microcarfan
  • Kei car
  • Japan
  • Four wheels
  • Glass tailgate

Honda Z

Also known as ホンダ・Z, Z360, Z600 and 600 Coupe (export), Suichū megane, “diving goggles”

Its tailgate was a sheet of glass in a thick black frame, and Japan called it the diving goggles. The Honda Z of 1970 put the Honda N360’s air-cooled twin under a long, low nose and an aircraft-style dashboard, and sold the kei car as a speciality coupé.

Orange small coupé parked on grass in front of a hedge, a white car at left.
An orange Honda Z GT on the grass at Gifu Family Park in 2024.Photo: 先従隗始, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Honda Z

Z360 · Sayama, Saitama

Built
1970–⁠1974On sale 20 October 1970; ended in June 1974 by Japanese Wikipedia, October by Driven to Write
Country
JapanSaitama Factory, Sayama Plant
Maker
Honda Motor Co., LtdOn the N III 360’s mechanicals, then the Life’s
Engine
354 cc air-cooled SOHC twinAcross the nose; a water-cooled 356 cc EA twin from December 1971; 598 cc in the export Z600
Power
31 PSAt 8,500 rpm; 36 PS at 9,000 rpm with twin carburettors
Length
2,995 mm1,295 mm wide, 1,275 mm high
Weight
510 kgThe ACT of 1970; 525 kg for the PRO and the twin-carburettor cars
Seats
4Honda’s claim; English Wikipedia says two adults and a very small rear seat
Wheels
4Engine across the front, driving the front wheels
Price new
¥348,000The ACT, 1970, up to ¥463,000 for the GS; £719 in Britain
Top speed
115km/h115 km/h71 mph; 120 km/h with twin carburettors

How big is it?

True proportion

3.00 m

It is 25 mm longer than a Fiat 500, about 1.7 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.29 m wide
  • 510 kg: about seven adults
  • Inside, 1,490 mm long and 1,135 mm wide, by Honda’s figures1
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

Honda announced the Z in a letter of 2 September 1970. It wanted, it said, to keep widening its customers’ choice: buyers could now pick between the N III saloons and the Z.1 The letter promised bold styling with the look of a prototype, a new rear window called Aerovision, a flight cockpit with the feel of a quality sports car, room for four inside and fresh colours.1 Honda called it a speciality car, and Motor Fan counts it the first kei car of that kind.23 It was styled in Japan; the designer’s name has not been found.2

この車のなかに何らかの新鮮な驚きを見出して頂けるとすれば、私共の努力は報いられる訳でございます。

Honda Motor, letter announcing the Z, 2 September 1970. In English: “If you find some fresh surprise in this car, our efforts will have been rewarded.”1

Underneath it was the N III 360, and at first it even shared the saloon’s type code.2 The air-cooled 354 cc twin sat across the nose and drove the front wheels, with 31 PS on one carburettor or 36 PS on two, and the suspension was the saloon’s, struts in front and a dead axle on leaf springs behind.14 The new part was the body: a long, low bonnet, aircraft-style instruments and a cut-off tail whose glass hatch sat in a heavy frame of black resin. That frame gave the car its nickname, suichū megane, diving goggles.12

Five characters

The Z went on sale across Japan on 20 October 1970. Honda priced five versions at the Sayama works, from ¥348,000 for the ACT to ¥463,000 for the GS, which followed in January, with freight added elsewhere: ¥2,000 to Tokyo, ¥17,000 to Sapporo.12 Honda gave each a buyer. The ACT was for a man of action, the PRO for a forward-looking professional, the TS for an individualist with a sporting streak, the GT a grand tourer for people of means, and the GS for a tough, healthy driver proud of his technique.1 It planned to build 15,000 a month across all five by the end of the year.1

The launch came at the height of the N360’s defect-car controversy.5 Honda listed safety claims with it: the first energy-absorbing steering wheel in the class, a fully padded dashboard, door locks that resisted bursting open, the lowest roof in the class, and a heavy rear quarter pillar that Honda said worked as a roll bar.1 The GS of 25 January 1971 had a five-speed dog-engagement gearbox, radial tyres and sports seats, and something no kei car had had before, by Honda’s claim: servo-assisted front disc brakes, with a valve proportioning the pressure to the rear.62 Honda planned 2,000 GSs a month.6 In February a softer Golden Series joined the range, with a Hondamatic automatic among it, and the original cars became the Dynamic Series.2

