Thanks for the reminder of the first car I ever really liked! I had a 78 5sp hatchback, oxidized red that looked great with a fresh coat of wax. So wish I had a photo. My Accord served me faithfully without hesitation until I got accordioned between two cars at high speed. Everything in my Accord was broken, even the dashboard and my seatbelt. It was beyond totalled. I stepped out with only a hickey across my collarbone from the seatbelt. The woman who rearended me in a Chevy was hurt pretty badly, cut up and bleeding, unconscious. I was able to get to a nearby house to get out a 911 call and a bag of ice for her (I think she ended up fine). So the Accord absorbed the impact, protected me so I could look after someone else. Only fond memories for that great car....
Had new '81 Honda Accord 4 door with Air Conditioning and am & fm Cass radio. It was a fantastic car. Cost 10K new. My first car ever to cost that amount. Mine was 5 speed if I recall. Thumbs up 👍 with memories
I bought the basic '81 Accord for my wife when she got out of engineering grad school. I think I paid $6500 or so, plus fees/tax. It was okay. Manual transmission died at about 100k miles (got it overhauled), had "honda disease" (too thin paint, thinning in spots down to metal). Got rid of it when I got rid of her.
In high school 25 years ago I had a 1979 Honda Accord CVCC 5 spd. as well as a 1977 Honda Accord 2 speed Automatic. I just bought an 81' Silver 5 speed all original Honda Accord LX Hatchback. Surprisingly everything works and it drives nicely! I only paid $600 bucks for it and it has zero rust! Just needs a refresh on the paint. I have been searching for one for years and I finally found one :)
I really enjoy your vlogs! You never know what you might see! The Honda CVCC engines ran extremely clean most of the time. CVCC stand for Controlled Vortex Combustion Chamber. The '3 barrel carb was one of the key parts of the system. The tiny throat was the auxiliary that feed the pre-combustion chamber (about 6:1 fuel/air mixture) that had the spark plug in it. The primary throat of the carb went to the main combustion chamber (at about 20:1 fuel/air ratio). The pre-chamber acts like a torch to light off the main chamber. Needless to say valve adjustment was critical.
I had an 81 hatchback with a 5-speed- my first new car after college. I drove it for 165K miles, which was a lot in those days. I remember to this day how every mile was an absolute thrill. Up until the accord arrived, you had small cars that felt like go carts, or large cars with steering that felt more like using reins to turn a horse. The first generation accord was the car that transformed an industry. What was good enough before would never be considered acceptable again. For 165k mi I would sit in a seat that fit me to perfection, enjoy a commanding view of the road that was very striking at the time, enjoy the feel of the gear shift& the light touch of the clutch and oh my God, the steering! I’ve bought quite a number of cars since then and as cars continue to evolve, most were technically superior to an 81 accord. None, however, have ever made me feel as connected to the road as the 81 accord did.
I miss my '80 Accord sedan. These small cars came standard with features ( remote trunk release, cloth interior, remote controlled mirror) that were only seen on bigger cars at the time. Honda made other small cars step up their game.
When was the last time I saw a 1981 Honda Accord? Well just about two weeks ago, actually. After seeing this car's Oregon license plate, it may have been this very car!
Had one myself, was a surprisingly quick and very nimble car. It handled quite well for a pre-hot hatch era. The only prob with them was they had a bad down exh tube design. They would distort from exh heat and leak exh gases. You would have to replace the down tube too often. Other than that I had a blast with mine.
A friend of mine had one, I always wanted one, I remember that clock, one of the reasons I wanted one, also liked the interiors, there was a green interior believe it or not, it was cool.
My first car was a 1974 Accord hatchback. 5 speed 4 cylinder transverse motor getting 32mpg. Watch the instrument cluster. It has door open and burned out lights indicator. The maintenance indicator was my favorite thing. This car will run forever if you stick with maintenance. Mine was traded for a new Honda CRX by my brother. Also, the engine was in shot. It handled great.
my first car, a 1978 honda accord cvcc coupe. I paid $700 for it used and it was destined for scrap the day I bought it. burned oil so bad it looked like our house was on fire...but, I loved it! first gen accord's have so much character and the round headlights sold me. one quirky feature was the 'hondamatic' 2 speed. my car didn't have drive, just 1, and 2. no one understood why I put it in 1 and shifted up to 2 but, that's how it was intended. fun little car
TheNewGranada The way you used the transmission was the correct way as there was no kick down mechanism. Most folks just left them in 2 or "star" range in some markets which was equal to fourth gear in a manual. Imagine starting off in 4th in a manual. Leaving it in star was an effective, quick way to fuck the transmission.
