Honda has often turned to the world of music for its model names – Concerto, Prelude, Jazz, Aria, Quintet, Beat, and the subject of today’s plunge into the rabbit hole of rebadging, the Ballade. Introduced in 1980 as a four-door sedan version of the popular Civic hatchback, the Honda Ballade had a British twin, the Triumph Acclaim (not to be confused with the much-maligned Plymouth Acclaim in the US).
This was the product of a deal between Honda, who was looking for a way to break into the European market and meet the UK’s domestic content requirements; and British Leyland, who desperately needed a modern, reliable car to regain its footing in the marketplace after years of labor strikes and plummeting quality. This led to what would become a 15-year tie-up between the two companies.
Honda’s investment proved to be exactly what British Leyland (later renamed Rover) needed to turn its fortunes around. Throughout the 80s, many a Civic, Accord and Legend were sold as a rebadged Rovers. Customers saw the brand slowly regain its reliability ratings and upmarket status. So much so, in fact, that the owners decided to sell the whole shebang out from under Honda’s nose to BMW in 1994. Burn!
Perhaps this is why ever since then, Honda has remained fiercely independent, even throughout the merger-mania that gripped the auto industry in the 90s. The Acclaim was the final car to ever wear the once-proud Triumph name, but at least British Leyland lives on to entertain us as the butt of frequent jokes on Top Gear.
[Image: Wikipedia]
Our favorite car game of all time has to be Grand Turismo 4. Naturally, the gorgeous graphics and enormous variety of cars and tracks are as fantastic as anything we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but the best part of all was its inclusion of some old school nostalgics – first gen Celicas, 240ZGs, 70s Mitsus, Isuzu Bellets, Bluebird 510s, Prince Skylines, and even tiny kei cars like the Honda S800 and Subaru 360. GT4 made it possible to create our dream garage virtually.
Today, on the other hand, is the real deal. Half a century ago, Subaru announced that it would begin sales of a round little kei car, the Subaru 360, that would become one of the most iconic vehicles of its era.
When you think of the modern Subaru formula, however, you think of three things: rallying chops, a boxer engine, and all wheel drive. Admittedly, the 360 had none of those qualities, but the company’s next offerings would soon rectify that.
Subaru’s third and final distinguishing trait appeared in 1971, when an all wheel drive version of the FF-1 1300 was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. The production system debuted in 1972 on the Leone wagon, known simply as the 4WD in the US. In particular, it was this feature that struck the loudest chord with customers, and AWD soon became synonymous with the brand.
