Honda S600 Coupe and Convertible

In 1964 Honda introduced the S600 a small, stylish and unique sports car named after its engine displacement of 606cc. Previously Honda had been focusing on motorcycles and the S600 had several unique features carried over from this legacy. The engine used a unique roller bearing set up as oppose to crank bearings, giving it smooth operating and capable of a monsterous 9000rpm. The drivetrain was also unqiue with a chain drive set up.

Only 11,284 of these little coupe's were produced in 1964 and 1966 it was first only available in RHD configuration but soon became available in LHD for export markets. The overall length of the vehicle was 3.3m and 1.4m wide, it's steel tube chassis weighed a mere 715kg which helped make the S600 a reasonably quick car for the time.

Other unqiue features include the 4 carbs and slant 4 cylinder engine. Only available as a 2 seater in both coupe and convertible form. It is not known how many survive to this day. In fact there are only a handful left in Australia at best estimate. The rare barn yard find will pop up from time to time, but there cannot be many surviving examples in original condition still left on the road.

As a unique piece of trivia Jay Leno the talk show host owns a fine example and loves it to bits. You can view the video here. Jensen Button the Forumla 1 Driver can also be seen driving this convertible S600 around Monte Carlo