Tested! 1989 Honda Accord Aerodeck - Beautifully Engineered GT 

Glad you liked it! I bought new wiper blades especially... My thoughts are very similar as its owner and regular driver - it’s a very accomplished package with many beautifully engineered touches, a couple of which I learned about from this video. Only the busy ride lets the side down: Honda were notoriously a bit rubbish at ride quality in that era. I’ll let you know if I sell it - but don’t hold your breath 😁

One of personal favorites. When they were new I couldn't afford them and now I can't find a decent one... Great story btw!

Old Japanese cars always amaze me with the amount of standard kit they had for the time and the fact it still works as well. Good review Ian although I don't think much of your parking.

Old Hondas have an indescribable charm. I'm glad they exist.

Japanese Honda Quality!!!! Even at 30 odd years of age still working perfectly!!!!

I love it! (How many people just did an ebay search for one?!)

My grandfather was an RAF pilot (Vulcan Bomber), and on retiring bought himself one of these (instead of a British model). I remember thinking how cool this car was when he picked me up from school in the late 80s. I see now it's where my love of shooting brakes began. Brings back found memories seeing all the attention to detail in the car, I spent many a happy moment sitting in the back, cruising around the country lanes of Rutland. They always had the dash storage full of mints, and he wore white leather gloves as he drove (a hang up from his time in the airforce). Thanks for the video!

truly the best from golden age of japanese motoring. I really wanted one

There aren't enough cars like it today. Perfectly light easy, comfortable and relaxing when you want it to be, but if you want to push on then it has that certain something that is so endearing.

When I was a mechanic, I called Honda's up to the mid-90's the Japanese BMW coz of the great engineering that went into them - and also coz parts used to cost much more than other Japanese makes. Good to see the sun out in Wales - the past few episodes it's been like an English summer!

Not even a mention of the deep, purpose built tea shelf on the top of the dashboard: ample room for cucumber sandwiches, some chocolate cake and a couple of cups of Earl Grey.

Great car. To give it perspective this is about 2 years after we were seeing adverts in magazines for the Fiat Super Mirafiori Twin Cam.

Love the Aerodeck. At the time you didn't think about it but it was bonkers and would never happen these days. A 3-dr estate car with pop up lights! Just love it!

Loved my Aerodeck, but chopped it in for an estate which could carry my assorted canoes and bikes. Wish I had another for sure.

Have a '14 Accord, much different of course, but still a great car. Fast, great mpg, almost 40mpg, sometimes over 40. Nothing ever fails or breaks.

I had a 1989 which I bought when it was about 10 years old. I bought it to compliment a 2.3 Manual 4 wheel steer Prelude, as sometimes you need back seats! (I was a Honda nut back then). Lovely car, sunk a load of cash into restoring it. Lowered, slightly and tastefully :-), the suspension on a German aftermarket kit, alloy wheels, full respray after it was damaged in London. Mine was the twin carb, there was a higher spec fuel-injected model as well. Drove mine from 68K to over 120K regular long-distance Yorkshire to London trips. Never missed a beat. Sold it to buy a motorbike, but will always be a favourite. The Service Manager at the Honda Dealer where it was restored bought it.

That is a great looking car! First thing I thought when I saw it was it looks like an updated Austin Allego estate! I had an '82 Accord three door, which I bought with 217k miles on it, and it was still almost like a new car. The lady owner said , "before you drive it, just know I won't take a dime less than I'm asking." I came right back and handed over all the money. They are amazing.

I had a silver Aerodeck ex like that back in the late 90's. Its one of the few cars I really wish I had never sold & one of my favorite cars of all time. Being a multiple Scimitar GTE owner I liked the styling of the Aerodeck as it does have hints of GTE styling about it. In the 6 years I owned the aerodeck other than regular servicing it needed nothing a properly engineered Honda.

One of the best engineered and reliable cars ever made!

What a wonderful review. Only a late 80s Honda would be called aerodeck rather than estate. Brilliant.

I had an Accord saloon of the same era with the standard front end. It was a 1.8EX, so well put together, supremely comfortable and reliable. We drove all over the UK to gigs and football matches in it and it never once let me down. The only thing I didn't like about it was it was soulless and without charm or quirks.

Absolutely love Honda of this era. Had a gen 1 Integra a few years back that I very much regret selling. Currently fettling a 3rd gen Prelude which shares a lot of cues with this car. Great stuff.

Always liked these, they could be had with a cool digital dash in Japan. Thats actually a Philips stereo you com often get the code using the serial number.

