Hi All,
I have been a car collector since before I could drive. I have always had an interest in anything classic or interesting. Especially cars which are a little out of the norm. Mainly Aussie vehicles (Holden, Ford, Aussie Chev), but branched out into VWs (Had the Oldest recorded Post Barndoor 11 window Split Kombi in the world until recently ).

So when i discovered a shed which contained cars that hadn't seen the light of day in over 2o years, i was pretty stoked. Initially, the owner asked me if I could help sell them....but after thinking on it, I have purchased 2 of them myself. Here is my favourite of the 2....even though I do really dig the 1964 Nissan Silvia (Shots to come & will be placed in Nissan forum).

Engine bay very dusty, but perfect. Everything 100% original. Missing some rubber mats I think & carpet a bit tattered, but the rest perfect. 49,950 original miles. Purrs like a kitten. Glovebox contains all dealer info & original owners stuff.

The photos are in fact 2 years old when i first discovered the cars...but due to the owners health, the deal was held off until he recovered.








Will be detailing the car this week & will have more shots as I pulled it out of shed & got it going & home.

Will also post some pics of the Silvia....man, thats a sweeeet car.

Hope you like.
Rob J

Wow, that is a great find! Did you purchase the cars from the original owner?

Thx
No mate, the S600 was purchased from a guy who got it from the original owner. Story goes, she needed something a little bigger & he was there at the right time, grabbed it, stashed it in his garage & that is where it has sat the whole time. Original tyres still hold air
Low mileage, becuase we live in a small island statecalled Tasmania in Australia. A lot of my vehicles have been very low mileage cars due to this. Only so far you can go before you hit water

So I have a few questions I hope someone here can answer.

I read somewhere recently, that the S600 coupe wasn't "Officially" imported into the US. That dealers ordered them in themselves & private buyers did the same. Is this correct?
As mine was imported into Australia, at the time, there were regulations that had to be adhered to. Like, being RHD, it was pretty much the same as the Japanese cars. BUT, we had MPH & Farenheit (Spelling?). Question there is, were they "Officially" imported into Australia? Or, as in the US, Dealer inported?

Next question.
Did all the Hondas have those rubber mats that I have seen in a lot of the S600's? Mine doesnt have them & I am wondering what was there if they weren't. Just some carpet atm, that needs cleaning up.

any info appreciated.

Rob J

Being Honda's first passenger car there weren't really any dealers to import them into the US, though they were sold in Canada.

They were on general sale in Australia, & publicly displayed at motor shows along with a cut-away display engine that is still about here. I have some brochures my father got when they were new. & for a brief period they were recorded by one magazine as best selling in the small convertible market their quality against Sprites obvious even if their high technical specifications did frighten off some buyers (& the exotic engines relative rarity meant any mechanical problems would often result in dodgey drivetrain conversions). Though coupes obviously sold in lesser numbers & curiously S800 didn't seem to sell in the same numbers either having increased in price & European sales taking off.

The tail-lamps were also revised for our market to incorporate indicators were the earliest examples had additional indicator lamps fitted separately.

Here's a NSW brochure:
http://www.hondasportsregistry.com/brochures/brochs600_7.php

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www.cardomain.com/id/79cord
'79 Accord, '89 CR-X SiR, '81 Prelude, '74 Z360 H/T, '71 Z360, '64 S600, '75 Lancia Beta.

Thanks for the info, 79 Much appreciated. Is your S600 a coupe, or a convertible? Would love to see a pic.
Very interested in joining a club or group down here in Aust. Not that I would be on many runs as there is a bit of water between us, but keen for the info & contacts that clubs provide.

Any idea of numbers of the Aussie specced coupes & Converts? Like, how many of the 1800 came to Aust?

Regards,
Rob J

SWEET find!!!

Great story, nice find, good luck!

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Old School Japanese Cars Rule!

That is one hell of a barn find! I think you posted about floormats in the swap meet section. Anyway, join the hondasportsregistry.com, which is also owned by Brian of FormulaH.

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Hi All,
Well, it pays to dig around in these sheds. After being assured there were no floormats for the car, I lifted up a piece of old masonite & lo & behold, the floormats were there. Perfectly preserved I couldn't be happier.

Car is in at specialist mechanic who is going over everything. The exhaust shat itself when I took it for a spin, so a new system is in order. Also, after mentioning to the guy, that it looked like someone had jimmied the original fuel cap & messed it up a little, he ran out the back & said "He we go...I kept this as a paperweight!"...Brand new NOS fuel cap with the little Honda key (Red plastic or enamel in the key head). He also gave me 2 other bits of NOS trim. Looks to me like the left & right side trim for the windscreen surround on a convertible. Hoping I can use those for swaps.

There are a couple of little bits of trim missing & the Badge from the bootlid has disappeared, so I will hunt for them.

Thanks all the the input.
Regards,
Rob J

Here are a couple more pics.
First time out of shed for 25 odd years.


Mechanics for check up & rego inspection.

Yours does look gorgeous & congratulations upon it & its floor mats.
Hope it doesn't take too much to sort, Dad spent a surprising amount sorting his '66 Lancia after tyres, repainting wheels, clutch, oil seal, re-coring radiator...

Sadly my convertible is a complete basket case with a Datsun 1200 drivetrain crudely shoved under it... though it did come with most of an original drivetrain...



