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Honda Accord coupe
The Honda Accord is a model of automobile manufactured by Honda. It was introduced in 1976 as a 1600cc engine-powered medium-sized
hatchback sedan, with
styling similar to an upsized contemporary
Honda Civic. A conventional four-door saloon was released in 1977.
Original plans was for a midsize car, along the lines of the Ford Mustang. It was supposed to be a V6-powered car with a long
hood and sporty pretensions. Honda chose the name Accord, because at their claim, no other name was available. But this was
during the fuel crisis era, and the initial design was changed for a high-mileage, low-emission vehicle, and in the USA and Japan, a version was produced using the Honda CVCC
technology, meeting emmission standards of the 1970s and 1980s without a catalytic converter.
Like the smaller Honda Civic, the Accord uses front wheel drive and an "East / West" engine layout.
The Accord became the first Japanese car to be produced in the USA in 1982, when
production commenced in Ohio.
In 1982 the Accord became the best-selling Japanese car by name in the USA, holding that position for 15 years.
In 1993, the fifth-generation Accord was released, and it was a sales failure. While the larger, redesigned Toyota Camry was
making waves in the American market, and the Japanese clamored for small, sporty cars, Honda sized the Accord perfectly so that
it was too small for American tastes and too large for Japanese preferences. It also was a break from the previous four
generations of the Accord, with their boxy, rectangular shapes, instead styling the car along the lines of the Prelude and
Legend.
Due to the catastrophe which would result in creating one car for three markets, Honda CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto would let one
platform be developed for the sixth-generation Accord, with different bodies and proportions for local markets.
In 1997 the Accord merged into three distinct versions, European Honda
Accord, JDM Honda
Accord and USDM Honda Accord.
By 2003, the Accord had evolved through seven generations, with 2003 models offering
power plants from 4 cylinder to V6. The 4 cylinder was a K24, a detuned version of the TSX engine. The 6 cylinder was the same
J32 as the sixth generation's, but it intake runners, exhaust, and headers contributed to a 40 horsepower increase.
For the first time, Honda offered an "enthuasiast" version of the Accord; mating their 6-speed manual from the Acura CL to the
V6 Honda Accord Coupe. A specific 4 cylinder model is the first production car in the world to meet California's Ultra Low Emission standards.
In 2004 Honda announced that they would release a hybrid version of the Accord.
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