Sold a red one 3 years ago, one of my biggest regrets,

I'm picking up an 88 model tomorrow. 5 speed manual fuel infected, with a sunroof. Buying it from an elderly lady who was gifted it by an ex boyfriend about 30 after they had broken up because he promised it to her. but now she is too old to drive it. I met her when I saw it parked outside and starting chatting. When I asked to buy it she wasn't looking too sell but took my details down and about a month later called me up to give me first dibs. Safe to say I'm ecstatic

Ran a 1987 saloon (2.0 exi) in the mid 90's. Fabulous car. They all had colour themed interiors too. Blue, green and brown I think. Interestingly I've since run a 1991 series IV Aerodeck for the last 22years (one previous owner) which is also a fabulous vehicle. 16v engine with twin balancer shafts, one piece dash to reduce rattles, double skinned honeycombe floor and it still has double wish bone suspension. A more refined grown up version of the series iii really. Still my daily car (now used for my business) and on 213000 miles. Been incredibly reliable too. Come and have a look if ever you are in Staffordshire.

I had a saloon accord of this age and I think it's 3rd on my list of favourite cars I've owned.

If the stereo is the original item the car was sold with, then, if you pull the stereo out of its' mounting using U-pins, the radio code should be on a sticker somewhere on the casing, exactly the same as the Phillips units used in Vauxhalls of the same period. If the unit is a dealer fit replacement item, however, it may well not have that sticker. I had exactly the same issue of no radio code when I bought a very cheap Aerodeck EXi back in the early 2000s as the car had seen little use for several months and had suffered repeated flat batteries, but pulling out the stereo revealed the sticker with the code on it and the sounds were restored, and worked perfectly. They also sounded superb. Something to look out for, on these, particularly in auto form, is tired engine mounts. If the engine mounts are bad, the engine can move around so much that it will actually snap the mounting for the torque reaction bar at the top of the engine right off the cylinder head, which is what had happened to mine. The mounting point is an integral cast part of the cylinder head, so the only options are a replacement cylinder head or taking the head to a specialist welder to be welded back into place. Sadly, at the time I had mine, and the overall condition of it meant that neither option was financially viable, the car was in heavily patinated condition and had lost pretty much all the lacquer off the silver paint, which earned it the nickname of 'The Battleship Honda' from my colleagues at the time as it really did look like it was painted Royal Navy warship grey, but the car was an absolute delight to drive. The 4-speed automatic gearbox with lock-up torque converter worked beautifully and shifted seamlessly, all the electronic toys worked faultlessly, the cruise control made long motorway trips about as stressful as being in bed and similarly comfortable as the seats were just fantastic, and the original, 1986 factory air conditioning, still in original R12 format, worked so well and could pull the interior temperature down so far that the moisture in the air outside of the car would condense on the outside of the glass. Once the MoT on the car expired, and it wasn't really worth repairing it with the engine issue, it would be easy to say that it went to the great big scrap yard in the sky, but it actually didn't. During my work driving vans and trucks for various people, I had made friends with a gentleman on Hayling Island who was the manager at a company I regularly delivered to and had a silver Aerodeck EX manual that he had bought brand new. When mine reached the end of the road, I sold it to him for parts, as they weren't easy to get parts for even then, and he gave me more than I'd originally paid for the car. An awful lot of parts from my car made it on to his, including the air conditioning system, now converted to R134a, the cruise control and even the factory electric sunroof, a big conversion on a non-sunroof car. The shell of my car, now fitted with the solid roof from his, then became a grass track racer. Apparently old Hondas really don't die... It is worth rather pointing out that the Aerodeck is probably more closely related to the Prelude of the time, in body shell terms, though it did use parts from both the Prelude and the Accord saloon, as my friend discovered when he found an immaculate, low mileage but rear end damaged Prelude 2.0i-16 (the hot Prelude of that era) in a local breakers yard. The engine and gearbox from that dropped straight into his Aerodeck, creating a car Honda looked at but never built. It also provided a stack of front end spares too... If my memory serves me right, the bright red cars with the three-spoke alloys that were around in numbers in Birmingham were company cars for a company that had close links with the Marlboro McLaren Honda F1 team...

Like the pop up headlamp operation which for 31 yr old car is amazing. Good Honda engineering

I had a 1996 civic 1.6 VTI wonderful car, the engine was a beauty ,economical around town mid to late 40s on a run if you could keep your right foot under control because between 6 and 8 thousand revs this thing would go like the proverbial muck off a shovel at those revs not a lot could stay with it cause they were busy changing gear. Sold it at 150.000 odd miles, inundated with phone calls for two days. Then i bought a 2 ltr 2005 Seat Leon for the increased milage I was going to do. I SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE BLOODY HONDA.

