Cheap Micro Car: 1972 Honda Z600 Project
The Z600 is the coupe hatchback alternative to the N600, both being “kei” or microcars produced by Honda in Japan. More than 40,000 were produced between 1970 and 1974 with some being imported to the U.S. and sold by Honda motorcycle dealers. These little cars don’t turn up too often anymore and we don’t know how well this one runs, but should be restorable. Located in Grants Pass, Oregon, this pint-size project is available here on craigslist for $2,500. Thanks for the cool tip, Barn Finder Kendra.
Exports to the U.S. were short-lived (through 1972) and we suspect they stopped when it became harder for the Hondas to pass changing safety standards. The autos were powered by small 598-cc SOHC engines that produced a whopping 36 horsepower. The cars were mostly intended for two passengers although a jump seat was in the back for tiny people. There was virtually no “trunk” space, so if you went out for groceries, you probably went alone. The Civic would replace the 600 as the company finally began establishing dealerships for car sales.
For you to get a feel for how small the Z600 was, look at the photo where it’s sandwiched in between two Jeeps. They look like monsters by comparison to the Z. We’re told the Honda runs, drives, and stops, but it’s going to need a restoration – unless you want to keep it in your closet (the seller has a sense of humor). If you’re going to come for it from any place as far away as Portland, bring a trailer with you. Even though the Honda autos of today are exceptionally reliable cars, what would the parts supply look like for the Z600 50 years later?
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Comments
I remember these, and I remember they were “zippy” in the city, guess that’s what they were built for.
Not for me tho, with the cc’s it has, it also has two, too many wheels. And even then it’s a tad small.
Stationed with a guy in tge Air Force that had one. Driver seat back broke and I welded it for him. It was a fun little car.
1977,worked with a guy in S.Jersey who had a red one,it was his daily driver.
I had a 1972 sedan version of this car. I painted plum crazy purple. A friend of mine was into Mopar and his dad owned an econo-paint auto paint shop and he offered to paint my Honda for $50 with left over paint from his Cuda
I enjoyed driving that little car for a year. Sometimes it’s fun to drive a slow car “balls to the wall” than soft pedaling a fast car. That little car once topped out at 78mph down hill with the wind…. lol
A Smart Car saw one of these on the street and cried, “Daddy”!
I love and would love to have it. I remember them in motorcycle show rooms as a kid.
The low price is interesting. Just a few years ago, surviving Zs were going for over twice that.
Parts availability and other support, are going to have to be concerns. The Z car was never a big seller, even in Japan. It was a feeler in the market by Honda, a very-different company from what it is today. And today, Honda, which has become a large car company with a sideline in motorcycles…probably certainly wants to forget their early years with cars, particularly American customers’ lawsuits over corrosion damage.
You’d be on your own with this one.
It’s not museum quality; and the quick-rusting characteristics would preclude use anywhere other than the Pacific Coast or the Southwest. Parts scarcity would discourage extreme use or harsh climates, such as in Arizona. And good luck in a typical modern crash, such as are becoming more common these days.
I like it. I liked it when it came out (I was 13, and a neighbor had bought one) and still do; but the practicalities, now, just are not there.
Yes, I wonder about parts. I tried a Caravelle and have an Opel Cadet wagon and pieces including mechanical items are non existant.
Honda isn’t acting like other corporations that ignore their history if it doesn’t directly help sell current products – quite the opposite. Search for the video “Honda 600 Serial One” and you’ll see what I mean.
There are companies that carry OEM Parts.
I owned one. It was a delightful little car, one you could drive foot-to-floor without attracting unwanted attention. Selling it was one of my many automotive mistakes.
It was a breeze to service and, like Honda’s motorcycles, was solidly engineered. For the price it was a well-equipped bargain.
Oregon is a bit too far away, but it’s tempting….
Just do it, fly out get the little Uhaul truck and a tow dolly and bring it home. If you want to save some money get the 14 foot Uhaul and stuff this in the back.
Pretty sure it just goes in the box of a box truck… They are barely over 1000lbs!
I have seen a couple hauled in the back of pickup truck beds.
This was my very first car, bought when I was in college. When I parked it in town, my male classmates liked to pick it up and move it perpendicular to the other cars in the parking lot. Very amusing! Ironically, during the late 70’s oil embargos, I couldn’t fuel it because state rules mandated a $10 minimum gas purchase for anyone waiting in line at the pumps. This car – which got up to 50+ mpg – couldn’t hold $10 of gas even with the tank bone dry. (Neither would my Austin Mini, Bugeye Sprite, Isetta, or NSU!)
Old Japanese steel seems as popular among 20-something hotrodders today as Novas and Chevelles were 40 years ago–I never thought I’d see that.