And I also got myself the striped & rusted remains of another shell if I really wanted to play around

and it gave me another necessary wheel & hubcap or two.
Though I must admit assembling the remains of my engine & getting the missing components still frightens me, making it too far to easy to distract myself with stray 1st gen Accord & Prelude people seem to give away.

There are Honda car clubs for SA, Vic, NSW & Qld, most going back further than the Civic though it must be admitted that they are mostly social clubs with newer Honda inevitably dominating. There was a Honda S register that disappeared many years ago.
With the launch of the S2000 Honda Australia also created separate Honda Sports Car clubs specifically for S2000 & Integra Type-R... A different audience. Of course there's numerous general & specialized internet Honda groups too.
There's also an "S" Yahoo group that very active.

Sorry I can't speak for numbers but have seen 3 S600 coupe for sale in Melbourne over the last 4-5 years from stripped shell to neglected toy, & at a guess there's 8-9? other Coupe & Roadster associated with the Victorian Club; though you don't see them about.

_________________
www.cardomain.com/id/79cord
'79 Accord, '89 CR-X SiR, '81 Prelude, '74 Z360 H/T, '71 Z360, '64 S600, '75 Lancia Beta.

Man,
some serious work ahead there, but in the end, so worth it. I didnt mention it in the initial post, but I got a bus load of parts with this car as well. Just need to pick them up. I think there was 3 or 4 gearboxes, a complete chassis, heaps of engine parts (Blocks, heads, manifolds etc) & some diff stuff. It was all 2nd hand, but he bought it as a job-lot not long after he got this coupe. If you are after anything in particular, just let me know & I will have a dig around. All piled in a dark corner of the garage, so unsure exactly what is there.

Will be heading up again tomorrow, so will scratch about & take some pics.

Regards,
Rob

So far I know I have no pistons, mirrors, door striker, missing badges. Windscreen broken, complex exhaust headers rusted, patched & rusted through again. Head looks like pieces have been flying about inside (apparently rings breaking up not unheard of, & burnt exhaust valves if carburetors set too lean), & anti-corrosion coolant had NOT used so head has been heavily machined & holes filled with epoxy... not healthy.
Assuming my crank, its roller-bearings, cylinder bores & everything else is workable....
I don't want Datsun leaf-springs bolted to the boot floor either.

So I am hunting bits.... but recently got onto some guys about Colac who started collecting spares 20+ years ago, so might be ok.

_________________
www.cardomain.com/id/79cord
'79 Accord, '89 CR-X SiR, '81 Prelude, '74 Z360 H/T, '71 Z360, '64 S600, '75 Lancia Beta.

Very cool car, great find(s) and nice to see a coupe!

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1972 Isuzu Florian

Hmmmm,
Epoxy in the head...thats bad, right??
I am pretty sure there are blocks, pistons, heads, manifolds, carbie parts, gearboxes, a complete rear end. I do know there aren't any badges or panels etc. I asked why he got all this stuff, when the coupe was in sucj good condition & he told me it was because he wanted a convert too. The part lot came up, he grabbed it, but the convert never happened. parts sat in shed for last 20 years.

Anyway, over the next few days I will get in there with a big torch. Corner where it is stashed is quite dark, as lots of the lights are blown in that old shed.

I did get the fright of my life yesterday. Dropped into the mechanics to see how everything was going & as I walked in, there was a fire alarm going off & a huge amount of blue smoke issuing from the garage door. Peering through the haze, i could see my mechanic looking under the back of my car with his apprentice & all I could think of, is "They have blown it up"!!
Thanksfully, when I asked "Is that smoke from my car???", they laughed & pointed to an old Ford falcon that was sitting behind mine...when it started, it blew smoke everywhere & they way it was sitting, made it look like it was coming from under my car...lol. Scare for the day.

Rob J

Hahaha, that's a good story. Probably wouldn't hurt to dab the pistons with a bit of oil before starting though.

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Yea, the guy who had them knows cars. He had oil in the bores. We got that all clear before we tried starting it. Also, wound it over on the battery for a few minutes until the oil started flowing aroind the galleries. He had done a complete service before storing them, so all the oil was nice & new. Even went as far as the drain the fuel tanks, so the fuel would go stale. In these, the fuel leaking down into the bores can be bad news apparently.

Rob

Jealousy owns me ! Sweet barn find !

Hi All,
Well, got it back from the mechanics today (was hoping to have it for weekend, but family ilness stopped me). Still needs some work on the brakes, but the mechanic wants to come down to the my shed & take his time with it (His boss too pushy & rushing him). Suits me fine, a few beers is all the payment he requires He is such a top bloke...loves my cars & I know he will treat them as his own when he works on them.

Funny thing was, when I took it for the initial spin (Which was just up & down the street), It sounded good & seem to be running OK, but Dale discoevered it was running on 3 cylinders most of the time & was out of tune. He has got it spot on & when I started it up in my street where my workshop is, AWESOME....the engine sounded aamazing. Some builders across the road came out & were amazed that something so little sounded so good.

I gave the interior a bit of a tidy up & dust off & washed 24 years of dust off the car. Polished some chrome & voila`....awesome. I took some interior shots, but too dark for my phone. Will get some pics tomorrow. This one is just before I tucked it away for the night

What an amazing find! Thanks for sharing with us!