It's not like Honda made a handsome coupe out of the Accord sedan anyway. Look at this ugly beast. This car was so different looking from the very handsome Accord sedan it shares its name with I wonder why they even called it "Accord" in the first place. With the exception of the lovely 1998-2002 Accord coupes, the Accord coupe has never been an especially attractive design so it's sort of ironic that it was one of the last "affordable" two door sedans on the market. This blue/grey aardvark is a 2016.
It was more a matter of function than form that the first Honda Accord sold here in 1976 was a two door "hatchback" or "three door" coupe. Back in the day, you paid more for a four door; more utility more expense. You weren't so much making a fashion statement with your two or three door Accord as much as you were spending your money very well on a bullet proof reliable, superbly built albeit not very special looking new car. For those of us smitten by the look of a coupe, no matter how well these cars were bolted together, they were not for us.
Accord bulked up for 1982 but the coupe was still an awkward looking plunger of a car. All Hondas back then were stead fast in their puritanical, utilitarian design so the two door Accord really wasn't anything different from the sedan except for being a little bit less expensive. Nothing flashy - just supremely well engineered, stoic, boring automobiles. As I've gotten older, I find something vastly appealing about such a stalwart approach to life, however, young me would never have even thought to buy anything like this. And I literally and sorely paid the price for such vanity. Oh, the flashy junk I drove back then.
Subsequent updates to the Accord brought more unsatisfying, utilitarian coupes that wouldn't look out of place in a communist block nation. The Honda Accord coupe for 1986 continued the blasé styling trend that helped mold and reinforce not only the model's image as a staid, forthright appliance, but Honda's as well. People who owned Honda's may have been pragmatic, intelligent human beings but they were not the first people you'd call to go out with on a Friday night when you really wanted to burn the house down. However, if you wanted Honda build quality in a somewhat appealing, bold and innovative package, starting in 1986, Honda would invite you into their Acura showrooms.
While Acura's designs were created in, surprise, American design studios, it took quite a while for any of Acura's design ethos to trickle down to Honda. While 1989 Accord's were certainly the best looking up to that point, they remained utterly forgettable. Utterly forgettable, fantastically built, stealthy, high performance little space ships. Every time I'd drive one I'd kick myself for not having one. Thing was, after I got out of one I'd quickly forget about it. After all, life's too short to be practical.
When shopping for a new car in late 1996, I seriously looked at a 1997 Accord coupe. But ultimately, I was put off by its lack of panache and elan. As sophomoric as this might sound, especially coming from a dyed in the wool "car person", that Accord just wasn't cool. Although I knew that it would probably be the best automobile I would ever own, instead of buying an Accord coupe I opted instead for a 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. I never regretted that decision either.
Had these oh-so-sweet 1998-2002 Accord V-6 coupes been around when I was in the market would I have sprung for one instead? Hard to say. A loaded Accord was not cheap but with their jewel like build quality and finally some Acura styling mojo, these cars were an alluring proposition. Problem was, even by the late 1990's, two door sedans like this were fast becoming the world's best typewriter or VCR. The coupe market was shrinking because the sedans they were based on were priced almost the same. Not everyone buys a car with "how it looks" taking precedence over "how the hell are we going to get toddlers in and out of the backseat". Also, coupe buyers were only willing to pay so much of a stipend to make their fashion statement as coupes suddenly stickered for more than sedans.
"Ok, so, let's attempt to distance the coupe from the sedan by offering styling that differentiates the two door more from the four door." Well, those marching orders for the 2003 reboot of the coupe resulted in a car that looked more like a large Civic coupe than a sports coupe version of the Accord sedan. Suddenly, the cork was out of the drain.
It's funny, from certain angles, the 2008 vintage Accord coupe was not a bad looking automobile and there certainly was no confusing this car with the four door its based on. It had the "reach" and presence of the late great Acura Legend coupes but it had one glaring and huge problem; dat ass. Some things you just simply can't unsee. Had Honda used the rear end from the sedan on these coupes instead of that thing, would it have increased sales? Who knows. Certainly wouldn't have hurt them.
