Bought a sedan in ‘73... used for 150 bucks.....hit on right side.... I’m a body man/painter. I repaired it, but paneled in both quarter windows with sheetmetal from a Pinto hood. Painted the mini “sedan delivery” a nice baby blue. Had 600 bucks in it when finished. Drove it a year.... loved that little car! But, had a friend who wanted so badly, he gave me 1,000 bucks.... a new ‘72 was $1,350. But, they didn’t make them anymore, and it really was an attention getter with the windows paneled in...... wish I still had it! It was the first of 16 Honda’s I would own..... Honda diehard here......
My dad had one of these back in the early 70s. I remember so many times riding with him to work or the movies. Great memories of him and me in that little car. A lifetime ago.
I drove one of these in college and just after until I could afford a upgrade car 1980 to 1985. The correct model name is AZ600 Coupe. The sedan is the AN600. They came in 4 factory colors: Pop Orange, Pal Blue, Caroline Yellow, and Pepo Green. I had the orange one. The 1972 rear bumper was flat compared to the 71 which bulged out. I know way too much about the mechanics of this car since I was fixing it a lot. I notice on yours that it has no factory radio below the air vents and also missing the retractable antenna which would be at the top of the drivers side windshield pillar. That sunroof is so wrong. Rust was a big issue with these especially behind the rear wheels and along the bottom side panels. My passenger side floor was mostly bondo and mesh. These cars were never meant for the highway and would kill them if you took them on a trip cross-country. City only is best. They have a weak oil pump. The crankshaft has connecting rod roller bearings and is not serviceable. If it starts tapping, start looking for another crankshaft before the roller bearings fly out. The timing chain is only good for about 50,000 miles at which time they start jumping teeth but you can roll it back until it jumps again. Honda made a replacement chain that you could snake through the engine by connecting to the cut open old one. Another problem is the idler pulley for the timing chain is rubber and they get brittle and hard with age. If the rubber wears off, it's metal on metal contact. It's a good idea to put a fuel filter just before the carburetor otherwise the little pull out filter inside the inlet to the carburetor would fill up with rust and choke off the fuel. Some stats: 10 inch tires, 33 miles per gallon, people would pick it up and put it on the sidewalk to tick me off. In 1986 the power brake module had a meltdown and I let a towing company take it. My next car was a 1984 Chrysler Laser Turbo. Now I drive a 1987 Toyota Supra Turbo since 24 years. The little Honda AZ600 felt like you're going a lot faster than you were but it was really a death trap were ever in an accident.
I had a regular Honda 600 years ago and it was kind of gutless. I knew a guy that replaced the stock carburetor on his with a Mikuni carburetor and it was like night and day how much more powerful the car became. Unbelievable transformation!
The coupe had a synchromesh transmission vs the non-synchromesh in the sedan. It looked like it shifted very well. I remember the new price was about $1350. The front seat of my Acura RSX costs more than that!
saw quite a few of these growing up, think 1 is still abandoned where it broke down decades ago out old service road that runs parallel to a back road, was still there last time I rode by, plus a local garage had 2 in side lot, stacked on top of each other, not sure still there. but garage is maybe 5 miles from where I work, & the other is maybe 2-3 miles farther away. cool cars overall.
The Honda Z600 was the coolest 'mini car' ever made..that and the original Austin Mini Cooper. I was considering one as my first new car then the original Civic hit the US market and I bought one. The original model Civic had much of the same spirit just more of it. I loved that little car. Now many years later I've gone back to my 'roots' and purchased a Honda Fit..closest I can come to my 1973 Civic it has much of the same feel.
Wow great job! THANKS for the drive...looked like fun. Need to find out the story behind the white? Make it look bigger inside? Fill us in if ya find out?
I saw one back in '03 in a Honda showroom while my sister was buying her new Civic, it was the coolest car there. A bank teller had one these in blue back in the '70s when I was a kid. I'm rethinking what I want to buy for a classic someday.
I own one of these little guys in yellow. Mine is completely unrestored. Driven it around a couple times, though. Got it running well, but the brakes still need work ;) Such a fun project car, so glad I bought it.
