Holy Grail of oddness: Honda S800 Coupe

Anyone with any automotive street cred knows exactly what a Honda S2000 is and why it’s a great car.  You have to go up a level to know that the S2000 was inspired by Honda’s first production car, the S500 through S800 series.  Seemingly very few, however, are aware of the coupe versions of the S600 and S800.  Your humble host has only seen one in person, and that was at Irvine Cars and Coffee, which almost doesn’t count.

These take the Lotus Elan concept of tiny and light weight to extremes and add in a cool, high-revving 791cc four cylinder with four one-barrel carbs, clearly tying back to Honda’s motorcycle experience.  Output of 70HP was impressive both for the displacement of the engine and for the weight of the car.  These evolved over time, and this 1967 model lacks the early chain drive setup and also adds drum brakes.

As with every one we’ve ever seen for sale, this one looks rough.  Good news is the seller seems to have done most of the work to get it roadworthy, although we wonder how easy it is to find parts for the if you’re not the Lane Motor Museum.  Regardless, this is an amazing and quirky part of automotive history that should be preserved.  There’s a lot of innovation in these early Hondas.  This car and the Datsun Roadster (which predated the MGB) remind us that those who think all early Japanese cars were just copied are just plain wrong.

Click for eBay ad
Huntington Beach, CA
$12,995 with 1 bid and no reserve
08/08/2013 update:  Ended with reserve not met and the one bid retracted.

Did the BMW Z3 and M Coupe take hints from this car?

Cockipt is very 60s sporty:

Here’s the heart of this little beast:

Ad text:

I am selling my honda S800 Coupe.   There is only 2 spaces in my garage, 1 is for my cayman as a daily driver, and one for a classic car.   I recently acquire a 58 Alfa Romeo Giulietta spider so I have to let the honda S800 go.  I bought the honda s800 3- 4 months ago for $10,000 from New York.  Here’s a link to the ad when I bought it.   I was the first one responded to the ad and was lucky to get it.  Many people wanted it.

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/03/15/left-hand-drive-1967-honda-s800-coupe-project/

I am located in Huntington Beach, CA, so I have the car transported here from new york for $1300.   I bought 3000 Euro = $4000 worth of parts from Michael Orttmann in germany to restore the car.  Spent another $2500 of labor to rebuilt all brakes, clutch, master brake, master clutch, install new bushings, rubbers, rebuilt carburetor, install new spin on oil filter, change oil, rebuilt suspension Ect.

My painter checked the car and see no rust.   I look under the car, there was a rust protection spray that is now peeling off and reveal very good body painted in white under with no rust.   Previous owner said the engine was rebuilt by late Peter Rose in England and has zero miles.   I have the carbs rebuilt with brand new parts, and the engine runs really nice now, it think it is true that it has zero miles since rebuilt.   While I was waiting for the parts to arrive I went ahead and installed the master clutch and master brake from a nissan, I have it retrofit very nicely.   The original master brake and master clutch are included with now brand new rebuilt parts.  You can put them back in or just leave the nissan masters, they are brand new and really well retrofitted.   The clutch is a little heavy, because I did not drop the clutch and clean and oil everything, but it is drivable.  I already register and paid insurance and ready to drive and then discover the rear end make noise and make the rear wheels stick, probably a bad bearing.  I already purchase the bearing for the rear end.  I decide to let the next owner to put that in.   So the car is now running and mechanically working, but not drivable until the rear end is looked at.   

The car would need new interior, the dashboard is cracked, seats are torn, roof lining is torn.  You can leave the paint and interior alone and go for the patina look.   It does have 5 original hub cap in good condition, does not need to be re-chromed , just  need a good clean up.   Bumpers are good, Chrome is in fair condition.

New front brake rotors, pads, all brake cylinders have new seals.  Front suspension rebuilt with new ball joints, new tie rod ends, all new rubber bushing.   I still have many new parts not installed, I can send the complete invoices in German at your request.  A brand new windshield along with all weather strips to restore the car was also shipped from Germany and sitting in my garage waiting to be installed.  I was planning to paint the car before installing the windshield and weather strips.    Stainless steel windshield trims are off the car and in perfect condition, just need a good polish.

The engine number does not match the engine number listed on the number plate inside the engine bay.  Number on Engine is S830617E,  On the Plate Engine number is AS800E-1007329.   I don’t know if that is how Honda is or the engine was swapped at some point in its life.  But it is an s800 engine with mark II Carbs.   Chassis number AES800C-1004414

My starting price at no reserve is less than the money I put in.