Though we think of the Honda Accord as the quintessential family sedan today, the original Honda Accord debuted in 1976 as a three-door hatchback. As Honda’s first mainstream car it didn’t break any molds in terms of design — that would come later. The first-generation Accord was just a good, honest steed that didn’t break the bank. However, it turns out Honda had some pretty funky alternative designs for the Accord, and if a butterfly in Brazil had given its wings an extra flap we could have gotten a very different car.
As part of the commemoration of the Accord’s 50th anniversary Honda has released some design illustrations that have never before been digitized. These drawings stem from the ideation process, in which designers unleash their creativity to see what sticks. One of the early sketches has the Accord’s roofline extending almost to the taillights before angling downward in a shooting brake profile. A body-colored B-pillar and panoramic window over the rear seats and cargo area would have been ahead of its time.
Building on the success of the Civic, Honda wanted to give Accord owners peace of mind. It was right there in the name, which means “harmony”. The first half of the 70s was marked by concerns about the oil crisis and the build-up of pollution in urban areas. By the second half of the decade, customers were ready to shake off such worries and step into a more leisurely state of mind.
The Accord’s larger 1.6-liter engine provided confidence on the road but still retained excellent fuel economy, while its CVCC technology alleviated worries about emissions. The roomier cabin let occupants stretch out, and a long list of standard equipment gave buyers a more relaxed dealer experience and more enjoyable ownership overall.
From Honda’s 1976 press release announcing the new car:
ACCORD means “harmony.”
The ACCORD we introduce here is a fresh hatchback sedan developed by Honda for the modern person with a youthful spirit. It is a
new, assertive adult car with the basic theme of providing ‘comfort’ for those who ride in it and ‘harmony’ with the environment surrounding the car.
Without changing the fundamental principles of the car that we sought in the CIVIC, we have given the car new value and completed it with a richness as a human-centered car.
One of the prospective designs hews pretty closely to the finished product, but shows a straight leading edge for the hood and taillights that wrap around the sides as triangles. It kind of looks like an Audi 100 had a love child with an AMC Pacer, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
An alternative proposal with a vastly different silhouette shows the sporting potential of the Accord. With a B-pillar integrated as a thick structural band and a delicate hatch that prioritizes glass, the roofline almost resembles that of an SA22 Mazda RX-7. One could also easily imagine a targa or T top to fully embrace the sports coupe identity.
Another draft has a more traditional roof and B-pillar treatment but retains a sporting character. The roofline sweeps back more dramatically to make the car look longer and the nose has a more aggressive reverse rake. The rounded tail almost looks like it could have been a predecessor for the Porsche 928’s and uses bumperettes instead of a wraparound bench.
The interior had several variants as well. The basic elements of the Accord’s actual dashboard are all there — a sweeping curve, storage pockets, and an upright and boxy instrument binnacle. Mostly it’s the vent placement and shape that differs from the final design.
The winning design’s use of negative space is simply brilliant. It’s amazing how slim the resulting dashboard actually is, and how small a volume it takes up in the cabin. It helped the Accord seem larger than it was, contributing to the upscale feel that Honda was aiming for.
It’s fun to imagine what could have been, and it’s interesting to see that reliable ol’ Honda did have some wilder ideas. However, it the right choice for Honda to go with a more traditional hatchback design (followed by a conventional 4-door sedan in 1977). The Accord was the company’s first foray into the mainstream global car market, and it couldn’t risk any weirdness jeopardizing that debut. Fifty years later, the Accord isn’t just a anomaly, but a household name.
Images courtesy of Honda.