Beautiful car! I'd love to have one like that! Matter of fact...I'd take one a lot less nice, just to have one! It's something you rarely ever see! I saw one in person about 35 years ago. That was the last and only time! Such a cool design! I had a 73...think it was the first year for water cooled 4 cylinder engine. I should've kept it! Was a peppy little thing and good on gas too!
YOUR WHOLE STATEMENT CONTRADICTS ITSELF.... U SAW ONE 35 YEARS AGO FOR THE ONLY TIME.... BUT YOU OWNED A 73??? YOU'RE A LYING SACK OF SHIT!!!! WOW!!!! YOU'RE DUMB!!!!
@@xxtravdamanxx people like you are why this world is so fucked up! Did your parents teach you to be an asshole or did you learn it on your own? If you talk to people like that, where I'm from, you'll most likely get you ass beat!
@@xxtravdamanxx looks like you talk that way to others, too. What makes you so fuckin smart? I think your man bun might be a little too tight! Go ask mommy to loosen it for you!
@@akronymus sounds good to me, it is i think he said it was built 1967? Clearly it has had a lot of attention, recon the engine and bodywork, paint job is very very good!!
@@barryphillips7327 On a 4-stroke (not on a Trabant), a 2 cyl has to sound really smooth when idling. Even the oldest ones. If not, either ignition-timing or carburetor tuning isn't ok, or cables or plugs are defect. 2 cyl parallel-twin (or boxer. but not the 'V') design is completely symmetric and should sound perfectly smooth, regardless of age (unless the engine isn't severely damaged, of course).
@@barryphillips7327 You were the construction engineer at Toyota plant? Gratulations. I repaired and fine-tuned a lot of 2-cyl engines from motor-bikes to Fiats or Citroens. If a flat-head V8 sounds like this, it is probably ok, can't do better. A real engine can do better. You want me to explain to you that wolves don't eat grammies?
The early Honda cars are my favourites. This one is really cute and a beauty. I think that the bezels of the headlights are missing, don't they? Hondas were also very reliable and easy to work on them. Nice, self-explaining little engines that were quite powerfull for their sizes.
Nice. There's one in the showroom at the local Honda dealership, but I cant remember what year it is. It does have the black thing around the rear window and it feels like rubber to me, not plastic. Orangee/yellow paint, black upholstery on the seats, doorpanels & headliner are dark gray (it looks like a good combo when you see it). Even has an original window sticker on it, $1440.
I had a friend who had one back around '71 or '72. Can't quite remember. It was an N600 kind of like a Mini. I was surprised it would do 70 mph all day on the highway, and through out quite a lot of heat into the body in the winter. I remember no synchros, and the weird shifter. Some lady t-boned him at an intersection and that was the end of it.
I remember those cars. The rear deck window had a nasty habit of falling out. One fell out right in front of my house while the guy was driving by. Might be worth looking for a spare window
Back in the 70s, one of my classmates drove a yellow Honda 600. It looked so tiny next to the LTDs and Caprices parked around it, we thought we'd prank her. Four of us picked up the car which was really light and turned it sideways in its parking spot. Must have been a head scratcher for her, but we had to get to class and missed the reaction. Looking back it was a little mean, but also a harmless prank. Yeah... I drive a Honda CRV today. That 600 you worked on is a peach.
Very nice little car... It was also imported in Italy together with the N360-N600, but in my country these cars were quota free so small numbers came in. Not related to the little Honda... why is the Le Car on pedestals without wheels?
This model of Honda always reminds me of an episode of CHiPs where Rosie Greer plays an angry motorist that pretty much destroys the little Z600 he's driving because it breaks down on him. Ponch & John show up and both are scared to cite Greer because of his sheer imposing size :-)
Great preservation of history there. A similar Honda Z360 became a Movie star in the Australian hit film Malcolm (1986) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mQauncy81DI.html although you might not like what happened to the car for the movie. Many other RU-vid videos cover the Malcolm film and car so a search will reward those interested in more or even better find the full film. For those too young it may be all new.