The Life underneath

On 1 December 1971 the Z moved onto the platform of the new Honda Life. It took the Life’s water-cooled EA twin, 356 cc with a belt-driven camshaft and the same 31 or 36 PS, and a wheelbase 80 mm longer; the body was largely reworked, with separate amber indicators at the back.2 From January 1972 the Golden Series cars had their tailgate frame in body colour instead of black.2 The hardtop of November 1972 lost the centre pillar and gained a honeycomb grille, and came only with twin carburettors.2 It also lost the little hatch below the number plate: until then the spare wheel and tools had lived in a compartment of their own there, below a shallow luggage deck under the glass.24 In 1973 came controls on fuel vapour and a tandem brake master cylinder.2

Z600

For export the Z took the N600’s 598 cc twin.24 In the United States it was the Z600, or the 600 Coupe, for the model years 1970 to 1972, sold beside the N600 by Honda’s motorcycle dealers until separate car dealers opened for the Civic; Driven to Write puts American sales at about 15,500.47 In Britain it cost £719 at its launch in 1970, and £839 by October 1973, when a Mini 1000 cost £841 and a Civic 1200 £999.7 Motor tested a Z600 in August 1972 and recorded 117 km/h (73.0 mph), 0–80 km/h (0–50 mph) in 17.9 seconds and 6.2 litres per 100 km (45.4 mpg) overall; a Mini Clubman managed 120 km/h (74.3 mph), 16.0 seconds and 9.2 litres per 100 km (30.7 mpg), for £850.7 Europe took 918 Z600s, mostly in France and Switzerland, and the Z360 was thought too weak for it. Many went to West Germany, where the Z was not sold officially, and were sleeved down to 242 cc so that they could be driven on a Class IV licence, with 12.5 to 14 PS and 85 km/h (53 mph).4 Australia had the Z360.4

The Z ended in 1974, in June by Japanese Wikipedia’s date or October by Driven to Write’s, together with the Life and its Step Van and pickup, and with no successor.27 Honda wanted the capacity for the Civic, which was selling strongly through the emissions rules and the oil crisis, and kei cars had lost their price advantage once inspection and the new safety rules applied to them.2 Honda built no kei passenger car again until the Honda Today.2 The name came back in 1998, on a mid-engined, four-wheel-drive kei off-roader, a different car.24

Rear three-quarter of an orange small hatchback with a black-framed rear window, visitors behind.
A Z GT from behind at a meeting in Japan in 2013: the glass tailgate in its black frame, the diving goggles.Photo: TTTNIS, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Inside a small car: a three-spoke wheel, round dials, a black centre console and a plastic-covered seat.
The flight cockpit of a Z360: a dished three-spoke wheel, round dials and a centre console.Photo: Ypy31, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Dark green small coupé from the front left, round headlamps, parked by a wire fence.
A late Z hardtop of 1972–⁠74, with no centre pillar, in 2005.Photo: titanium22, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Yellow small coupé covered in sponsor decals and racing number 8071 on a blue mat on white salt.
Evil Tweety, the land-speed-record Z600 Coupe, on the salt at Bonneville in 2009, a year after its class records.Photo: Bob DuHamel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 13

  • Orange small coupé with round headlamps, a man in a white shirt standing at its right. Opens a larger view

    1 An orange Honda Z Hondamatic, the automatic version, at a classic meeting in 2013.

  • Pale blue small coupé from the front left, a blue truck behind it on gravel. Opens a larger view

    2 A pale blue mid-series Honda Z in a gravel car park in 2011.

  • Olive small coupé with round headlamps and a black grille, a white car parked behind. Opens a larger view

    3 An olive-green Honda Z360 in a car park in Japan in 2009.

  • Blue small coupé with a rally plate and number 54 on the door, parked on a street with spectators. Opens a larger view

    4 A blue Honda Z with rally number 54 at Classic Cars in Tenerife in 2021.

  • A rusty, faded small hatchback among long grass and scrap in a wrecking yard. Opens a larger view

    5 A rusting Honda Z360 in Flynn’s Wrecking Yard, Cooma, New South Wales, in 2015.

8 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback with a black-framed rear window, bare trees behind. Opens a larger view

    6 An orange mid-series Honda Z from behind in 2011.

  • Rear three-quarter of a dark olive hatchback with a black-framed rear window and HONDA lettering. Opens a larger view

    7 An olive Honda Z360 from behind at a meeting in 2009, showing its black-framed glass tailgate.

  • Rear view of an orange hatchback with a black-framed rear window, visitors at left. Opens a larger view

    8 An orange Honda Z Hondamatic from behind at a meeting in 2013.

  • Rear view of an orange hatchback with a black-framed rear window, parked on grass. Opens a larger view

