In 1965, based on the S600 Roadster platform, Honda introduced a very limited number of S600 Coupes. At only 1,800 units ever produced, the coupe is extremely hard to track down. With one successful S restoration already under his belt, King gave in to temptation when he ran across an auction on eBay. He had won the highest bidder award, but still hadn't met the minimum reserve. He contacted the seller, who actually turned out to be the owner's son-in-law, and was surprised to find out what the asking price was. "He told me the owner was an 80 year old Japanese man whose friends back home had stated the car was worth over $20,000! The car was valuable, but not worth that price, especially in it's condition," he states. Its condition was in fact less than stellar. A victim of vandalism, the coupe sat still in storage ever since the late '60s. After some hard bargaining, the seller finally decided to let it go for a much more reasonable price. With an itch to build and a head full of S600 knowledge, King began the process of rehabilitating the once defeated chassis. Once the car was brought home and closely inspected, a little history began to unfold. "You could see the outline of "Internacional Goodwill" painted across the hood. There's also a sticker on the back window from a Cantina in Durango, Mexico. The original owner says the car was brought to Mexico in 1965 by a Honda Motor Company test driver for evaluation in the Americas." Though the vandalism and old age had taken a toll on the forty-something year old body, King once again enlisted the help of GTA Auto body in Orange, CA, to straighten things out. Miraculously, the badly dented roof and front end were fully restored, and the coupe was smothered in a fresh coat of Honda R-2, aka "Scarlet." After four years of hunting down parts, the coupe was finally completed, and King became the proud owner of his second S600 classic.
Although both cars are very rare, and have countless hours and dollars poured into their current existence, don't think that either of these two are missing any road time. King is quick to point out that he does in fact see some street time when weather and schedules permit. He's even brought both cars to the coveted Japanese Classic Car Show and proceeded to field more questions than he could possibly count from interested attendees. If you catch him there this year, stop by and chat for awhile, he might even share his in-depth progress photos with you.
With so much emphasis placed on Hondas produced after 1990, we sometimes forget about the cars that started it all. The old saying "you don't know where you're going, if you don't know where you've been" rings true, even in the automotive world. Know your roots.......