Honda AZ600

[KingNine]

Just after I got out of the Army, I remember seeing a sea of those things on a lot on Highway 101 somewhere between San Mateo and San Jose,hundreds of them. I never actually drove or rode in one of them, it didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense at the time. (that '72 El Camino SS was far more appealing) I guess the AZ600 was ahead of the curve before there was a curve.
Did anyone here actually have one?

[fuelpincher]

With just 600cc twin, they weren't much on power but were better than the Subaru 360!

[smartdabbler]

I had a '72 AN600 - the sedan version (2 door 4-seater with belts). It had a 2-Cylinder air-cooled engine. I would buy tune-up parts at the Honda Motorcycle dealer. It had 10" wheels and an AM radio. The 4-speed shifter came out of the dash below the radio.

I drove it non-stop from Houston to Melbourne, FL by myself one summer. I think top speed was about 57 mph, but it was screaming at that speed. I usually drove about 52 on the highway. Fuel economy was great at 35-38 mpg (nothing else came close).

I've longed to get another just like it. I had so many great experiences with this car over a very short year. I'm hopeful that my smartcar will fill the void!

~Maynard

[dennyrex]

>With just 600cc twin, they weren't much on power
>but were better than the Subaru 360!

always thought the subaru 360 was cooler, but I never drove the honda. there was a honda dealer in town with them on the lot, as well as the other 600's. I really enjoyed the heck out of my 360 though.

[Big Panda]

my second car was a Mazda RX3....while not 'small' by 600 or 360 standards, it was still a small car compared to my dads Imperial i had been driving.

parked next to each other in the driveway, they would resemble a Smart sitting next to an Impala.....you get the pic!

the cool thing "I" thought about the RX3 was of course the 'rotary engine'. mine was a 4sp and my favorite thing to do was drive by the local "strip mall" and watch the people on the walk scatter when i would leave it in 1st gear, get the engine all revved up and then let off the gas. it would make this HUGE "back-fire" and scare the sh** out of everyone......TOO FUNNY!!! remember, i was just a kid!

[dennyrex]

don't know about back-fires, but when I was a corner marshall at Formula 5000 races, the support races often included at least one mazda rotary engined car. They were the loudest things on the track.

[fuelpincher]

My wife had a Sunbeam Minx and a RX3 when I met her. Unfortunately, she sold the Minx and kept the Mazda. I always knew when she was closer than a mile from home by way of the backfires...

[GHammerly]

Loudest back fires I heard came from a 13b powered car autocrossing and those things are also the loudest due to the strong rotary engine exhaust pulse.
I love those small Japanese Honda cars, especially the Honda S600 S800 cars with the allmighty 9500 RPM redline.