car. Any diy guys out her with experience. I’ve had the car for 2months now and would like to keep it for a good while

I had the black 2003 3.2 CL Type S manual drive. It was a fun car to drive. Too bad Acura discontinued it after 2003. If i remember correctly, the transmission in auto drive had problems which caused its dismayed.

Does the 4cyl have oxygen sensor issues like the accord? I owned the accord of this era and it shook like hell at idle because of catalytic converter/O2 issues.

They were smart then and mindful of pricing for a coupe. The 1995 Legend coupe was around $45K fully loaded. At that price Honda lost too many buyers so they made this model less car for way less money. These never had a cult following like the Legend so nearly all of them have been destroyed and junked. But I am sure there is someone out there with one that is flawless.

I feel that this was basically an Accord in a tuxedo (Same engine as the Accord EX). I'd rather have the Accord of the time and I think the Accord looked better.

Cl type S is a cool car also

Never see these cars anymore

0:35, what Chrysler was considered competition? It couldn’t of been the Sebring…

Interesting in 97 a premium sound system its 6 speakers 80 watts with in dash CD player.

Do the 2007 TL Type S

We want to test drive Ford Crown Victoria LX Sport 2004 and Mercury Marauder 2004 Super Charge and normal version

These were the best looking CLs of all the generations. Small, sleek and nimble. The rear design was very cool and unique. Like nothing else on the road at the time. Very cozy cabin. After this gen the CL got bigger and bloated. It lost any uniqueness about it. Looked like every other car.

Exploding One

My best friends dad got ine new when we were kids. I figure now that it was his mid life crisis car. And at the time we lived about 5 miles from motorweek hq lol.

I always thought these were just prettied up Accords! I never seen anything special about them. The early Acuras always seemed cheap looking.

I havent seen one of these in 15 years. They did not hold up well at all. And thats sad for Acura.

These were nice cars, but there wasn't much reason to buy a base CL over a loaded Accord coupe. They cost more without actually offering anything more than different styling. Even with the styling changes, it was recognizable as an Accord in drag. As a result, they sold poorly. They really should have made the V6 standard to entice people to spend the extra money to step up to an Acura product. The automatic transmission in these cars was not too good from what I've heard over the years. It might explain why I haven't seen one on the road in probably 20yrs.

These CL coupes used to be quite common in my area. Unfortunately they were usually just autotragics. The v6 came autotragic only anyways. They did look nice though. The 98 Accord Coupe was more striking and sporty.. which made the CL seem expensive and boring by comparison imo.

Good cars, weak automatic transmissions.

BMW and *even* Chrysler you say? 😂

This car was not bad, it just wasn't good. Far too close to the Honda on which its based.

I much prefer the Legend Coupe. These things look iffy. Rather have the Accord coupe in this era.

Coupe Coup

The fact the Acura never made a proper RWD sedan/coupe chassis aside from the NSX, is the reason, they never a proper luxury brand, just near luxury as all their cars are based off Honda FWD chassis

Looks like Honda was allmost as lazy as Lincoln in Gussy-ing up their cars with this one. Suprised this was not mentioned in the review but given the time constraint I appreciate them sticking to the important facts.

A bit difficult hearing John over that Tom Petty wannabe guitar...

Looking back now, I use to think these Acura CL were nice cars which I could not afford to buy BUT now I think these cars from Acura are complete failures. They essentially took a Honda Accord coupe added bunch of more electronics and gave up on styling then added a chrome grilles. This was the turning point Acura started to go downhill. Acuras best cars were briefly made with their 1st and 2nd generation Intrgra, RSX and 1st generation NSX. Everything else from this brand pretty much a rebadged chrome grille Hondas. I don’t think this brand will survive another 5 years. Hondas needs to bring back all their products back to Japan and retool for better quality, styling and manufacturing. There are only 4 line up with Acuras nowadays, even Subaru have more line up and better styling and quality. They say never meet your heroes and this is one of them.

These are susceptible to the theft spec era of Honda.

Gen 2 was FAR better looking and performing. Especially once the TypeS got a 6 speed

i wish i knew why acura-anything never ever not ever appealed to me. they seemed like THEE BLANDEST cars. Now MOST cars are bland and indistinguishable.

These never really made sense they were like the same price as the Accord coupe they just competed. The profile was also odd with that high roof and low tail and front definitely Acuras worst ever design and look at that interior....

145 HP? Lol. My mom's '88 Taurus had 140 HP.

Slower than a base Dodge Neon of the same year. Not exactly the brightest moment for Acura.

I hated these designs.. .it was so repulsive 😊

it did not win at all

Not even remotely as nice as the original Legend coupe. Bland.

Made in America? As if that is a good thing...... smh

Also first comment haha

Acura was and will always be the "Wannabe" Luxury brand... They relied on consumers getting fooled into buying an Accord with an "A" badge and better sound system. Still do it today with the Integra... Back this time Honda America Excecs wanted a dedicated Acura RWD based platform and V8 series of engines... only to have Honda Japan Execs destroy that approach due their penny pinching cheap business mindsets... While Lexus went RWD and V8's a long time ago... And even today Genesis now RWD and V8s further marking their differentiation to the mother brand Hyundai.... If Honda did this can only imagine how much better prestiege Acura brand would have... unfortunatly it will remain as the forever wannabe luxury brand, when in fact its nothing but a hyped up FWD Honda