For a hot minute, I wanted to own a Honda N600 as a project car. I knew where a good parts car was hiding out in a junkyard, and they seemed like a potentially sound investment. However, I just couldn’t wrap my head around living with such a meager powerplant, so perhaps my fear of tiny motors caused me to miss out. If you feel the same way, check out this pair of Honda N600s found here on craigslist by Barn Finds reader Craig, where the seller reveals just nicely an N600 fits in the bed of an F150.
The sale is for two cars, with the blue one seen above sporting a rust-free New Mexico body. The yellow, or butterscotch car, has rust issues but also a ton of good spares. The seller intended to make the blue car into the rust-free, high-quality example, with the remains of the rusty sibling being sold off or used for an art project. This blue car has been stripped down, but it also shows you just how nice the floors are. The body looks laser-straight, too, but it’s a long ways from being complete.
The seller has an interesting idea, which is to restore the blue car and use the remains of the yellow N600 for hanging a car nose on the wall, or converting it into a mini-trailer to pull to shows or other Honda enthusiast gatherings. For the price, I’d be tempted to try and restore the yellow car as it’s certainly far less rusty than any of the remaining cars in junkyards up north. Lots of spares are included, and the seller points out that the yellow car is complete if someone wants to strip it and junk the shell.
Both cars have running air-cooled engines, derived from motorcycles, along with four-speed manual transmissions. As the seller points out, these are very simple cars to rebuild, but many of the hard-to-find smaller parts are simply obsolete. There’s a good network of enthusiasts to tap into, and Tim Ming is someone you should get to know if you take this project pair on. They do make some excellent noises, provided you don’t mind living in the higher rev ranges of the N600’s diminutive powerplant.
I met my friend in 1967 when I did the first oil change on his friend’s 1967 AH 3000. Later he worked at a Chevy dealer who took on Honda. I test drove a 1972 Z600, but i wanted a 1972 Capri V6 four speed, which wasn’t yet available in my city.
The price for the Honda Z600 was $1967 out the door, including tax. Quaker State offered a free 50,000 engine warranty if only Quaker State was used at the selling dealership.
Capri V6’s became available, and I bought one. In 1973, i found a used 1972 Z600 in orange. It needed a battery which was cheap from a Honda motorcycle dealership. My wife loved the Z600, but the oil embargo drove up gas prices, and value of the Honda, and it was sold.
I drove my friend’s Z600 for three hours on a interstate. The only thing i passed was a Subaru 360.
That first picture here is funny.
I bet in a long bed, the car would fit nicely.
Redid one of those for my wife’s best friend back in the early 80s. She was just divorced, needed cheap transit & was only going to be driving a few miles a day. Well things change & she got accepted to ,grad school requiring a 90 mile round trip 4 days a week. Car took it for 2 years she only sold it because her back couldn’t take the rough ride caused by the short wheelbase & tired seats.
Still in it’s day….nice to see them still around.
I had a 70 that I cut out 2feet of it u sit in backseat to drive that thing was fun but the wind would pick u up and u would fly into the other lane