As a manufacturer, Honda has produced some pretty quirky small cars, and this 1972 Z600 is a great example. Said to still be wearing its original paint, this is just a cool little car that is being sold complete with its CA custom “GRN EGG” plates. It is located in Canoga Park, California, and is listed for sale here on eBay.
The body and paint of the Honda seem to be quite good. There is a small amount of rust in the lower quarter that can be seen in this shot. There is also a crease in the front edge of the driver’s door, but otherwise, it looks pretty clean and tidy. There is a small crack in the windshield, but the rest of the glass looks good. The bumpers have also been re-chromed, and the wheels are freshly powder-coated. One of the funky little design features on these that I’ve always quite liked is the rear hatch. I always think that it looks like a TV screen or the door of a microwave oven.
There it is, 598ccs of throbbing grunt. That little engine sends the drive to the front wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission. These were also available with a 2-speed automatic transmission, but few were sold with that option. The engine has come in for some attention, and that probably explains why it all looks so clean. The engine has recently undergone a complete rebuild, including new pistons. While the engine was out, the engine bay was also fully detailed. In addition, both the brakes and carburetor have been rebuilt, the suspension has been given a once-over and freshened as required, a new fuel pump and filter were fitted, and the fuel tank was professionally cleaned.
While it was classed as a 4-seater, the reality was that the rear seat on the Z600 was really only suitable for small children. There isn’t much room there, or indeed, there isn’t much space to carry cargo under that rear hatch. Still, these were really designed as a commuter car, not to take the whole family away on a holiday. The interior is pretty good on this little Honda. There are a couple of small cracks in the dash and the wheel, but there is new carpet, new front seat covers, and the rear seat looks good. The headliner is a bit stained, and it looks like there might be one small hole, but I think that this could be repaired with a blind patch. The door trims look a bit discolored, but if they won’t clean properly, they might be a candidate for some dye.
In 1972, Honda imported 20,500 of these little Z600s into the USA. Many examples have succumbed to rust, while many were driven until the engine was on its last legs. They were usually then scrapped, as engine rebuilds tended to be quite expensive at the time. The remaining examples have now become a popular little collectible, and values have held their own in recent years. It is not unusual to find a good one selling for more than $9,000 in today’s market. At the time of writing, bidding has reached $4,000, and it appears that the reserve has been reached. To some people, it may not be as desirable as a muscle car, but it is sure to start a few conversations at the next Cars and Coffee.
Here’s something similar being transported in a short-bed pickup truck!
Nice Honda shoe-car.
There are very few cars that can make a “BugEye” Sprite (parked next to it in one picture) look large!! LOL! :-P
The Z600 and Rex Kahrs’ N600 were a fairly common sight in SoCal in the early 1970s. Nice to see one of the sportier models has survived – fun cars.
I bought a blue az600, then found an n600, then more bubble cars. I was hooked.. then decided to sell them all. loaded up 3 behind my old x highway patrol 58 chevy and headed to Denver..sold these 3, at a swap meet in Denver..
had an idea for the blue az, but never got to it..
Please Lynn just not an LS swap…say yes to the blown hemi…
My friend was a Chevy salesman and they took on Honda, A 1972 Z600 was $1967 out the door with tax. I didn’t buy as the 1972 Mercury Capri V6 had just become available.
I year later I found an orange 1972 on a used car lot. It was my wife’s daily driver. She loved it. Owner’s manual had driving tips including,” When encountering a pedestrian on the roadway, one should tootle one’s horn trumpet”.
Parts were cheap from Honda. I bought a battery and a complete one piece exhaust system. Someone just had to have it so it was sold.
Rumor has it that an entire boatload of these were dumped 12 miles off the port of Los Angeles , on initial export. Safety, and emissions were not correct. Customs refused entry. It was cheaper to dump than send back and retrofit. They sleep with the fishes.
LOL Jack–don’t think Luca Brasi could fit in one of these!
Cheers
GPC
This is not an accurate story but similar to the troubles encounted by the two stroke Subaru 360 models which would not pass EPA emissions testing in 1970. They were not dumped however. There is a fascinating story about how the impoter, Malcomb Bricklin (yes, THAT Malcomb Bricklin) solved this delema.
do I google search the story or do you have someplace I can read about the sub 360 story??
I think those cars allegedly dumped were Subaru 360s.
This one looks really decent. That olive green seems to be the most unusual of the handful of colors these came in. They’re tiny but well made in the usual Honda fashion.
When I was a teen with my newly acquired license, I really wanted one of these little cars. Found one for sale in the paper (remember when the paper had a whole section for auto ads?). I couldn’t get a loan for one without a parental co-sign, so I had to convince my dad that this is the car I wanted. Strike one – dad towered over it and said “how in the hell do you get into this clown car?” Strike two – We were inside shoulder to shoulder and he referred to as a “beer can on wheels” and a “go-cart with doors”. Strike three – he rolled out of it extricating himself and almost fell to the ground. His assessment was “hell no”. I was given the family VW Bug and then moved onto a 914.
This is where it all started for honda cars. We had one in in Transportation shop in high school. Bunch of us picked it up and turned it sideways, Teacher not amused and said- You guys laugh- you watch these cars–they will make great cars eventually, Wow. Great teacher who became a mentor who watched over us hoodlums.
Cheers
GPC
i remember quite well seeing these in the showroom window of white allan chevrolet in dayton, ohio next to a new jaguar2+2 and of course various chevrolets. even then ;those various franchises were odd to see together.i always referred to the ir engines as twin cylinder motorcycle engines.
I took this blue one to the big Oshkosh, wisc fly in. it ran fine, but no air and it was goooooeeee.. state bird is a mosquito.. I had fun with it.. I also had a little bronco orange, Suzuki 360 cabover I got from the caretaker of bronco stadium. motor died. I bought a honda Goldwing 1500 6 cylinder, for it, but sold it before I to it.. the guy wanted to put a chevy v8 in it.. I found a Suzuki quad runner for the gold wing motor..
most of these 68-72 micro jap cars were 360, 2 stroke motors. I also had a mitz micro bus.. wouldn’t pull a fat girl off a tricycle. the light would turn red before I got through the intersection, with passenger.. would like to have gotten a photo of it beside a vw bus..
“Jap” really? What is this 1955?
I had another odd ball. a 72 Suzuki brute 4×4. had a 22 hp, 2 stroke 360 water cooled motor. all my micro cars had real titles and legal to drive on the street..no inspections in Nebraska at the time I owned. still don’t.
my next project is a 1956 Renault cv4, 4 dr sedan. not the one in this photo… when I was in viet-nam, they were blue and yellow and were taxies.. ive got a 500 cad Eldorado motor and fwd 200r4 automatic trans axle. thought it would be fun to put under the back window and paint it up like the old taxies we rode in..
also, if you noticed, the rear view mirrors had to be visable through the windshield.. found another little micro pickup for sale, west of grand island, nebr. on highway 2..
It would be a shame to do it, but I would be kinda funny to see a crash test between one of these and a giant battleship car like a contemporary Eldorado or Mark IV.
I rode in one of these (same color) from Wenatchee to Yakima and back. A distance of 110 miles each way. Took us about 2-1/2 hours to make the trip. There were three of us in the car. I ‘got’ to ride in the front seat, but I had to have it all the way forward so the guy in the back seat had some room for his legs. I don’t know who had the better end of the deal