And here I thought my 2001 Honda Accord EX 2 door coupe was old. It's easy to recognize my car by the shape of the rear break/tail lights. I honestly like how they look on my car
I loved mine, but a kid on his first solo outing was playing with the.radio instead of watching for red lights and totaled it out. Great car and a lot of fun to drive.
I just miss when they had real base model cars. Even into the 2000’s I could get a basic Civic or even Accord without power windows and other options for a great price. You need a Nissan or Chevy for that kind of car Now.
80s is when cars began having computers but computers in a different sense, like regulating air to fuel ratio and things like that, not a dumb infotainment system in the center console
I have one i drive only to the 711 or market ..its a 1980 accord mines ...california owned and still runs beautiful...rebuilt every 5 years ...love its handling...
My dad purchased one brand new back in 81 for $7800, he was stationed in Florida back then and in the summer months it was hot, too hot in fact that the AC had a difficult time keeping it cool during the day. He had a 5 speed, great running car, but he got into an accident on the Delmarva Peninsula two years later and it was gone. That radio is an cheap after market AudioVox, I imagine parts are still easily available too and at one point in time the owner was in the US Military, that is a US Military base access registration sticker, that had to have been a long time because the US closed out of it's facilities in the San Fran area years ago.
I had this car, sold it for super cheap. It was my moms and I inherited it after she passed away. It was a four speed manual. Same interior. It had a problem which i'm pretty sure was just an issue with the choke not operating correctly. Somebody got it for a hell of a deal. Wish youtube was around back then lol
Had a 1978 four door with 5-speed gearbox. Was the best car ever I had and miss it a lot. Very reliable, very economical (below 7 liters/ 100 km) and more powerful than the average of its time. With 80 HP and 900 kg it still would be quick. Engine was very good, you could drive at 50 I'm/h in 5th gear or rev it up like hell. Miss my Honda!
My step dad had one, I think his was a 78. He ran it into the ground, though the original engine was replaced at just past 100K miles (smoked like crazy) and then the replacement motor cracked its head at around 90K. Used to see these all over the place, pretty neat to see one today, even if I still think they are ugly lol
These are real Hondas. I’m not a big fan of automatics, but this is a classic. This definitely better than a new Honda. Even though it’s automatic, still not an idiot’s car. Hondas back then were conservative, modest, and non-aggressive, unlike today’s Hondas which are loved by a different, idiotic type of audience.
My father used to have a 1977 Honda Accord just like the one in this video. It is a junkyard because the couple he sold it to forgot to put oil in it one cold winter day. Amazing no rust
... the upholstery WAS original ... the Accord LX debuted in 1978 ... I owned one -- I had ordered the basic black Accord in 1977 and waited 10 months for delivery -- I was called by the dealer and was offered an "LX" (brand new model designation and HE was surprised he was getting one in at the time) -- by waiting an extra 2 months I received an intro package deal in the same color scheme as your video (including $800.00+ in accessories = factory a/c, premium Criterion stereo cassette system, overhead roof console and Chastain Shadow exterior rear-window louvred sunblinds -- free) and paid $5,280.00 ... it was my 1st FWD car (I had to learn to adjust my driving style from owning a 1969 VW Type 3 fastback (purchased new for $1,970.00) -- a wholly different weight distribution) ... beautiful, comfortable, luxurious ride -- my son grew up travelling on long summer vacations in it ... I thoroughly enjoyed viewing a very little-changed version of it ....
Our family had 2 during the early to mid 1980s.....a MT and an automatic. Driving around metro Detroit with one was a bit of an experience. A lot of menacing looks for us having a foreign car.
My very first car was a 1981 Honda Accord. Silver exterior and red interior - just like the video. I also had sheepskin seat covers - oh ya!! I loved that car!!
The last time I saw an '81 Accord two door hatchback was when I had one in the early 90's. Same red interior, but mine was red on the outside too. Great car, I miss it. One bad thing about them, though---the oil pump gear on the camshaft would go soft, which meant replacing the camshaft. They also had the CVCC engines, a clever bit of tech from Honda back in '81.
I found out the hard way about the drive gear on the camshaft. Had a '79 Accord with the 1751 CVCC engine. Driving down the highway and suddenly lost all oil pressure. Stopped immediately and had to walk back (didn't have cell phones back in 1990) but it was only a couple miles on a nice fall day. Got it home and pulled the cam cover off to find every tooth on the oil pump drive gear had sheered clean off. No other damage. All of the teeth were neatly piled right under the camshaft. Needless to say, the camshaft was replaced and of course the pan came off and the oil system completely flushed to make good and sure no other metal fragments were in there. Got it back together and drove it for another five years with no further engine issues...other than that finicky 3 barrel carb. Still got 30+ MPG, and would likely have run great for several more years. Sadly, the Wisconsin winter roads (salt) had taken a toll on the body and underside of the car. Sad end to a great car. Thanks for humoring this long reply. Just thought I would share a bit of my experience with the 1979 Accord. Great car, for the most part. Miss it.
