Honda celebrates 40 years of the Accord

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The ubiquitous Honda Accord turns 40 today, launched in June of 1976 as America was still reeling from the oil crisis. It was small (with a wheelbase less than a modern Fit’s) and light enough (at 2,083 pounds) that it could easily surpass 40 mpg in highway driving, and immediately endeared itself to long-suffering drivers of gas guzzlers. 

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Over 12.7 million Accords have been sold in the intervening decades. 10.5 million of them have been built in the US. The 1982 Accord wasn’t just the first Japanese car to be built in the US, but in 1987 American-built cars were the first to be then shipped back to Japan and sold there.

Nine generations of the Accord have also won the Car & Driver 10 Best award 30 out of the 34 years the magazine’s been giving them out, making it the winningest model they’ve ever tested.

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To mark the occasion, Honda has released a video and info sheets detailing the history of the Accord. See them below and wish an Accord owner a happy anniversary today.

Honda Accord - Then & Now

Honda Accord – Then & Now

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11 Responses to Honda celebrates 40 years of the Accord

  1. Power Tryp says:

    Kinda goes hand in hand with my question of the week a couple weeks ago. I really hope to see more Gen 1 Accords and Civics being fixed up as they are just as important as Datsun 510s and early Toyotas.

  2. Nigel says:

    Whats the curb weight of the new Accord ?? (Anyway Happy 40th Accord !!)

    • Randy says:

      “Accord”-ing to a quick Google search:

      Curb weight: 3,170 to 3,605 lbs

      So, 1,440 – 1,639 kg

      The original was about 2,000 lbs / 910 kg.

  3. Bill Wilkman says:

    I have a 1983 Accord that I bought new in September of 1982. The car has always been garaged and the front seats have always been covered. The car looks near showroom fresh other than small dings and other minor evidence of use. In 2007, it won best in class at the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, CA. I have every document from the day I bought the car, including everything I got from the dealer and every service record. I’m thinking of selling the car, as it does not get much use these days. It’s got about 144,000 miles on the clock and is a metallic blue a base model with five speed transmission. I bought the car with no radio and installed an aftermarket radio on my own. Recently I bought a factory correct radio/cassette player, but have not installed. it. Although the engine runs fine and has a recently installed carburetor, I bought a fresh rebuilt carburetor on eBay because I couldn’t pass it up for its low price. Both the radio/cassette player and the carburetor would come with the car. It is very important to me that this car goes to a good home where it will be preserved for the survivor vintage car it is. I live in Riverside, California. If anyone is interested in buying this car, please email me and I will send photos and provide more details.

  4. Bill Wilkman says:

    Forgot to mention re: the 1983 Accord, I can be reached via email at wilkmanhistory@aol.com.

  5. xs10shl says:

    IMHO, this was the car that cemented Honda’s dominance of the compact car segment. I had the 77 LX version as my first car- comfortable, well appointed for its price class, clean looking, space for 4, fitted with power steering, and dead reliable. I don’t think I changed the oil for the last 50,000 miles I put on it before I donated it.

    If ithe early accords had an Achilles heel, it was the head gasket. Some examples had the issue, including mine. I had to replace 2 in 5000 miles, and then the problem went away again, never to resurface. M

  6. Raymond says:

    WOW !!! I remember when I bought a Road & Track magazine with an article about the new model from Honda, the Accord. 40 years ago, Gosh !!! Time flies !!!

  7. Pete240z says:

    I never bought a Honda until my 2011 Accord LX 5-speed. Today it turned 132,000 miles and I am amazed by this product in comparison to the two Impala’s I’ve owned prior. It still has the original brake pads and I see there is still some meat left. These cars are amazing.

  8. Louis Fong says:

    They need to bring back the Acccord Euro R!

  9. Danny says:

    I have a 1994 Accord 4 door all custom. Lamborghini doors, glass dragon hood, dragon seats, flames dash and door panels, lowered frenched and smoothed. Custom wheels and bumpers and hood. Widened body all steel and custom red paint. Over 20K invested.
    Would this be a car to enter in this show or is it too custom or too new?
    I am about to sell it, so perhaps this would be a good venue to sell?

    Danny
    562-631-8228

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