The Honda Accord is now in its 11th generationalmost half a century ago the first examples built by Saitama joined the Civic in U.S. Honda showrooms. First-generation Accords from 1976-1981 are few and far between on American scrapyards in recent years, but this ’80 hatchback appeared in a cemetery near Santa Cruz not so long ago.
The Accord was initially only available as a hatchback, with the sedan version added for the 1979 model year in the US market.
This beautiful Malaise era paint color was mentioned Catherine BrownThe 1980 Accord was also available in colors such as Amall Blue, Longleet Gold, Saint Moritz Silver and Sophia Red.
When cars rust in coastal California, it usually happens from the top down. The hatch on this car is pretty far gone.
The interior still looks good for its 44th year.
Honda didn’t do that go to six digit odometers in its US market cars until 1981, so we have no way of knowing whether this car had 97,352 or 497,452 miles on it at the end. The best-ridden Accord I’ve ever found in a junkyard was an ’88 with 626,476 miles (only surpassed by a Volvo 240 with 631,000 miles on the clock, a Camry with 648,000 miles on the odometer And a 949,000 mile Avalon).
The engine is a 1751cc inline four with the CVCC stratified fuel delivery system, rated at 68 horsepower and 94 pound-feet.
The 1980 Accords with the five-speed manual transmission had 72 horsepower, but this car has the Hondamatic automatic (a strange motorcycle derived unit that can be considered a two or three speed motor depending on your definitions).
The curb weight of this car was only 2,145 pounds, about the same as that of the 2024 Mitsubishi MirageThe . current agreement weighs over 1440 kilos.
The Jeco clock was standard equipment, which was unusual for such an affordable car at the time.
The suggested retail price for this car with Hondamatic was $6,199, which is approximately $25,062 in 2024.
I had an Agfa Speedex film camera from 1940 join me on my journey to the scrap yards of California, as one doesand I took some pictures of it.
Those JDM fender mirrors looked good on the Accord.
Honda didn’t build Accords in Ohio when this car was new (the first rolled off the Marysville line in late 1982), but they tested them there.