Judging from old Consumer Reports charts, Japanese automakers didn’t manage the rust problem until the later 1970s, so I’d make a very close inspection even with the low asking price. But, it might make a great project.
I’d say the Japanese didn’t fully manage the rust problem until well into this century, if they ever did.
Been that way for quite some time, basically when the Fast and the Furious movie first came out. My 3rd son is into JDMs. He has a RH drive Supra and an Aristo. The prices are insane.
Sold through motorcycle dealers? Maybe initially on the west coast but that changed by the time they were awarding franchises in middle America or at least in Texas where I grew up. Every Honda car dealer I was aware of was an adjunct to an existing new car dealer around Dallas. I bought mine from Jim Allee, an Oldsmobile dealer in east Dallas. Eagle Lincoln/Mercury had Honda cars, as well as David McDavid Pontiac in the mid-cities.
As for the cars, they were wholly unsuited to America and our interstate system. As an in town commuter vehicle they were OK but I’m confident that the reduction of the national speed limit to 55 mph as a response to the Arab oil embargo saved many of these from an early death. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the near go-cart handling of mine and as a teenager it certainly fit my budget. But they were slow, as in the 0-60 time being the same as the 1/4 mile time, about 22 seconds.
I had to work on mine quite a bit too, but that was a good learning experience and served me well in a career in the automotive industry.
On a side note, I should have mentioned that it (the Honda AN600) was my first new car. My first motorcycle was a 4000 mile Kawasaki 900 (see my handle) with twice as many cylinders and 300 cc’s more displacement. On discovering the fun of 2 wheels It would take some really bad weather to get me back into a car.
It helps if the car’s fun. I had to take the van to work for a couple of weeks as I had surgery to do to the bike (VFR 750); getting back on the bike again was like dancing compared to walking.
Bud Kouts in Lansing Michigan sold these. The technicians actually picked up the rear end of these cars and you could put them sideways in the still. What a blast
Civics the next year which were much better..
Looks like it needs a wind up key on the back, jump out at A stop light and wind it up.
Got to check one of these out in person last September in Chattanooga. They are as small as it looks in that photo. Like a first-gen Civic that has been shrunk in the wash.
It’s cool, but with the lack of photos, the seller must not be in a hurry to sell it. I’d take it any day over those ridiculous things it’s parked next to.
Needs an LS. Not really but I seem to remember one that was featured over 40 years ago in magazines (think Hot Rod and Car Craft, not Road and Track) that had an L88 big block Chevy in it.
Two man death box?
I bought a project 600 once and brought it home in the back of a ’72 Dodge pick up, liking 6 inches to close and latch the tailgate. I tinkered with it for a while and ended up selling it before I got it running. Stopped for gas on the way home and a couple of kids on bicycles asked if it was a race car. Told them I was going to make a Rally car out of it. One of my many weird car endeavors!
That second pic between the other two vehicles is hilarious! Cool little cars, wonder if there’s a it if rust. Older Japanese cars like to rust but at least from the pics here it looks decent. It almost looks like the battery is almost as big as the engine??? Would love to have this to scoot around town in!
I’d like to see it sitting next to a British midget.
By the way, I rode in one 10 years ago. I couldn’t wait to get out.
It is my honda and I have several midgets, minis and morris, this thing is tiny in comparison
Already sold.
Not surprising. For the low price, there’s a lot of fun there.
That little Z600 practically screams, Hayabusa! Hayabusa! Put one of those motors in it and watch the fun begin!
Put an air-cooled CB1100 engine in it.
Maybe not as fast as a Hayabusa. But plenty powerful – the retro CB is good for over 115 mph (that’s when I chickened out) but with an American-style easy torque curve.
The CB is over 700 pounds, so a 1000-pound car shouldn’t be a problem.
And a lot of the parts headaches would be solved – as well as the eth-gas woes.
It would probably be an easier swap too, since the Haybusa is water cooled.
Tall buyers beware on these cute microcars. I looked at one on eBay a few years ago that was spotless; a beautiful car for $4500 or so. A sport model with racing stripes, fender flares and alloy wheels. I had cash in hand and was ready to pull the trigger. Then I got in it. Being a manual, of course, the clutch required me to attempt to wedge my left knee between the steering wheel and the armrest. Not happening. I had to say “no” with much regret. Not on my list anymore.
Hayabusa Yamaha engine swap good for 200hp stock that lil thing w/be a ROCKET.
seen these swaps on golf carts riding lawn mowers even motorized wheel chairs.
Insane acceleration.
Course Honda makes plenty of engines in the size range needed if you wanted to keep it all Honda.
Nothing else makes sense –
Be great at coffee cruises as novelty piece raising $ for local charities offering Track rides at Drag races.
Hilarious if it Transformed out of another car or truck for match challenge drag races & that Nitrous NOS kick Hayabusa engine set the track on fire 🔥 as it roared to the Timing lights at 200+mph.
