All About The N360: Honda's First Mass-Produced Kei Car
In the 1960s, gas-guzzling V8-powered muscle cars dominated American highways, but tiny kei cars were getting big in Japan. By 1967, the country had become the world's second most prolific automaking nation with more than 3 million cars produced, but up to that point, Honda had lagged behind its compatriots in introducing a kei car. Company founder Soichiro Honda saw the success Volkswagen had with the Beetle and wanted to build a "People's car" for Japan. He established a special research department at Honda's headquarters, and the team there set about designing a kei car, beginning with a comfortable and safe cabin.
The result was the N360, a two-seater with a two-cylinder 354 cubic centimeter engine that produced 31 horsepower. The two-door sedan was barely 10 feet long and weighed just 1,120 pounds. Despite these modest specs, Soichiro Honda insisted the N360 be built with enough structural integrity and pep to be safe to drive on the highway. Its performance exceeded that of most other kei cars. It debuted at the 13th Tokyo Motor Show in October 1966 and was officially launched the following Spring. According to Honda's website, it was important to Soichiro Honda that the N360 be affordable as well as safe to drive.
[Featured image by Mytho88 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC- By 3.0]
Honda sold more than 22,000 N360s in three months
The price for an N360 ended up being 313,000 yen, which at the time equaled less than $900. That was about half the cost of the 1966 Toyota Corolla ,the other big hit at that year's Tokyo Motor Show. The N360 hit Japanese showrooms in March of 1967, followed by the LN360 commercial minivan in June and the TN360 truck in October. Using front-wheel drive allowed Honda to clear more room in the cabin, and the wheels were pushed as far outward as possible to further maximize interior space.
The N360 and its two cousins were sales juggernauts. Before the model's debut, the Japanese market for kei cars was less than 10,000. After three months, Honda had sold more than twice that many N360 units, and by April 1969, there were a half million N-series vehicles on Japanese roadways. Honda began exporting the N360 to other markets in 1968, and the model remained in production through 1972. The 25-year import restriction has long since expired on the N360, meaning these quirky little kei cars are now eligible to be brought to the United States.
[Featured image by dakechet via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled| CC- By 2.0]