Honda Accord

In 1976, the folks from Honda knocked the socks off of everyone in the industry, especially Detroit.
Until then, they had made motorcycles and a littley, humpty, dumpty sedan called the 600 and later, the Civic. But the Accord was a revelation. It was attractive, solid, peppy and came with an AM/FM radio standard. It’s hard to believe, but that was outrageous for the period when everything short of the steering wheel was an option.
And it sold like cold beer in August, and year after year, Honda engineers made sure it was the leader of the pack, cream of the crop, le grande fromage.
The latest Accord keeps that tradition alive and reasserts it’s position as the bogey, the target vehicle everyone shoots for. The looks are suitably chiseled for today and the fit and finish is about par for Honda which is above par for everyone else.
Inside, all isn’t as harmonious with a center stack of radios, climate controls and other stuff that is as simple as the wiring diagram for a Saturn Five rocket and as intuitive as a operating a computer in a coal mine. By the way, that pretty much sums up my only quibble with the car.
Power comes from a 3.5-liter V6 with 271 horsepower on tap. That’s not a lot by today’s standards of over 300-horsepower V6’s, but in the 3400 pound Accord EX-L, it is what is charitably called, adequate.
Under your right hand is a 5-speed automatic, and together they produce 20 miles per gallon in the city, 30 highway.
Our fairly loaded Accord came to just over $32,000, which isn’t cheap, but price a used one. They hang onto their value the way Donald Trump hangs onto his hair in a high wind. In short, it’s still number one.