Honda S500

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The Honda S500 (type code AS280, product code 504) was Honda's first passenger car . The S stood for Sports car and the number for the cubic capacity in cm³ . This small sports car was presented to the public on October 25, 1962 as the sports car pre-production model Sports500 at the 9th Tokyo Motor Show , alongside the sports car prototype Sports360 and the T360 , Honda's first pickup truck. From August 1963, it was only built as a convertible in the Hamamatsu plant until September 1964.

idea

On June 16, 1963 , Honda placed an advertisement as a quiz in which the Japanese people should guess the purchase price of the S500. 5,735,417 mailings were counted and the most quoted price was 485,000 yen , which Honda set at 459,000 yen in July. The press was able to undertake test drives on Honda's own Arakawa test track in August 1963 .

Sōichirō Honda was personally present on August 29, 1963 when the S500 was first presented to the European public on a Rhine steamer near Koblenz. This red vehicle was a left-hand drive with a black interior and later had a German license plate for advertising purposes. A red car with a beige interior was also shown in the USA and had an American license plate for advertising purposes. The small sports car was only sold in Japan as a right-hand drive from October 1963 to 1964 .

technology

Honda S500 dashboard right hand drive

A water-cooled 531 cm³ engine with 44 HP (32 kW) at 8,000 rpm served as drive. The Sports500 prototype still had 492 cm³ and 40 hp (29 kW) at 8,000 rpm. The mean piston speed at rated speed was 15.46 m / s. This resulted in a high liter output of 88.5 hp / l for a series vehicle at that time . Two overhead camshafts operated the valves via bucket tappets . The crankshaft and the lower connecting rod eye had needle bearings. A separate vacuum-controlled Keihin carburetor was provided for each cylinder, a combined throttle / slide carburetor (type CVB 31-26-1 with 26 mm air funnel or type RP 35-29P-40 with 29 mm air funnel).

Honda S500 engine from left

The power was transmitted via a cardan shaft to a differential to the drive shafts and from there via a chain on the left and right to the rear wheels. The chain cases with an oil bath were supported on the frame as rockers by coil springs with internal telescopic shock absorbers. The car thus had an independent suspension . Honda retained this construction principle for the entire Sports series. Only the later S800 got a rigid axle on four trailing arms and a Panhard rod from May 1966 . The front wheels were guided on wishbones and dampened by shock absorbers , as well as suspended by longitudinal torsion bars that were attached to the frame. The sheet steel body, screwed onto a separate frame , was partly hot-dip galvanized. The deceleration was done by drum brakes at the front and rear . The S500 can be recognized by a buddy glass cover (like the first series of the S600) that extends over the main headlights and the parking light glass, as well as on the front grille.

The S500 in motorsport

The S500, with one of the few left-hand drive vehicles, was also used in racing. The Japanese Nobuo Koka and Giichi Suzuki drove a white S500 convertible / hardtop (No. 58) on the long distance race Spa - Sofia - Liège (Marathon de la Route) in 1963 , over approx. 5,500 km , but dropped out because of an accident in the Near Ljubljana / Yugoslavia with fatal outcome for Giichi Suzuki. He took part in the popular 1959 Tourist Trophy race on the Isle of Man for Honda for the first time in the 125cc class of motorcycles and finished seventh in the race. Another Belgian team, with drivers Henri Quernette and Jean-Pierre Guyette, also with a white S500 convertible / hardtop (No. 78) with the registration number W3070, crossed the finish line after 6 days.

successor

1964 was followed by the S600 -Cabrio and 1965 S600 -coupe that were not sold in Germany.

In 1966 the two versions came with 800 cc engines, thus creating the Honda S800 . At the 1966 Paris Motor Show , Honda presented the S800 to the European public for the first time. It had already been presented and sold in Japan in January 1966. It was exported from October and after the establishment of the dealer network it was also available in Germany from March 21, 1967. The small sports car was offered as a convertible and coupe with an 800 cc engine and 67 hp.

In 1999 , with the introduction of the Roadster S2000 , Honda revived the old sports car tradition. In terms of the name, a close relationship cannot be denied, although from a technical point of view, apart from the speeds, they don't have much in common.