Oh yes!!! I always liked these - great to se a road test with it. Here in Sweden they were kind of the only competior to the equally marvelous Volvo 480 - now both models are just as rare. I can´t remember when I saw a Aerodeck last time, but I doubt it was in the 21th century.

Nice car and review! I drove an ‘89 Accord sedan for more than 12 yr and 300k km. Still one of my favorite cars.

Honda Engineering is something incredible now and again ♥️

My parents had a 1989 2.0 EXi 4walb saloon in burgundy for around ten years. Had air con which was ICE cold and the same lovely velour seats. Would love to own an Aerodeck like this - pure nostalgia. Ultra rare is the 16v saloon with the Prelude’s 150hp engine.

OH WOW!!! This is my favourite HUBNUT video yet!!!! A real piece of nostalgia for me! My father used to own a bright red one D744NGH. I used to love going for rides in it and I remember being in tears when I came home to find he’d sold it for a newer accord...the sound of that engine literally gave me goose bumps. What a treat on this Saturday!

The third and fourth gen Civic were both vaugely this shape, so the Aerodeck was part of a 'family' of cars like this. The Civic held the fuel economy record for a long while, as someone managed 114 mpg in one. Seriously fine engineering made that possible.

LOVE these Aerodecks. Same with Prelude with pop ups - Flick the pop up switch fast and the lights get out of sync. . And the steering. I always remember that these had feather light steering!!

Wow!!! This takes me WAAAY back to my teenage years. My mother had the EXACT same kind of car (with a darker shade of Blue 🔵). I don't remember it having power windows, and it definitely didn't have AC which made driving it in the SWELTERING heat of Dar es salaam a real pain. When I got my driver's license, this is the first car I drove all by myself. Looking at it, listening to the engine note and hearing your description of the steering feel brings back great memories. It seemed to be a very powerful little car with lots of speed (especially on our roads). I went off to college and my parents sold it. I was LIVID when I found out. Really loved the Honda and still miss it to this day. Thanks for sharing! 👊😎

I'd forgotten about these. Great to see one again and i love all the little touches like the tailgate that incorporates some roof and the clever parcel shelf.

wow great video, i have just bought the exact same one last week, immaculate, only driven it to the shops and back, gonna have a nice long drive in it this weekend

EPIC..those beautiful Headlamps.. Had a few. Integras too, all reliable and EPIC.

I traded a 2001 Passat wagon, auto with the 1.8T, for a 1987 Accord hatch, 5-speed, this winter. Best trade I've ever made, and quite possibly the best car I've ever had. There's just something so perfect about these late 80's Hondas. They really had it figured out. I wish they would have imported the Aerodeck to the US, but I'm plenty happy with the massive hatch on mine.

Thanks for this one, Ian. I came across one of these in a car book in my youth and was instantly smitten. At the time I owned an ‘87 Accord DX 4 dr. 5 spd. In the USA we only got the 4 dr. And 3 dr. Hatch in DX (manual everything, black bumpers), LX (electric windows, locks and mirrors, cruise control,nicer velour upholstery, painted bumpers) and LX-i ( LX + fuel injection plus sunroof and alloy wheels on 4 dr. Sedans.) all had the pop up headlights. Great cars. Not many left.

One of the greatest designs of all time! So beautiful! I've always lusted after these!

Beautiful. I've owned two of them, a C plate that was the injection manual alb, then an E plate carb manual. They always put a smile on my face whenever I drove or even just looked at it on my drive. So many happy memories 😀

Great stuff, Ian! One of the benefits of hinging the tailgate like that is that it opens without needing a whole lot of space behind. Great for tight places! Hatches naturally do this due to the roofline. The last generation of Holden Commodore wagon (VE and VF series) had the same concept.

My mother had one, silver and I think it was badged an ES. Possibly my favourite car ever. Auto, 2.0 litre, quick for the time, reliable, had a sunroof, lovely to drive. Always a treat to borrow it and got to drive it to North Wales and back.

Thanks for that great review I owned one many decades ago after owning a cavalier SRI before I was amazed by the superior quality driving handling and standard equipment only sold it because of new addition to family, wish I still had it. Keep up your great reviews Ian

Thank you for another great video Ian. A real blast from the past.

