1967 Honda S800

Lot details
Registration No: NAH764F
Chassis No: AS5800E1004314
Mot Expiry: None

OFFERED FOR SALE WITHOUT RESERVE

"The S800's eagerness and responsiveness is enhanced by an engine that not only sounds and runs like something out of a motor race, but which develops real power." Motor Sport magazine

The S600 may have been Honda's first mass market car, but by the time of its launch in 1964 the company was already the world's largest producer of motorcycles and renowned for its race-winning engines. Small wonder then that the relatively benign-looking, two-seater S600 featured technology developed on its Grand Prix-winning two-wheelers. While its British rivals still relied on cast iron OHV engines, the baby 'rice rocket' was powered by an all-aluminium, DOHC, 606cc, four-cylinder unit that revved to an (at the time) astonishing 8,500rpm and featured one Keihin carburetter per cylinder - with over 80 bhp/ton on tap, the model's performance was certainly a match for that of the larger-engined Sprites and Midgets of the day. At launch the newcomer was offered in Roadster form only, but within a year the range was swelled by a Fastback Coupe and, by the 1965 Tokyo Motorshow, the S600 had been supplanted by the bigger capacity (791cc) S800. Aside of their sonorous engines, the export S800s were largely conventional. They were based on a simple box-section ladder frame chassis featuring independent suspension by wishbones and torsion bars at the front and a live axle retained by four radius rods and a Panhard rod at the rear. (The early home market cars were, however, fitted with a more innovatory set-up with enclosed chain drives doubling as trailing arms for independently sprung rear wheels). Steering was by rack and pinion, while braking was initially by drums all round but fairly quickly upgraded to a disc/drum system. Some 1,548 S800s were imported to the UK between 1967 and 1970, the base price of which would have been £779.

The right-hand drive S800 on offer is a 1967 Roadster finished in Red teamed with a Black interior. A proverbial 'barn find' it has been stored since 1983 and, while it appears pretty complete, will certainly need a degree of restoration and recommissioning before that unmistakable engine note graces the highways and byways of the UK once more.