Rare Rides: The 1984 Honda City, a Microscopic Cabriolet From Japan
Our last Rare Ride was a little first-generation Honda Civic from 1977. Since everyone seemed to like that little red box, today we bring you a little blue box from Honda. It’s a bit newer, and also a bit worse.
It’s the Honda City, and other applicable adjectives include Cabriolet and Pininfarina.
The first Honda City appeared in Japan in 1981 and was unusual on the Kei market. Sporting boxy styling which Honda called “Tall Boy,” the City had a raised roofline allowing for a more upright seating position.
This meant the City had legroom that compared favorably with cars in a larger size class. An instant hit in the Japanese market, the City was exported around the world — often labeled as the Jazz.
In addition to the Cabriolet, there were two, four, and five-seater versions (both hatchback and van varieties), and even one which came with a folding Honda Motocompo scooter mounted in the back. The extra weight certainly didn’t help motivate the City. Under its hood was a 1,231 cc, 44-horsepower inline-four engine.
The first-gen City was on the market between 1981 and 1986, and the Cabriolet joined the lineup in 1984. Built on the wide-body Turbo II version of the City, the Cabriolet was never available with a turbocharged engine.
Possibly one of the worst hinged trunks ever designed, the trunklid does not assist with the loading and unloading of cargo.
The awkward Pininfarina styling came with many standard features, and even a glass rear window. There were also 12 color choices that were off-limits to hatchback buyers. It looks like this one has air conditioning, which would’ve been installed by the Honda Clio dealership where it was first sold.
Japan was the only market to receive the Cabriolet, and only from 1984 to 1986. Future generations of the City did not have a convertible version.
This one is available in the pious and fireproof city of Los Angeles, and is a bit worse for wear. The seller is asking $3,2oo, which doesn’t seem that bad considering the trouble and expense one would have to go to in order to import an example from Japan.
[Images via seller, Wikipedia]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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basically a carbon copy of a 1979-1985 vw rabbit convertible which pininfarina also designed. same plaid fabric inserts, same top hinged useless trunk, same glass window and high rear boot stack, same "basket handle" rollover protection.
I remember clearly all the hateful comments that owners of the first Honda cars had to endure! Wonder how many of the big mouth end up in later life owning a Honda car?