The Honda Accord Aerodeck was close to perfection
Is the Honda Accord Aerodeck the most underrated car of the 1980s? PetrolBlog is going to use the following 650 words to explain why it could be.
In a parallel universe, the Honda Accord Aerodeck – or rather its design – could have altered the course of British motoring history.
Consider the facts. The Honda Accord Aerodeck “comes closer to perfection than most vehicles”, proclaimed Autocar in 1986. That’s quite a statement.
If your school report said you came closer to perfection than most pupils, your parents would whisk you away for a steak dinner at the Berni Inn before giving you the choice of one of the personal stereos on pages 250 and 251 of the Argos catalogue.
‘Transcends the hatchback’
Honda made some bold claims of its own. The Accord Aerodeck is “the vehicle which transcends the hatchback”, it said in 1986. In fairness, Honda had a point.
The Accord Aerodeck was part four-seater coupe and part mini-estate car – with more than a hint of a shooting brake about it. A Honda fit for royalty, perhaps? Maybe a certain Princess with a penchant for plastic cars from the West Midlands.
You see, there’s every reason to believe that the Aerodeck was the result of yet another missed opportunity for the British car industry. Was Honda’s almost perfect Aerodeck destined to be a replacement for the Reliant Scimitar GTE?
Reliant had approached Bertone to come up with a design for a new Scimitar GTE and spent a reported £100,000 with the Italian styling house. It progressed as far as a full-size mock-up, complete with four-seater interior and a cool dashboard design, with power likely to be sourced by a Rover V8 engine.
Princess Anne would have bought a dozen (probably), but Reliant pulled the plug amid concerns that it would be unlikely to generate a profit. Reliant’s (and the British car industry’s) loss was Honda’s gain.
There’s a bit of a leap to get from Reliant’s project SE82 to the Honda Accord Aerodeck, but the subject is worthy of a discussion over a Chicken Cordon Bleu and a bottle of Yugoslavian Laski Riesling at the Berni Inn.
Itchy bottoms and Armani suits
Quite why the Aerodeck wasn’t available as a poster in Athena is anyone’s guess. Forget the female tennis player with an itchy bum, or the Ferrari for men who wore pastel-coloured Armani suits, the Aerodeck had it all going on.
Pop-up headlights, two huge side doors, alloy-effect wheel trims and a ‘gullwing’ tailgate made this the pin-up of choice for those who wanted some style to go with their practicality. Amazingly, it was actually cheaper than the Accord four-door saloon.
Power was sourced from a 2.0-litre engine producing 106hp in EX form or 122hp in fuel-injected EXi guise. It wasn’t particularly quick, which is why Sonny Crockett decided against using an Aerodeck for tackling crime in Miami.
In the back, there was enough room to swing a pet alligator, but the Accord Aerodeck was certainly more of a coupe than it was an estate car. Elvis the alligator would have struggled to climb over the high boot lip, while the suspension mounts would have made stretching out a little tricky.
Still want that Scimitar?
Still, Elvis would have enjoyed basking in the expanse of glass, especially the way tailgate encroached on the roof line. Sadly, this low roof line had a negative effect on headroom in the back, although the amount of legroom made the Aerodeck more comfortable than the likes of the Volkswagen Scirocco.
Sure, it could have been better, but the same could be same of the menu at the Berni Inn. You also have to wonder what might have been had Reliant progressed to production and fitted a V8.
Instead, we must thank Honda for the Aerodeck. As close to perfection as things got in the 1980s, launched before the Volvo 480, and blessed with one of the coolest names on the planet. Still want that Scimitar, Princess Anne?
5 Comments
I nice read, I seem to remember seeing a period comparison test between this and the 480, where it was found the 480 was the better car (but this was before electrical gremlins came on the scene). There is one of these (aerpdeck) that lives in my village, same metallic blue as my 480, I do love the shape of them, did they ever come with a manual? if so it will be on my list of cars to get, along with the Mazda 323 ZXi V6 and the Golf VR5
here is the test:
https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/roadtests/480RoadTest1987.pdf
PetrolBlog doesn’t do twin-tests, but if it did!
It would be good to talk the owner of the Aerodeck in your village into a twin-test with your 480. It would be a perfect PetrolBlog feature.
Yes, you could get a manual ‘box, but finding an Accord Aerodeck of any description is becoming increasingly difficult.
I still want one of these. Maybe more than I want a 3rd gen Prelude.
Thank you for another fine article. I have one, a 1989G EX, and am very happy with it.
The carb-fed engine, feather-light power steering and unhurried automatic transmission make it more of a cruiser and less of a performance weapon than the sleek looks might imply, but a very good one.
Only the suspension lets the side down, being a bit too literal in its translation of every little bump and hollow straight to your velour-cushioned bottom. Contemporary road tests also marked it down for this.
That said, the ride is certainly no worse than we’ve become used to in modern family cars 30 years later, on 50-series tyres and down-to-a-price Macpherson struts.
I love its distinctive yet elegant styling – as I did when they were new – and the airy, classy cabin. I love the details you mention, and the fact that everything still works after 30 years. And I also love that they are largely forgotten today, and therefore cheap to buy for the discerning tat collector.
Honda were on top of the world 30 years ago. Their engines were dominating Formula 1 and the Accord was conquering America as well as class leading in the UK. It just shows how much Europe had to up their game out of fear of the Japanese. Even if we don’t drive Japanese, we can thank the likes of Honda and Toyota for the better built cars we drive today.