Although economy cars are useful in many ways, you shouldn’t necessarily count on them to lead easy lives. Easy to abuse and not demanding on your wallet, cherished examples aren’t exactly a dime a dozen. This pair of 1972 Honda N600 projects here on craigslist looks like it could amount to being a top-notch project car when done, or two decent driver-quality examples if you’re ambitious. 

This red N600 looks like a fairly complete example, but as you can likely deduct, it was involved in a roll-over accident. The seller says even after the accident and being flipped back to right-side up, the little Honda still started up and was able to do yard drives! That’s the kind of reliability that helped to cement the reputation Honda still enjoys to this day. Although the Hondas are in Maine, this one appears largely rust-free.

Now, as part of the sale, the seller is including this rolling bare shell of another N600 that he indicates would be an ideal platform for swapping the red car’s components on to. I’m torn – if the accident damage isn’t terminal, I’m inclined to try and bring the red car back and use this one as the foundation for a second project. But I suppose if the frame was tweaked on the other car, it could be too much work to restore.

The gray car was purchased from its original owner and the seller believes all the parts needed to complete the project are still in boxes (and included in the sale). It even comes with a spare drivetrain. For $4,500 or best reasonable offer, this seems like a decent package to use as a starter kit for your first Honda N600 restoration, a mini-car that precedes the Civic and will always stand out in the crowd despite its small stature.