Sadly, the last Accord coupe, while magnificent, was an evolutionary morphing of the 2008 model. Can you really tell any difference between this car and one that's 9 years older? I sure as hell can't. Visibility out the back of most sedans today is a joke and it's especially bad in coupes. Sorry. Was bad in coupes. About the only difference, aside from styling, between the Accord coupe and sedan was that you could get a pot whopping 278 horsepower, 3.5 liter V-6 with a six speed manual transmission on the coupe. Try finding one of those at a used car lot. Bet you a dollar you can't.
Subsequent updates to the Accord brought more unsatisfying, utilitarian coupes that wouldn't look out of place in a communist block nation. The Honda Accord coupe for 1986 continued the blasé styling trend that helped mold and reinforce not only the model's image as a staid, forthright appliance, but Honda's as well. People who owned Honda's may have been pragmatic, intelligent human beings but they were not the first people you'd call to go out with on a Friday night when you really wanted to burn the house down. However, if you wanted Honda build quality in a somewhat appealing, bold and innovative package, starting in 1986, Honda would invite you into their Acura showrooms.
While Acura's designs were created in, surprise, American design studios, it took quite a while for any of Acura's design ethos to trickle down to Honda. While 1989 Accord's were certainly the best looking up to that point, they remained utterly forgettable. Utterly forgettable, fantastically built, stealthy, high performance little space ships. Every time I'd drive one I'd kick myself for not having one. Thing was, after I got out of one I'd quickly forget about it. After all, life's too short to be practical.
When shopping for a new car in late 1996, I seriously looked at a 1997 Accord coupe. But ultimately, I was put off by its lack of panache and elan. As sophomoric as this might sound, especially coming from a dyed in the wool "car person", that Accord just wasn't cool. Although I knew that it would probably be the best automobile I would ever own, instead of buying an Accord coupe I opted instead for a 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. I never regretted that decision either.
Had these oh-so-sweet 1998-2002 Accord V-6 coupes been around when I was in the market would I have sprung for one instead? Hard to say. A loaded Accord was not cheap but with their jewel like build quality and finally some Acura styling mojo, these cars were an alluring proposition. Problem was, even by the late 1990's, two door sedans like this were fast becoming the world's best typewriter or VCR. The coupe market was shrinking because the sedans they were based on were priced almost the same. Not everyone buys a car with "how it looks" taking precedence over "how the hell are we going to get toddlers in and out of the backseat". Also, coupe buyers were only willing to pay so much of a stipend to make their fashion statement as coupes suddenly stickered for more than sedans.
"Ok, so, let's attempt to distance the coupe from the sedan by offering styling that differentiates the two door more from the four door." Well, those marching orders for the 2003 reboot of the coupe resulted in a car that looked more like a large Civic coupe than a sports coupe version of the Accord sedan. Suddenly, the cork was out of the drain.
It's funny, from certain angles, the 2008 vintage Accord coupe was not a bad looking automobile and there certainly was no confusing this car with the four door its based on. It had the "reach" and presence of the late great Acura Legend coupes but it had one glaring and huge problem; dat ass. Some things you just simply can't unsee. Had Honda used the rear end from the sedan on these coupes instead of that thing, would it have increased sales? Who knows. Certainly wouldn't have hurt them.
Sadly, the last Accord coupe, while magnificent, was an evolutionary morphing of the 2008 model. Can you really tell any difference between this car and one that's 9 years older? I sure as hell can't. Visibility out the back of most sedans today is a joke and it's especially bad in coupes. Sorry. Was bad in coupes. About the only difference, aside from styling, between the Accord coupe and sedan was that you could get a pot whopping 278 horsepower, 3.5 liter V-6 with a six speed manual transmission on the coupe. Try finding one of those at a used car lot. Bet you a dollar you can't.
Not only is there no coupe version of the Accord for 2018, there's no V-6 engine available either. Honda eschewing the big motor for a pair of direct injected, turbocharged in line 4's. The times they sure are a changin' and while I applaud the seismic steps forward that the 2018 Accord is, I miss the old days of form over function. Perhaps that's one of many subliminal reasons why I hold onto my aging Monte Carlo and Camaros like I do.
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