Had a 79 hb and a 81 silver 4 door. This video brings back some memories. Those models seemed to have baaad headgasket issues. Both of mine needed them and the 81 had 2 then on the third we got rid of it. Couldn't find a replacement head for it in a timely manner and needed to get to work. I still have the fuel pump for it also, and use it occasionally to transfer fuel.
My Dad bought a new 1979 Accord when I was 9. He loved it! He put 130k on it by 1984 when he sold the 79 to his girlfriend and got a 1984 Accord which was a little bigger and had a little more power. He liked it very much but always said that the 84 was faster but the 79 was the better race car. As far as I know the 79 was burning oil but still running good at 250k and Dad sold 84 at about 180k. They were great cars.
I had a 1981 Honda Accord sedan. The automatic was 3 speed and it had a small level between the seats, beside the emergency brake that would lock both back doors and if the back door were unlocked, a red light came on on the instrument cluster. A great feature if you had young kids. I purchased mine in 1983 and it went to Alaska with me when the military decided I needed to see Fairbanks/NorthPole/EielsonAFB up close. Right before I returned to the lower 48, it blew up the engine but didn't blow a hole in the block. A great car over all!
2002 was the last time I saw one (1.8 LX Hatchback I think it was off the top) Bought it for £100 from a scrapyard owner my brothers knew with a new set of tyres, taxed and tested for 6-months and just 70k on the clock. Ice blue corduroy interior, radio cassette, electric sunroof and little dinky headlight wipers. Took my driving test in it (and passed) 2001 and drove it until it took a few bumps, knocks and prangs and both front and back bumpers were held on with plastic ties. Then one day the actual steering column just came up and jammed when I was turning right on a roundabout. Had it not been intentionally bought cheap as a first car and ragged whilst I got used to being on the road I bet it'd still be going now. Only downside was it was really thirsty, the choke was murder, it froze on the inside and meant having to wrap up like you were headed for the Arctic but what a car.
My wife and I brought one of these new in 81 fully assembled in New Zealand. It was a very pretty girls car and she loved it. The car was San Remo green 1600 cc 5 speed manual. Great handling car but a littie under powered for my liking. The car served my wife well for many years but suffered from the dreaded problem of rust that was common in that era of NZ assembled cars. Eventually gave her (the car) to some young guy as a paddock basher. Goodbye sweet Honda.
l had a '77 silver Accord with graphics on each side, and my mother had an '82, auto, blue inside and out. She traded it in for a Subaru Outback for Colorado. Her Accord sold in about 1 1/2 hours!
The last time I saw one, was when I got rid of mine more than 25 years ago. Same colour - in & out. Mine had more that's share of rust though, amazed this one doesn't. I used duct tape to cover most of it, you couldn't see it until you got up close. It was the only car I've ever owned that I could put the seat all the way back and couldn't reach the pedals. Tons of leg room. Many great memories of that car.
I live in TX and I have not seen one of these in over 30 years. When people would buy these cars over here I remember that they would only keep them for 10 -12 years and then they would sale them.
1995 I saw a brown Honda at Adak, Alaska as military was shutting the base down and one owner left it amongst many many other cars in the island in a junkyard as leaving the island. Coldest was over and base is a skeleton now but I’m sure it’s still there and still run.
We had an EX with Hondamatic, in a dark blue, so were the interiors. Radio was a Blaupunk with Cassette. My father was unsatisfied with the patrol consumption in the city, but I goes this came from always driving in the * gear. He should have driven it like a manual
I learned to drive on a maroon-colored Accord of this vintage. My father bought an automatic because he didn't want me distracted by worrying about clutching/gear shifting. The automatic was crap. It couldn't hold 55mph on I-80 in the canyon. My friend had a 5-speed which was much more capable.
I remember when that car came out in hatchback form, 4door sedan and it had different designations, plus different style rims,the basic ones, ones,that had a mag wheel style , in that it looked somewhat like a star (I believe that was a special edition, together with.different options,paint.
I had an '81 Accord hatch identical to that one in every way. I had it from '99-'00. My seats were nowhere near that plush however. They were probably reupholstered as you had surmised.
Three bbl carbs on these usually expired around 100,000 miles and, back in the day, were really expensive to replace with a new (not reman) carbs. Expensive enough that people usually called in quits on these car and traded them in when they would stall out at redlights and stop signs and fail to restart. If a carb cleaning and an overhaul kit didn’t fix them, then they were junk! Fuel injected Accords came in, I believe, 1983 and were a major improvement for trouble free driving on high mileage Accords. I believe that there are now Weber Redline 2 bbl carb and manifold kits available to replace the 3 bbls.