Model overview

Honda's S series
Technical specifications S360 prototype S500 S600 S800
engine In-line four-cylinder four-stroke engine (light metal), water-cooled,
DOHC , 4 Keihin horizontal throttle valve carburettors
Displacement 356 cc (492 cm³) 531 cm³ 606 cc 791 cc
Bore × stroke 49 × 47 mm 54 × 58 mm 54.5 × 65 mm 60 × 70 mm
compression 9.5: 1 9.5: 1 9.5: 1 9.2: 1
power 33 horsepower at 9000 min -1 44 horsepower at 8000 min -1 57 horsepower at 8500 min -1 67.2 hp (49 kW) at 7570 min -1
Max. Torque ( SAE ) 26.5 Nm at 7000 min -1 37.3 Nm at 8000 min -1 51 Nm at 5500 min -1 68.6 Nm at 5800 min -1
Carburetor Solex Mikuni BSW28 KEIHIN CVB 31-26-1 / RP 35-29P-40 KEIHIN CVB 31-26-1 KEIHIN CVB 36N-30-A1 / from 1968 = 1000-338-00
Engine weight ? 118 kg 102 kg 105 kg
body Ladder frame with all-steel body
Front landing gear Independent suspension with wishbone , torsion bar , shock absorber , stabilizer
Rear landing gear Independent wheel suspension with
chain case swing arm and strut 		Rigid axle ,
trailing arm , suspension strut , Panhard rod
Length × width × height (mm) 2990 × 1295 × 1146 3195 × 1295 × 1146 3300 × 1400 × 1200 3335 × 1400 × 1215
Wheelbase (mm) (TAS260 = 1950) 2000 2000 2000 2000
Ground clearance (mm) 160 160 160 160
Standard tires 5.20-12 2PR 5.20-13 5.20-13 4PR 145 or 155 SR13
Turning circle 8.4 m 8.6 m 8.6 m 8.8 m
Empty weight 510 kg 725 kg 720 kg

(730 kg Coupé)

740 kg

(755 kg coupé)

Top speed over 120 km / h over 130 km / h 145 km / h 160 km / h
Acceleration 0-100 km / h approx. 20 s approx. 18 s 13.8 s

(13.9 s Coupé)

13.7 s
Tank capacity 25 liters 25 liters 30 liters 35 liters

(30 liter coupé)

consumption

(Super Plus 98 RON )

5 l / 100 km at 90 km / h 5 l / 100 km at 100 km / h 5.3 l / 100 km at 100 km / h 8 l / 100 km at 110 km / h
Factory price not on sale 459,000 yen

(Japan only)

509,000 yen

(Japan)

7,750 DM

(1967)

Production time 1961-1963 Oct. 1963 – Sept. 1964 March 1964–1966 Jan. 1966 – May 1970
production

(Number of pieces)

12 Cabriolet 1353 13,084 11,523

Production overview table

Honda S600 Cabrio + S800 Coupe in Japan
Honda's S series
S500 convertible S600 convertible S600 coupe S800 convertible S800 coupe Total number of pieces
1963 136 136
1964 1227 3912 5139
1965 7261 1519 11 8th 8799
1966 111 281 1734 539 2665
1967 888 4248 5136
1968 990 2291 3281
1969 147 509 656
1970 15th 143 158
number of pieces 11284 1800 3785 7738
total 1353 13084 11523 25,960

literature

  • Unknown author: HONDA SPORTS , 144 pages, creative boutique Neko, Japan 1978, (Japanese)
  • Jürgen Lewandowski: HONDA AUTOMOBILE , 170 pages, Südwest Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-517-01078-2
  • various authors, e.g. B. Shigeru Miyano: HONDA SPORTS S 360-S800M , 236 pages, MIKI Publishing House, Japan 1990, ISBN 4-89522-141-5 , Japanese
  • various authors: THE PURSUIT of DREAMS , 216 pages, Car Graphic Japan, from 1998, ISBN 4-544-04060-4 , English edition

Web links

Commons : Honda S500  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The pursuit of dreams. Car Grahic Japan, 1998, ISBN 4-544-04060-4 (English edition, p. 33).
  2. ↑ auto, motor and sport. Issue 19/1963, p. 26.
  3. ↑ auto, motor and sport. Issue 19/1964.
  4. ^ Honda automobiles. Südwest Verlag, 1988, ISBN 3-517-01078-2 , partly from pp. 156 + 157.
  5. ↑ Sports360 production mizma-g.cocolog-nifty.com from 2007, Japanese.