1986-1989 Honda Accord

by CarLustBlog.com at 2:28 AM PDT, June 25, 2009

Every so often, an automaker has a special run in which it can seemingly do nothing wrong; great car follows great car, and seemingly every product it touches turns to gold. I would argue that GM had a run like that in the 1960s, followed by Mercedes-Benz in the 1970s, Honda in the 1980s, BMW in the 1990s, and Toyota in this decade. These are the stretches in which a run of great cars builds the brand's reputation and a core of loyal customers that continue to buy over the following decades; in other words, the exact opposite of what GM did from 1975-1985.

Besides the great cars, I find these runs of success so compelling because they illustrate just how deceptively simple making great cars can be. These manufacturers didn't succeed because of fancy new technologies, splashy styling, or unnecessary gimmicks; they succeeded because they delivered original, attractive, cars that last and are fun to drive. Honda is the ultimate example here; once just a respected small automaker, Honda became a global powerhouse by executing the fundamentals flawlessly in the 1980s.

There's something special, just innately right about Honda cars in the mid-to-late 1980s; a purity of styling and engineering that took simple, unpretentious cars and lifted them into genius. I'm focusing on the Accord here, and Cookie the Dog's Owner previously waxed eloquent about his 1985 Honda CRX, and Rob the SVX Guy has done the same for his 1989 Honda Prelude Si, but much of what made these cars great go for the entire 1980s Honda lineup--the Civic, Prelude, Accord, and even the first Acura Integra and Legend.

Like other Hondas of the time, the strengths of the 1986-1989 Accord were simple and fundamental. For one thing, the Accord was a cheerful car; its look was attractive but devoid of pretentious artifice. The Accord's interior was straightforward, with informative gauges, firm seats covered in nicely nibbed cloth, and a low beltline, offering expansive, glassy views of the outside world. The inside of the Accord was a pleasant, purposeful place to be, freed from the clutter of today's cars--no bluetooth iDrives, heated seat bolsters, heads-up Onstar, or leather-upholstered satnav here. The Accord's interior provided a comfortable seat, a pleasing steering wheel, and fantastic light and visibility.

That steering wheel connected to some pretty pleasing machinery as well. The Accord was offered in a variety of four-cylinder flavors; none of them offered an embarrassment of power (Car & Driver tested a 1986 Accord LXi at a 9.3-second 0-60 run), but like all Honda four-cylinders, the Accord's powerplants loved to play with smoothness and enthusiasm out of proportion with their modest horsepower. Likewise, the Accord's handling was sneakily impressive. This Accord came with double wishbone suspension at the front and rear; an advanced but expensive suspension type that gave the Accord outstanding sports-car agility unmatched by its family-sedan peers.

That sneaky, subtle sportiness showed up in the Accord's styling. The Audi 5000 and Ford Taurus were rightly lauded for bringing aerodynamics to the sedan world at around this time, but Accord was just as smooth--and it had hidden headlights. Just to repeat, it was a family sedan with hidden headlights--how cool is that? The Accord was unpretentious and clean, but it was sleek. It was even available in--ooh, la la--svelte three-door hatchback trim.

During my great used-car search several years ago, in which I ultimately purchased my 1983 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon, I seriously considered buying an Accord of this vintage. In fact, there was at the time an entrepreneur who specialized in only Accords of this vintage; he purchased them, fixed them up, and resold them at eye-watering prices. I drove a few of his cars and was impressed, but ultimately I couldn't justify spending large amounts of money on 250,000-mile cars, innate, baked-in goodness or not.

I know Rob the SVX Guy has had to make that decision as well; he owned and possibly still owns an Accord of this vintage, and despite his dedication to the car, its extreme age and wear has been presenting him with some difficult decisions. These Accords are the kinds of car that get their hooks into your heart.

Though there have been other great Accords*, I think this model was the high mark for the line--and I say this as the happy owner of a 2003 Accord. Other Accords have been bigger and more powerful, but this Accord just got it right in a way that I miss as Hondas get bigger, heavier, darker, and more self-consciously overstyled.

* I feel that Honda Accords, like Star Trek movies, tend to alternate between interesting and uninteresting. The third, fifth, and seventh-generation Accords were relatively sleek and interesting; the fourth, sixth, and eighth are relatively blocky and uninteresting.

All three pictures here come from How Stuff Works' informative 1986-1989 Honda Accord page; Honda is the original copyright holder.

Update: Some of the commenters are making the excellent point that Hondas of the early 1990s were similarly brilliant, and they're absolutely right. It's easy shorthand to refer to the 1980s as Honda's magic time, but in fact Honda's do-no-wrong period was something more like 1985-1995. Most of the Honda products during that period, including Mochi Mochi's 1991 Honda Civic, my 1994 Acura Integra, the second-generation Acura Legeand, and the 1990 Acura NSX, were inspired and compelling in the same way these Accords were compelling--they offered simple, clean interiors; unpretentious, sleek styling; sweet, rev-happy engines; surprisingly sharp and incisive handling; and great visibility offered by a low beltline. Most importantly, these cars were so much fun to own and drive that their owners became dedicated Honda buyers for the next several decades.