Hayabusas ate NOT made by Yamaha!! They’re Suzukis
In the early 1980’s I owned a 1972 Honda 600 Sedan. It had a two cylinder engine that I heard was from the Honda 600 motorcycle, with the bottom end changed for front drive axles. With the manual four-speed trans it got an easy 50MPG and would cruise along at 65 MPH without a problem. What did it in was a rubber shock absorber thing between the engine and the transmission. At 55 MPH it let go, ending up in neutral no matter what gear I selected. It turned into tiny chunks of rubber that fell into the oil pan, which were then sucked against the oil intake screen, stopping all oil flow and frying the top end. If I had known about it I would’ve killed the engine immediately. I pulled the rubber off the screen in one solid chunk. The engine was trashed. I bought the car for $800 and sold it for $250 – to a man who collected them. I would love to have another one.
Who remembers getting a bunch of guys and putting the jr.high english teacher’s one sideways in the breezeway between buildings?
Not me of course.
As a young teen in the mid 70’s – a local girl, a few years older than us,had one of these.
More than 1 of us boys became men in that car
Good Times
Presumably this was in the Shire? :P
waaaaaay tooooo small on the roads today…….
I had one 600, then two, and a 3rd to keep the others running and eventually 5 cars to supply one car with parts to keep it running but eventually parts became unobtainium. I had planned to transplant a Geo Metro engine and trans but they too were getting hard to source parts. The quality of the body structure was frail compared to my Austin Mini and it just didn’t seem worth the effort. The mini is so much more substantial so I let all of the Hondas go. I’ve gone strictly European micro. My favorite is my 1959 Fiat 500.
here’s mine (not far off) as a well known ‘wagon man’: ……. ……. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Autobianchi_Bianchina_Furgoncino_tetto_basso.JPG
THIS is the 1st Japanese car I saw in my neighborhood (30 mi sw of Boston late 60s early 70s) asa teen. I remember twistin my neck, craning to see “What was that ‘ ‘ big blk plastic oval rear window car’ ‘ that just went by. Coulda been this same orange painted. A, N, Z ? I like the lill buz bomb they had w/the 2 chain drive S600, S800 esp in fastback. Such low production (hi for a motorcycle manufacturer).
Think of it as a prototype.
Honda-san was eager, impatient, to get into the auto industry – he was a genius, but he also had plenty of self-esteem. He was sure (and was mostly correct) he could design cars better than Nissan and Toyota were doing at the time – just as he had shown he could design motorcycles better than the European giants, a few years prior.
There were barriers to entry in the Japanese market – not only to sell, but even just to manufacture for export. The Japanese government always exerted heavy control; and there was a lid placed on motor manufacturers – if a company was not making vehicles by the cutoff date, it could not enter into it later. Honda got under the wire with a kei truck made in limited numbers, mostly to establish itself as a car company.
What followed was the 600 car (this chassis with a frumpy utilitarian body) and then the Z600. Both prototypes – Honda had only motorcycle dealers in the States at the time, and this was not the sort of vehicle they knew how to sell.
Although fraught with problems, it was seen as a success; and the next wave was the Civic – with water cooling, a European-style driveline (now the norm for FWD) and a yet-undiscovered horrific tendency to rust.
It’s to Honda’s credit that they made good on the corrosion, at least partially in buying back Civics by the thousands. UNLIKE what the American companies were doing.
But, yes, the Z car was frail. Honda, the man and the company…both were learning.
Lovely looking car. I remember seeing one like this at a Honda dealer not far from where I lived. I was rather surprised, a 1970s Japanese kei car among 1990s Hondas, some much larger than this.
A pal bought one senior year; I thought it was a CIVIC. Shifter went through the dash board to a belt driven trans with FWD.Did great donuts in the snow but only in reverse. Hit a bump on the road and something on the steering broke and it darted into oncoming traffic and was done in by a semi at 45 mph. 2 guys RIP. Hafta check that stuff daily and carefully!
Hitchhiking to Princeton New jersey in 1971/72 I caught a ride in one of these Hondas. As I folded my teenage body into the car I recall thinking…Holy Moleys! comparing this with a teachers 442 ! Ah the good old days of VW’s and 442’s
When I worked at the Pontiac Store in the early ’70s. We became a Honda Store also. Our original Honda parts shipment was 50% Civic maintenance parts like filters and brake pads. And the other 50% were 600 parts. I think we once sold a set of points AND brake pads for a 600. We got to know the other closest Honda dealership quite well and always traveled together when going to Honda functions. The owner mentioned that he was only one of ten dual motorcycle/car dealerships in the country. The rest were either just motorcycles or just car dealerships. In the early days of Honda, you did not have to have a separate dealership, only separate show rooms. Which we had in Highland Park Illinois.