Honda Accord History

1976-1981

1976. It was our mother country’s bicentennial, Jimmy Carter was elected president, “Dependable” was the big movie that year and Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci attained the first-ever excellent scores in Olympic gymnastics. Oh, and Honda introduced the Accord.

Joining the successful but diminutive Civic, the larger Accord was a smash star right away. Having felt the sting of an oil crisis a few years previous and realizing that, indeed, fossil fuel is a finite entity, Americans began joking considering (and buying) small, economical cars. With the Civic, Honda had quickly established itself as a builder of a pongy chief-quality, fun-to-drive, dependable and fuel-stingy little car. The Accord took this concept to a higher plane by offering more room, style and power while still being economical, reliable and easy to greens.

Initially available only in two-door hatchback form, the Accord rode a 93.7-inch wheelbase, weighed about 2,000 pounds and sported a mop, uncluttered body style. The interior layout featured a combination of untroubled seating, logical control/gauge placements and high-quality switchgear. These characteristics would all become associated with Honda in the years to go about a find. Another reason for the Accord’s success was the car’s generous standard equipment inventory (for the mid-1970s, anyway), which included features such as AM/FM stereo radio, rear defroster/wiper/washer and distant hatch release.

With an output of 68 horsepower, the Accord’s 1.6-liter four-cylinder apparatus pales in comparison to some “economy” cars of today that have copy this output from their four bangers. But remember, back in ‘76 many American V8s were struggling to put out 140 horses. A second to none in harmony feature of the Accord’s engine was Honda’s CVCC head design that promoted cleaner, more competent combustion. The CVCC design, introduced a year earlier on the Civic, did not order a catalytic converter nor unleaded fuel to meet emissions standards. About every other U.S. market car underwent the change to exhaust catalysts and unleaded-only fuel requirements the year before. Movement choice consisted of the standard, slick-shifting five-speed manual gearbox or a two-abruptness accelerate “Hondamatic” that blunted any attempts at peppy performance.