These were great cars. Totally unique. The worked at a Honda dealer from 1990 so just as these were replaced by the much more sensible 1990 Accord whose estate model used the Aerodeck name too. There’s one like this about a mile from me that’s sadly rotting away on a driveway. Great review again. Just seeing that engine brought the memories flooding back 👍🏼

Bill Treacher the EastEnders actor said this was his ultimate car in an interview

What a smashing video, thanks Ian..... reminds me of the volvo 480ES from the 80's. If i were you id ask your friend for first refusal if he sells it, as it will be a future classic.

God I miss my '95 Accord. Such an accomplished automobile

70s and 80s Hondas are just great. I owned 2 Accords from 83 and a lovely mk 2 prelude twin carb.. I miss them all .I'd love an Aerodeck

Never knew these existed. It looks like a jazzed up civic, doesn't look big enough to be an accord. You've got to love JDM cars from 80s/90s. They also did an Aerodeck Soarer very cool. I have a Toyota Crown Athlete VX if you ever want a go? Absolutely love it

"I shall open the door, partly to ventilate the interior and partly for access." Spoken like a true English nerd x

Very nice car when Honda was indeed at their pinnacle for the cars they built. Would love to have an injection manual. As for the crashy ride, in my experience every car has a crashy ride when driven on the poor roads in the UK 😉😂 Here in the Netherlands it would be fine

Brilliant video Ian yet another piece of classic motoring beautiful car

Ooh, I got the Notification at only 7 minutes and 180 views. I’ve never before gotten to be such a early adopter. As always, love your work, mate.

My lecturer at college had a brand new white one of these, it seemed very special at the time, love it

Amazing how well engineered and screwed together these cars were. To think the Montego was released about the same time and the level of engineering was streets ahead of the British car industry; and that's probably a good thing and Honda then had lots of input into the later rover and showed that European manufacturers had to up their game

Awesome design. They were never sent to America. Saw it first time in my life. What a beauty. Appreciated.

In Australia Honda sold the saloon and hatchback. We had the sedan. It was a terrific car. With the pop up lights it was christened “Agro” It had over 400000 kms on it when it was written off in a car park.

I've always liked these. A childhood friend of mine, Grant Bolton who is also a HN fan has one and also his family had one in the late 80s and I loved it and still do along with Civics and a 505 wagon (other cars I'm fond of). Mid 80s to mid 90s were definitely Honda's golden years.

Here in Norway, working at a Honda dealership, we only saw the pop up headlights. One of the coolest Honda ever made imo. There is a master code for the radio. I do not remember it but you might get it from an old dealership.

Thanks Ian, another great video, from a past Accord (s) owner.......

Brilliant video! I had one of these brand new back in the day in the exact same colour and spec. It was a fantastic car. Had it for 10yrs and sold it with 210k on the clock. My friend who bought it drove it for at least another 100k. One of the best cars I have ever owned. 👍

My most favourite car that I have owned ever. And bought kinda by accident. I am so jealous that you've had a go.

Old Hondas are so lovable. My first experience with one was this era of Accord, but the saloon (it was about 5 years old at the time). It was white, with blue velour interior. An older secondary school mate's dad owned it, and when my mate started to drive, we had many road trips in it. I had experiences with many other cars back then, but the Accord stands out even to this day. Fast forward to today, I have a 94 EG8 Civic EX, highly spec'ed but with the 1.5 single carb engine (only available choice in my country when they were sold new), and I love to drive it! Like this Accord, it has an automatic choke, and it pulls cleanly. The ride is less frantic thanks to a longer wheelbase (this gen of Civic was larger than that gen of Accord)... I won't call it supple, but it definitely beats just about every modern era car of similar ilk. New cars are all so stiffy sprung... it's annoying. My initiation into Honda ownership began in 2016 when I bought a new Fit RS. I was so impressed with the reliability and quality, I pulled the trigger in 2018 when the Civic came up for sale by it's single original owner from new.... the car itself being all original as well, even the Honda radio, which works. I like it so much in fact, I sold on the Fit just last week, and now the Civic is my daily ("daily" is relative though, since I work from home now... because, pandemic). While I no longer have push button start, or bluetooth (that'll soon change however... period correct looking, illumination colour matched new head unit coming), I can't say I miss the Fit... the ac in the Civic works better than the Fit's, which is welcomed because I live in the tropics, and for cool evening drives, the expansive greenhouse and sunroof means lots of fresh air. I don't see myself buying another car any time soon, unless perhaps another 80s or 90s Honda :-D

The engineering and styling of 1980's Honda's was brilliant. They were making some fantastic innovative cars in those days - where did it all go wrong??