    9 An orange Honda Z GT from behind at Gifu Family Park, Gifu, Japan, in 2024.

  • Rear view of a blue hatchback with a rally roundel, spectators and a stand behind. Opens a larger view

    10 A blue Honda Z from behind in Tenerife, Canary Islands, in 2021.

  • Dark brown small coupé seen from the front, with an entry number on the door and two occupants inside. Opens a larger view

    11 A brown 1971 Honda Z almost head-on at a meeting in 2012.

  • Light blue small coupé in a museum hall with an information panel by its front wheel, a yellow Z behind. Opens a larger view

    12 A light blue Honda Z in the Honda Collection Hall, Twin Ring Motegi, in 2014.

  • Lime-green small coupé between a red car and a dark car in a museum row. Opens a larger view

    13 A green 1972 Honda Z TS in the Motorcar Museum of Japan, Komatsu, in 2023.

The car: Z600 21

  • Orange small coupé with black HONDA lettering on the sill, parked on grass with visitors behind. Opens a larger view

    14 An orange 1971 Honda Z600 with a HONDA side stripe at Japan Classic Sunday in the Netherlands in 2022.

  • Olive-green small coupé with white lettered stripes along the sill, in a car park. Opens a larger view

    15 A green Honda 600 coupé with HONDA 600 side stripes, photographed in 2006.

  • Blue small coupé with a for-sale sign in the windscreen, stalls and parts around it. Opens a larger view

    16 A blue Honda Z600 for sale in the flea market at the AACA Eastern Region Fall Meet, Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 2009.

  • A dusty faded red small coupé on a flatbed under a corrugated roof. Opens a larger view

    17 A faded red Honda Z600 stored on a truck chassis in the LeMay collection, Washington, in 2011.

  • Orange small coupé with black side stripes and a black-and-silver number plate, on grass. Opens a larger view

    18 An orange UK-registered 1972 Honda Z600 on the grass at a show in 2023.

16 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Orange small coupé parked on grass and gravel in front of white marquees. Opens a larger view

    19 An orange 1973 Honda Z600 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, France, in 2019.

  • Orange small coupé with black side stripes on a club stand in a dark hall. Opens a larger view

    20 An orange 1972 Honda Z600 on the Honda club stand at the Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham, in 2017.

  • A yellow small coupé parked on a steep driveway in front of a garage, a white Thunderbird beside it. Opens a larger view

    21 A yellow Honda Z600 parked in a San Francisco street behind a Ford Thunderbird.

  • Side view of an orange small coupé on paving in front of a blue building. Opens a larger view

    22 An orange 1972 Honda Z600 in profile in a German car park in 2019.

  • Side view of a red small coupé on a brown tiled floor, other cars behind. Opens a larger view

    23 The Lane Motor Museum’s red Z600 in profile in 2016.

  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback with HONDA on its sill, marshals waving behind. Opens a larger view

    24 A striped 1971 Honda Z600 from behind at Japan Classic Sunday in the Netherlands in 2022.

  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback with a Pennsylvania plate, parked cars around. Opens a larger view

    25 An orange Honda Z600 from behind at a show in the United States in 2013, wearing a Pennsylvania antique vehicle plate.

  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback on gravel, visitors walking past behind. Opens a larger view

    26 A 1973 Honda Z600 from behind at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, France, in 2019.

  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback with black stripes on a chequered stand floor. Opens a larger view

    27 A 1972 Honda Z600 from behind at the NEC Classic Motor Show, Birmingham, in 2017.

  • Rear three-quarter of an orange hatchback parked among other cars in a car park. Opens a larger view

    28 An orange US-market Honda Z coupé from the rear left in 2014.

  • Rear view of an orange hatchback with a black-framed rear window and a UK number plate, on grass. Opens a larger view

    29 An orange 1972 Honda Z600 from behind in the United Kingdom in 2023.

  • Rear view of an orange hatchback with a US plate on the tail panel, in a car park. Opens a larger view

    30 A 1972 US-market Honda Z coupé from behind, with its side marker lights and plate mounting, in 2014.

  • Blue small coupé moving across a car park, palm trees and other cars behind. Opens a larger view

    31 A blue 1972 US-market Honda Z600 driving out at a club meeting in California in 2010.

  • Red small coupé with gold wheels driving across a car park, palm trees behind. Opens a larger view

    32 A red Honda Z600 on the move at a meeting in California in 2010.

  • Red small coupé on a brown tiled floor in front of a yellow wall and a roller door. Opens a larger view

