Quick Trip to LA for Honda’s 60th Anniversary in the United States
Odometer (Legend): 566,392
Trip Distance: 764 Miles
Sixty years is quite a while. When American Honda first launched in the United States in 1959, the company only sold two-wheeled vehicles. At the time, Honda was operating out of a small storefront on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles.
As part of some anniversary festivities, the American Honda main office in Torrance celebrated with an employee/retiree car show. I was given the opportunity to participate as well, and I picked the car that most “needed” a road trip because it hadn’t seen one in a while: The Legend coupe.
I’m pleased to report that the car performed flawlessly for the 800-mile round trip trek. Among the ‘celebrity’ encounters were Acura General Manager Jon Ikeda and renowned vintage Honda restorer Tim “Merciless” Mings. Tim played the lead role in the comprehensive restoration efforts for “Serial One” – the first vehicle that Honda sold in America.
Here is the video about the restoration of Serial One.
Below are some pics, and here is my video on the Honda 60th.
Nicely set up G1 TSX at the show in Torrance
With Acura GM Jon Ikeda and the newly-restored 1961 Chevrolet pickup
Rare Honda City Cabriolet
There’s the “Dream Project” G2 NSX that ScienceofSpeed built for 2017 SEMA
Activities throughout the week
Clean original G1 Integra
With Andrew Quillin from Acura Public Relations
I thought it was fitting that a map of the Honda campus had a ‘Legend’
With Curtis Millward from Acura’s agency, Mullen-Lowe, and Scott King who used to work for Honda
Ryu Asada from Mattel / Hot Wheels, arriving in his G1 Formula Red NSX
Coupe interior
I parked next to Scott’s NSX
Display on the Legend
Following Scott at the conclusion of the show
A friend sent me home with lots of literature & swag, including some original magazines from the 1980s and 1990s
I got a kick out of this flyer inside the magazine. Anybody want a Louver Kit for their Integra?
Look at these other etched glass blocks commemorating special events in the company’s history
The library is looking more and more complete!
I’ve been enjoying the green Skittle from time to time.
Dug up a couple more 20-year-old vintage pics of my 1989 Prelude just for kicks recently.
Cabin trip on a muddy road in 1999 with friends from high school.
Also, huge thanks to my buddy Sean in Austin TX who sent me some swag related to the Hill Country Rallye, a Porsche road rally each year that brings out some of the best of the best in the community!
Have a great weekend.
drivetofive 
June 22, 2019 at 6:56 am
That blue G1 Integra is identical to the first one i had in 1994! I bet mine had more rust. . .
June 22, 2019 at 7:01 am
I loved that the owner left it original – right down to the faded paint (do they call that “patina”? haha) and wheels. Truly a survivor. Hope you are doing well!!
June 22, 2019 at 7:35 pm
Man, that car show and 60th celebration looked like fun. Jealous here!! (And as others have noted, it’s cool that Honda took such pains to restore that Chevrolet pickup). What was the coolest car you saw at the show?
Glad to see the Legend coupe getting some exercise! Its next big trip is for NALM, or are there any other outings planned with it?
June 23, 2019 at 5:07 pm
I think my favorite car might have been that maroon VW camper van that showed up briefly in my video, haha. Talk about versatile utility! I don’t have any Legend trips between now and NALM in October but I’ll need to find an adventure or two for it locally.
June 23, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Always fun reading about the weekend road trips; but the ones involving the Coupe always stir more enthusiasm as I read. Probably because we shared in our “race” to 400k back in 2009 and the ensuing birth of this awesome blog. It was 10 years ago this month my Prelude engine seized up with an odometer reading of 399,525. We all know I cried but we know the speedometer cable broke coming back to MD from OH and the car in fact had just over 400,000 miles figuring time for parts to be shipped and installed a week or so later. Seeing your coupe roll on makes me happy.
June 23, 2019 at 5:08 pm
That’s true, I remember being similarly discouraged when you had to retire the ’89 Si due to the body falling apart. Mechanically it seemed pretty strong still. Thanks for being the original inspiration. I wish HondaPrelude.com was still around so I could reminisce on my old Setups pages.
June 24, 2019 at 6:53 pm
Hard to believe American Honda is six decades old, but 60 is the new 40 after all 😀
June 25, 2019 at 4:25 am
Haha, true! Ugh, the number 40 is scary. Just 2 years away for me!
June 24, 2019 at 9:39 pm
Wow. That coupe interior looks incredible!
June 25, 2019 at 4:26 am
It’s not perfect but it’s well preserved! My new Katzkin leather that was installed in 2004 is showing some wear on the driver side seat bolster.
June 27, 2019 at 2:24 am
Looks like a great event – Wow! Honda has really come long way in the past 60 years!!! I love that little Honda City, a car that might be actually be smaller than mine!
Great to see some more photos of your old Prelude – Man that is such a cool looking car!
June 27, 2019 at 5:37 am
Bring back pop-up headlights! Hope you have a great rest of your week & an adventurous weekend ahead!
June 27, 2019 at 6:00 am
You too! I hope we can get out – we’ve not had much of a chance recently.