It took until today for me to become aware of the late-’80s Honda Accord Coupé. Call me a slowpoke, but somehow the attractive, two-door bigger brother of the Prelude had eluded my sights so far. I certainly knew about the Aerodeck, as they sold the weird two-door wagonback here, pop-ups and all, but the coupe version designed exclusively for the US market is even better. It was only available for three model years, as the saloon arrived already for 1985 and was due for replacement in ’89.
This post runs through some of the most attractive angles of this car.
I might even go as far as to say the car here is my favorite Honda Accord ever, and if there was no NSX, it might be my favorite Honda.
Engine-wise, there wasn’t much to choose from, as everything was a four-banger and most commonly a two-litre. You could get a four-speed automatic for that extra “Tailored for America” feeling.
The long trunk adds an interesting balance to the mix.
Compare that with the three-door hatchback’s rear, which manages to look just a touch duller.
But there’s no calling the Aerodeck dull, it’s that weird. And the hatch is hinged from way back in the roof, around where the rear side windows end.
In any case, here’s the Kaminari aero body kit to definitely spruce the coupe up.
Weekend Edition: The 1987-1989 Honda Accord Coupé
About
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I was in design school in Cincinnati when these came out, it was my sophomore year. We all went to the Cinci auto show, either with our rendering instructor, or we ran into him there. I remember it because he said that he thought that it was the best looking car of the show.
I thought that was a rather odd thing to say. I mean, yeah, it’s a clean, attractive design, but best looking at the show?-
There are no awkward angles and great proportions. Every detail is well resolved, including the (then) Honda ‘face’
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I can’t lie and say I like these better than the 3rd gen Prelude, but it’s an almost equally cool design.
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My mother bought one of these to replace her favorite car, a Renault 25 V6,which had some transmission trouble.
I n contrast to the hugely faster but finicky Renault her four door JDM version was almost faultlessly reliable, the only fault being that the bulb that indicated being in ‘Drive’ on the instrument panel blew. At about 350,000 km she misjudged her stopping distance behind a piece of agricultural equipment and put a 1 metre length of steel through the left hand headlamp.
The insurance company wrote the car off, but one of our neighbors bought it, repaired it and it’s still on the road with 500,000+ km now on the clock and still nothing wrong. -
Wow, that Kaminari kit plops it straight into Chevy Beretta territory.
http://www.moibbk.com/images/chevrolet-beretta-4.jpg-
No. It doesn’t.
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Except that the Chevy’s kit has probably fallen off by now, since the factory bubble-gum-and-gaffa fitting solution has dried up. I agree on the visuals though, the kit blows the cleanliness of the above Honda into the mud.
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That was my first thought too and as a mechanical masochist, I’d chose the Beretta Z26.
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Check out my Aerodeck from Poland. Soon in TV program (Legendy motoryzacji – TVN Turbo)
https://www.facebook.com/GreenAerodeckCA5 -
I drove an ’88 3-door DX hatchback in college, 1995-99. It had the 98 hp 12-valve 2.0 with a 2-bbl carb. Not fast but pretty reliable and practical. Ball joints and brake rotors were weak points. AFAIK, in the US market the coupe was only offered in 1989, replacing the ’86-’88 hatchback
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The Accord coupe arrival marked the end of the hatchback Accord and to a latter extent, stealed some Prelude customers.
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