    33 A red Honda Z600 in the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2016.

  • An orange small coupé with its bonnet raised next to a white small saloon on a show stand. Opens a larger view

    34 A 1972 Honda Z coupé with its bonnet up beside a 1972 Honda N600 at the NEC, Birmingham, in 2023.

The car: Z Hardtop 4

  • Black small coupé with round headlamps and raindrops on its paint, parked on dry grass. Opens a larger view

    35 A black 1972–⁠74 Honda Z hardtop GSS on the grass at a meeting in 2025.

  • Black hatchback with the rear glass lifted, a silver small car beside it and a crowd behind. Opens a larger view

    36 A black Honda Z hardtop GSS with its glass tailgate raised at Michinoeki MontDeus Hida Kuraiyama, Takayama, in 2023.

  • Rear three-quarter of a black hatchback with a GSS badge and three-colour tail lamps. Opens a larger view

    37 A black Honda Z GSS hardtop from behind at a meeting in 2025.

  • Orange hatchback with the rear glass raised over a small luggage area holding bags. Opens a larger view

    38 An orange Honda Z hardtop GT with its tailgate up, showing the luggage deck, at Hida Kuraiyama, Takayama, Japan, in 2023.

Inside and details 3

  • Yellow small hatchback on grass with the bonnet raised over its engine, another car at left. Opens a larger view

    39 A yellow 1972 Honda Z with its bonnet up at a club meeting at the Endicott Estate, Dedham, Massachusetts, in 2005.

  • Orange small coupé with the bonnet up in a busy car park full of show cars. Opens a larger view

    40 An orange Honda Z with its bonnet open at a car show in the United States in 2013.

  • Open bonnet on a green car showing a compact engine with a blue finned cover. Opens a larger view

    41 The engine bay of a 1970–⁠71 Honda Z GT, with its N360E air-cooled twin.

Picture credits (41)
  1. 1 Ypy31, CC0
  2. 2 Mmr rmm, Public domain
  3. 3 Ypy31, Public domain
  4. 4 Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5 Jeremy, CC BY 2.0
  6. 6 Mmr rmm, Public domain
  7. 7 Ypy31, Public domain
  8. 8 Ypy31, CC0
  9. 9 先従隗始, CC0
  10. 10 Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0
  11. 11 Ypy31, CC0
  12. 12 Rainmaker47, CC BY-SA 3.0
  13. 13 先従隗始, CC0
  14. 14 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  15. 15 ocean yamaha, CC BY 2.0
  16. 16 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  17. 17 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  18. 18 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  19. 19 crash71100, CC0
  20. 20 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  21. 21 Erica Fischer, CC BY 2.0
  22. 22 Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
  23. 23 Aaron Headly, CC BY 2.0
  24. 24 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  25. 25 ilikewaffles11, CC BY 2.0
  26. 26 crash71100, CC0
  27. 27 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  28. 28 Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0
  29. 29 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  30. 30 Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0
  31. 31 Motohide Miwa, CC BY 2.0
  32. 32 Motohide Miwa, CC BY 2.0
  33. 33 Aaron Headly, CC BY 2.0
  34. 34 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  35. 35 TTTNIS, CC0
  36. 36 先従隗始, CC0
  37. 37 TTTNIS, CC0
  38. 38 先従隗始, CC0
  39. 39 Sfoskett, CC BY-SA 3.0
  40. 40 ilikewaffles11, CC BY 2.0
  41. 41 TTTNIS, CC0

Variants

Dynamic, Golden and hardtop

The Z range, 1970–⁠74
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
ACT, PRO1970–⁠71One carburettor, 31 PS; the PRO with an overhead consoleNot found
TS, GT1970–⁠71Twin carburettors, 36 PS, 120 km/hNot found
GS1971–Five-speed dog gearbox, servo front disc brakes, radial tyresNot found
Golden Series1971–Holiday, Custom, Automatic and GTL: softer trims and a Hondamatic optionNot found
Z on the Life (SA)1971–Water-cooled 356 cc EA twin, a wheelbase 80 mm longer, a reworked bodyNot found
Hardtop1972–⁠74No centre pillar, a honeycomb grille, twin carburettors onlyNot found
Z6001970–⁠73Export, with the N600’s 598 cc air-cooled twinAbout 15,500 to the US; 918 in Europe