What a great video Ian. I soooooo love you and your channel. Pete 🇬🇧

I had a rover 213 se 1988 model with Honda engine and auto box.....lovely smooth transmission.

That is a lovely looking car, I never really noticed them when they were new but seeing it now and being of a certain age I wouldn't mind one myself. My P10 Primera had those push button heater controls but the later models went over to the twisty knob arrangement.

I so wanted one of these back in the day

I remember seeing these as a kid and thinking they were stylish. Also pop up headlights are always good!

You had me hooked with the pop up headlights - mmm luxury! 😃

Nice to see one again. I owned an EXI version which I loved and was probably the best built car I have ever owned. More of a GT than a sports car as the handling wasn't exceptional, but still a joy to drive.

I remember these growing up as a young froglet, as a few of my friends' parents had them. I always thought they felt a bit special and quirky in comparison to other cars of the era. Those headlights are still so quick and smooth for something made the year I left school.

Cool! I saw one of these at a show, local to me, a couple of summers ago. It really made an impression, and that was without knowledge of its many interesting features. It seems like a very likeable package.

Not sure if you planned it this way but this light, practical, comfortable and superb handling coupe/estate was a the perfect antidote to all the SUVs that comprised your oncoming traffic. Thank God to see a Great Wall Steed, VW Amarok and a lovely little Kia Picanto. Apparently not everyone is falling for this manufacturers' nonsense that the earth will potentially swallow us up if we don't drive an SUV to make sure that fourth bag of shopping fits in the foot waggle opening cargo area. It's a boot, really, just like your last hatchback, folks.

Thanks for covering the Aerodeck Ian! I had a blue F-reg EXI back in the 90s but had to sell it when I moved to the States. Of all the multitude of more powerful, more expensive and better equipped cars I have had since, the Aerodeck is still my favourite. The only other car that came close to it for styling was the gutless and reliability challenged Volvo 480.

Sorry, but I could not watch the headlight demonstration. My computer showed me a notification at 17:43 which read _''unable to view content: your browser has blocked pop ups''._

Remember seeing these about from my childhood. Always thought it looked cool with a very cool name. Still looks very modern today

Always wanted one of these and couldn't find one even when they were popular back then. This is when Honda did things bang on, dead right. I did have a couple of preludes (one an 86and another 92) and 3 accords over the years (starting with the same shape as this, dead comfy, quick and frugal) Nearest to one of these of late was the volvo c30, or the 480 es before it. A major score Ian, and some find memories of my old school Hondas! They need to bring these back I think, they'd sell better than the civic.

I spotted one in France 10 years ago, and I was amazed. Honda car were unheard in Spain at that time, safe for Canary Island, due to import limitations

I remember seeing these generation of Honda's as a school boy in the late 1980s(including the civic of this time). I thought they looked very futuristic and a little sci-fi for that time. The same thing with the more modern Swindon Civicx of recent years.

I had a 2.0i manual for a while. Absolute gem of an engine! Smooth at lower revs and punchy at mid to high revs. As I remember, both road noise (Belgian roads...) and engine noise were quite pronounced. In the end it was the amount of rust that made me decide to sell it. A short but worthwhile adventure! (Today I drive a 2006 Accord ;))

I remember repairing one of these in 1990, top of range one, fitted complete front end including legs to bulkhead and inner wings, full side inner and outer panels, rear panel, all insurance claim, luvly car when completed and never came back with any faults.

Honda quality and thoughtful engineering at its best and no big screen to go through 15 menus to turn the heating up or down.

Looks ahead of its time..now

Thanks for yet another excellent video, and great sound on this one also :-)

I'd forgotten about these cars, although back in the day I can remember how unique they looked.

My mom had a 1988 USDM Accord LXi saloon that had the pop up headlamps and the 2 litre 12 valve 4 cylinder with Programmed Fuel Injection

Hooray... Hubnut video inbound! 👍🏻

Reminds me a lot of the Volvo 480

My father had one in the late 80s, kids who saw it would gesture for him to pop the lights up and down, they went nuts when he did. I think I remember the ventilation switches making a noise and getting in trouble for flicking all the buttons to hear them working.

They where posh old ladys cars in our village, untill i drove one. A car well ahead of its time. A nice easy drive " point and press". These would make an excellent daily and prices climbing for a good one. Very Honda indeed.

Most convincing wheel trims that looked like alloys!

This is my favorite bodystyle of the 3rd generation Accord and I wished it was sold in the States

My Old man had an F plate EXi. Fuel injection, Cruise control and maybe ABS. Died in about 1997. cracking car, sadly died after being driven into a post.