Anyone with info on this car.

Description only, I'm afraid.. Pretty. Small 2 seater sports soft top. Built in the late 60's I believe. About the same size as a Berkeley 4 wheeler, but better build quality. Can't recall the make, maybe japanese, but I think it was called the S800.

800cc high revving engine. 8-10,000 rpm, and very fast for it's time. Around 100mph I believe. Not many sold. I think they were quite expensive. I've only ever seen one.

Wouldn't mind tracking one down, but I think a good example would be too rich for me. Ring any bells? Mike.

Reply to
Mike G
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In news:40d22e26 snipped-for-privacy@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com, Mike G decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Honda S800.

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HTH

Reply to
Pete M

That would be the Honda S800 - a competitor to the Midget. And they were just about as common as the Midget for a while - they weren't that much more expensive. I assume they're expensive to fix though when they get old - hence the rarity.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Thanks Pete. That's the one. What an attractive road tax free 'classic' car. The specs don't sound out of place even by todays standards, and what a superb looking engine. Altogether a very desirable little car. Without seeing any prices I can guess good ones will be too expensive for me to consider. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

One website I visited, mentioned that only something like 11,500 were produced. Seems quite a small number if true. I don't know how that compares with Midget production. On other sites I got the impression they were more popular in the states, than here, and it was their emission laws that killed it. It's little engine was quite dirty by the stds that were introduced during it's production. You're probably right about the expense of keeping one running. I seem to recall they had roller main and big end bearings, so obviously not an engine you could drop into your nearest engine rebuilder for a recon. Not to mention the gearbox and the rest of the running gear. Bet they're fun to drive though. :-) Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

A friend of mine owned one - nice cars if a little rust-prone. Saw a gaggle of them at Capesthorne Hall recently. They don't seem to be too expensive.

Don't buy an open one if you're tall, you'll look like Noddy - these are

*small* cars :-)
Reply to
Stan Barr

Mike G (mikgibbs at tiscali dot co dot uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

There was a coupe version of the S800, too.

Most *definitely* for dwarves only, I'd imagine. At least you can stick out the top of the convertible...

Reply to
Adrian

That would explain why they're rare now - difficulty with specific spare parts like body panels, and they certainly knew how to rust.

Overall, tiny. But when they first came out, they were a common site on UK roads - at least where I lived.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Yes. Not as pretty as the convertible though. Looks decidedly odd IMO. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

Was it the S800 or the S600 that had a chain drive? Or was it some other similar car? I remember nearly buying a used one from a dealer in Brighton in the late 60s. But the chain drive scared me off, having had experience with motorcycles of that era.

Reply to
Dan Drake

Were relatively popular in historic racing in the late 80's/early 90's but seem to have disappeared off the scene now, or possibly now run in FIA series. I dimly remember a story (probably apocryphal) about one race engine breaking a dyno at a German University (I'm really searching my memory here) at about 13000 rpm... Very cute cars but very rust prone. There was a hard top as well with a roof line and vents at the C pillar that looks a bit like a GT6 (the ones I saw racing were all hardtop).

Chris

Reply to
Chris Glaister

Dan Drake was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

That'll be the 600.

Reply to
Timo Geusch

From what I've learned so far it appears that all S600's had chain drive with IRS. Early S800's also had chain drive, but only 6 of these were imported to the UK up to 1967. All imports after 1967 were shaft drive with a live rear axle, and front disk brakes had replaced the four-wheel drum setup of the earlier cars.

I've also learned that apart from roller big ends and mains, it had DOHC's running in needle roller bearings. A complicated car engine by modern stds.

Apparently of the very first 3 S800's imported into the UK, (2 coupes and a convertible) the convertible went on the stand at the 1966 Earls Court motor show, and is now owned by a member of the Honda S800 Sports Car Club. Must be worth a bob or two. :-) Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

That must have been somewhere with a Honda car dealer. You will find very few examples of a car if there is no dealer in the area and Honda car dealers were few and far between in the 60's. When Nissan shut half of the dealers that mainly sold imports and not UK product in the late 80's loads of people sold the cars to buy something that had a franchised dealer local. So there are very few Nissan's in my town from 1989 up to 1999 when a new dealer opened up.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

Reply to
Peter Hill

I know Dave, he owns a red Honda S800. Dave runs Foreign Autoparts and has been in business about 15 years and in the trade over 30 years. His car made the bottom right hand corner of the front cover of Practical Classics Feb this year. Even with all his contacts in the trade he found it hard to restore. He had to have one wing specially rolled from sheet in Germany.

1350 coupe and convertibles sold in the UK in total. Good ones are over £11K.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

Reply to
Peter Hill

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