Publication: Motor Fan
Format: “Bubble Index” Road Test
Date: April 1971
Authors: Osamu Mochizuki, Katsuzo Kageyama, Shigeki Asaoka, Yasuhei Oguchi, Reiko Ikuuchi, Kensuke Ishizu, Masahide Sano

A Small Luxury Car

How effectively can a 5-speed gearbox be utilized within the constraints of a kei car?

This question set the tone for this test as a whole. So—what was it like in practice?

How Effective Is the 5-Speed Transmission?

Publication: Motor Fan
Format: Road Test
Date: June 1972
Authors (Roundtable): Yoshio Nakamura, Ryozo Mabuchi, Osamu Hirao, Yasuhei Oguchi, Hiroshi Okazaki, Katsuzo Kageyama, Kenji Higuchi, Tomoaki Yoshioka, Hiroshi Hoshijima, Taizo Tateishi, Teruhisa Oki, Kunitaka Furutani, Masahide Sano, Kenzaburo Ishikawa, Toshihide Hirata, Hiroshi Sase, Motor Fan Editorial Staff (uncredited)

The Life’s Mechanicals Transplanted

Magazine: First, could you give us an outline of the new Honda Z?

Nakamura: We introduced the Honda Z—the air-cooled model—in the autumn of 1970, and it won particular support among younger customers, pioneering a new category of its own within the kei-car class. Over the past year, however, the car industry as a whole has entered something of a transitional period, with changes in the direction of the market as well. For kei cars in particular, it has been a rather confused situation.