An Early Honda Project Collection from Manchester Honda—CLOSING TODAY! You Should Know

This collection of diminutive early Hondas comes to us from @ManchesterHonda in Connecticut, who trace their roots back to 1964 when founder John Larabee opened the dealership to sell Honda’s only imports at the time: motorcycles.

It took a decade for American Honda to move from two wheels to four in the US in 1969—and Manchester Honda was there for it. They’ve brought us four of Honda’s earliest four-wheeled vehicles, all of which have been owned by the dealership or the Larabee family since at least the 1980s. Nicknamed the “Core Four,” these four Hondas were the first in the family’s collection of over forty classic Honda cars and motorcycles. The cars have been on display in the dealership’s showroom off and on for over 40 years, and are being sold as projects. But don’t let that stop you, as this is about as good a one-stop shop for a burgeoning Honda collection as you’re likely to find.

The earliest car on offer is this S600 coupe from 1966, which was also the dealership’s most recent acquisition in 1983. The car’s 606cc DOHC inline-four should prove suitably revvy once gotten running, and is linked to the rear wheels via a dual chain drive. About 1,800 coupes were made over a three-year span, and this example is accompanied by a parts car.

In 1967, Honda shifted from the S600 to the S800, which was also available in coupe or convertible form. We’ve got the latter here in yellow. It’s a Japanese-market model that was brought stateside around 1972 by Mr. Larabee, who had discovered it while on business in Japan. The car became his daily driver and underwent a left-hand-drive conversion in the mid-1970s. Showroom display duty came calling in the early ’80s, and the 791cc engine does not currently run.

The N600 was the first four-wheeled vehicle officially exported by Honda to the US, where it was initially marketed as the 600 Sedan for the 1970 model year. The 600 was a variant of Honda’s N360, but with a larger air-cooled 598cc SOHC parallel-twin to help it keep pace on US roadways. This 1972 model was purchased by Larabee in 1977 and has largely been on display since, covering around 50 miles in the last 30 years. It also comes with a parts car.

Honda’s Z car, known as the Z600 in the US to reflect its engine’s 598cc displacement, thus broke the bounds of the 354cc kei class designation of its home market. Available in the US only for 1971 and 1972, this was the model that walked so that the Civic could run starting in 1973. This orange “scuba mask” coupe was purchased for showroom display in 1981.

The cars in the collection are listed below. Links to the live auctions will be added as they become available.

1966 Honda S600 Coupe Project w/ Parts Car
LHD-Converted 1967 Honda S800 Roadster Project
1972 Honda N600 4-Speed Project w/ Parts Car
1972 Honda Z600 4-Speed Project