Michael Adamson wrote:
I had the opportunity to drive one of those little Hondas. As I recall it
redlined at 14,500! Chain drive to the rear wheels. The engine looked
like 4 single cylinder motor cycle engines glued together and and at full
chat sounded like a beserk sewing machine.
Michael-
What you saw was a Honda 600S. This strange bird still had a lot of
motorcycle technology in it. To lower the unsprung weight, Honda rubber
mounted the dif. right behind the front seats. it was a straignt axel with
sprockets where the wheels should be. this was connected to a lightweight
pair of independently sprung rear wheels (not a swing axel like a Triumph
Spit or Herald - think of the angles - more like a Mini) with two chains. I
don't know how well this worked as I've never driven a 600, but I do know
that it was replaced with a more conventional setup in the 800S. Also the
800S traded some shrieking high RPM for more torque so the 14,500 might
have been the right number for the 600S.
One of my classmates at College Of San Mateo back in the late-1960s brought
an 800S GT fastback coupe with right-hand-drive back from where he was
stationed in Guam. He was able to bring it in to Califormia because it was
smog exempt for being 800cc or less! This was the smalest and lowest coupe
that I've ever wedged myself into. It looked like someone had shrunk a
Triumph GT6 top and welded it to the Honda roadster. It was very fast but
made an MGBGT look like an Aston Martin. We kept looking for the "Made by
Mattel" badge but could never find it. See you on the Funway!
Rick Feibusch - Venice, CA
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