Classic pearls of the future - Honda Insight
07/11/2014
Who knows? Perhaps in 20 or 30 years' time, today's teenagers will discover the Honda Insight as a cult classic car because of its innovation and its special position in the car market at the turn of the century. The extremely stylish car certainly has what it takes and there is already a sizeable fan community today.
Honda first showed the hybrid three-door as a J-VX concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1997. It was then launched on the Japanese market in November 1999. On board was IMA, which stood for "Integrated Motor Assist" and included hybrid technology consisting of a three-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor. The Honda Insight was launched on the American market in December 1999, seven months before the first Toyota Prius.
With 3.9 liters per 100 km on the highway and 4.4 liters per 100 km in combined city/highway traffic, the aluminum-bodied Insight was exceptionally economical for the time and occupied the top spot in the US efficiency ratings.
The Honda Insight, which was mainly built for the American and Japanese markets between 1999 and 2006, was less compact than one might initially expect. After all, it was 3.945 meters long and 1.695 meters wide and even the height of 1.355 meters did not make it a sports car, despite the hatchback silhouette and the focus on two seats. However, with a Cd value of 0.25, the Insight was very aerodynamically designed, which, with the available engine output of 68 hp from the three-cylinder petrol engine and 13 hp from the electric motor, would theoretically have enabled a top speed of over 200 km/h (124 mph). However, the fuel supply is interrupted at 185 km/h.
Shifting was via a CVT transmission similar to a variator or a manual gearbox, and comfort was not neglected with air conditioning and a CD changer, which was only added to the cockpit during the facelift.
A total of 17,020 Insights were built. Thanks to their durable construction, they have a good chance of survival. In this country, however, the Insights was always one of the rarities on the road and this has not changed to this day. Which means it is certain to become a classic ....
More pictures can be found here.