Specification

The Z of October 1970, from Honda’s release, unless noted

Engine and drive

EngineForced-air-cooled four-stroke in-line twin, one overhead camshaft, across the car1
Capacity354 cc (62.5 × 57.8 mm)12From December 1971 the water-cooled EA, 356 cc (67.0 × 50.6 mm)
Power31 PS at 8,500 rpm; 36 PS at 9,000 rpm with twin carburettors14
Torque3.0 kgf·m at 5,500 rpm; 3.2 kgf·m at 7,000 rpm with twin carburettors1
Compression8.5:1; 9.0:1 with twin carburettors1
GearboxFour speeds, all synchromesh; the GS a five-speed dog gearbox16

Body and chassis

BodyThree-door coupé with a glass tailgate; a pillarless hardtop from November 197212
Front suspensionMacPherson struts14
Rear suspensionDead axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs14
BrakesDrums; the GS servo-assisted front discs, with a valve proportioning the rear brakes16
SteeringRack and pinion; 4.4 m turning radius1
Tyres5.20-10; the GS radials16

Dimensions

Length2,995 mm (118 in)12
Width1,295 mm1
Height1,275 mm1
Wheelbase2,000 mm180 mm longer on the Life platform from December 1971
Kerb weight510 kg (1,124 lb)1525 kg for the PRO and the twin-carburettor cars
Fuel tank26 litres (5.7 gal)12

Performance and price

Top speed115 km/h (71 mph); 120 km/h (75 mph) with twin carburettors1
Fuel28 km per litre at a steady 60 km/h1
Braking12.0 m from 50 km/h1
Road test, 1972Motor, August, the Z600: 117 km/h (73.0 mph), 0–80 km/h (0–50 mph) in 17.9 s, 6.2 litres per 100 km (45.4 mpg) overall7
Price new¥348,000 (ACT) to ¥463,000 (GS) at the Sayama works, 1970; £719 in Britain, 197017

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

Total unconfirmedEnglish Wikipedia gives 40,586 Zs for 1970–⁠74, without a citation, and Driven to Write may follow it, so it is shown as a lead. The “about 40,000” sometimes quoted from Japanese Wikipedia belongs to the Z of 1998, a different car. The export figures are firmer.

  1. 40,586Zs in all, 1970–⁠74Unconfirmed

    English Wikipedia, uncited, and Driven to Write47

  2. 40,550Zs and N600s sold in the United States togetherOne source

    English Wikipedia’s article on the N3608

  3. about 15,500Zs sold in the United StatesOne source

    Driven to Write7

  4. 918Z600s sold in Europe, mostly in France and SwitzerlandOne source

    English Wikipedia4

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. Diving goggles

    The glass tailgate in its thick black frame gave the car its Japanese nickname.12

  2. Discs on a kei car

    The GS of 1971 had the first servo-assisted front disc brakes on a kei car, by Honda’s claim.62

  3. The first kei speciality car

    Honda sold it as a speciality car, the first of its kind in the class.23

Racing and records

Thirty-seven years after it was built, a 1971 Z600 called Evil Tweety, its engine bored out to 700 cc, went to the Bonneville Salt Flats (more in records and feats).4

167.336 km/h
(103.978 mph), the production-body 750 cc class record, driven by Eric Burns on 19 August 2008.4
171.445 km/h
(106.531 mph), the altered-gas 750 cc class record, driven by Chris Clay the next day.4
3 years
until a Saab 96 beat the production-body record.4

On screen

Confirmed appearances only

Survivors and collecting

Today

The sources read give no number of survivors, no museum and no auction price. Zs appear in this page’s pictures at Honda’s own hall at Motegi, at Komatsu, in a Tennessee museum and at meetings and shows in Japan, Britain, France, the Netherlands and America.

Sources

Numbered as in the text

Honda’s own press releases of 1970 and 1971 give the specifications; the later history rests on the two Wikipedias and Driven to Write. No Japanese road test was read, and no production figure from Honda was found. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. Honda, press release for the new Honda Z (in Japanese), 2 September 1970, with the detailed notice of 3 October 1970 and its specification tables, read in full.
  2. Japanese Wikipedia, ホンダ・Z, read in full.
  3. Motor Fan, “The Subaru R‑2, successor to the famous Subaru 360…” (in Japanese), 2025, read in full.
  4. English Wikipedia, Honda Z, read in full.
  5. Japanese Wikipedia, ホンダ・N360, its lead read in full.
  6. Honda, press release for the Honda Z GS (in Japanese), 20 January 1971, read in full.
  7. Driven to Write, “Honda’s Small Cars and Big Ambitions Part 6: Generation Z”, 21 September 2023, read in summary.
  8. English Wikipedia, Honda N360, read in full.