HONDA 1300 Sedan 1969-1973 Photos, engines & full specs

The 1969 Honda 1300 was the last car built by Soichiro Honda with an air-cooled engine. And it was a car that paved the way for the first Civic generation.

There are many stories about the Soichiro Honda into the Honda 1300 project. The series model was slightly different than the model it was shown in the Tokyo Motor Show in 1968. Rumors said that the split grille was inspired by the Pontiac Firebird driven by Soichiro Honda. Even though, the final result was not as pleasant as it was the technology underneath the bodywork.

Despite all the advice, the company founder insisted to built it with an air-cooled engine available in two outputs. It used Keihin carburetors, which could be found in motorcycles and boats. The Keihin carburetors were used in Honda cars up until the beginning of the '90s for the Honda Accord engines. The small 1.3-liter unit from the Honda 1300 offered two different outputs: 100 and 115 hp, respectively. It was an unusually high specific output for the era. Moreover, the red-line was at 8.000 RPM. Both versions were mated to a 4-speed manual transmission. Toward the end of the 1300 career, Soichiro Honda admitted that he was wrong when he ordered air-cooled engines and agreed to install a lighter, 1.4-liter, water-cooled unit.

The four wheels independent suspension was another innovation brought by the car, in an era where most of the cars featured a solid axle in the rear. The front-wheel-drive system also was new for the Japanese car manufacturer.

Thanks to its small engine displacement, the car had tax rebates from the Japanese government.