Honda 1300

Frequent changes of plan during development, sometimes made on a daily basis, hampered production. Mr. Honda was adamant the engine needed to be air rather than water cooled, arguing that "since water-cooled engines eventually use air to cool the water, we can implement air cooling from the very beginning. That will eliminate the problem of water leaks, and it will facilitate maintenance. The question here is how to reduce the loud noise characteristic of an air-cooled engine to a level commensurate with a water-cooled unit." There were originally two engine versions, the "Series 77" with a single carburetor making (SAE), and the "Series 99" with four carburetors at (SAE) (detuned to and in December 1969): the less powerful car was listed with four levels of trim offered (Standard, Custom, S and Deluxe), of which the top three were also available with the four carburetor engine. but production only got under way during the early months of 1969. In May 1969 the Honda 1300 went on sale in Japan. It was reported at the time that launch was delayed by a couple of months because company president Soichiro Honda found the styling of the car as presented at the Tokyo Motor Show the previous year unacceptably bland and called for a redesign. It was not lost on contemporary commentators that Honda himself at the time owned and frequently drove a Pontiac Firebird, and the split air intakes on the front of the Honda 1300 as it came to market suggest that Honda design personnel were also aware of the boss's fondness for his Pontiac. The Golden featured the same front facia as the facelifted 77 sedan and sold as Standard, Deluxe and Custom, while the Dynamic retained the same design as before but with new vertical grille and an additional trunk ornament. The trims were also renamed to SL, GT, GL and the four carburetors GTL. File:The frontview of Honda 1300 77 Custom Sedan mid-year 1971.jpg|1971–1972 77 Custom File:The rearview of Honda 1300 77 Custom Sedan mid-year 1971.jpg|1971–1972 77 Custom 1972 Honda Coupe Dynamic Series GT.jpg|1971–1972 Honda Coupe Dynamic Series GT Despite enthusiastic imprecations from Honda's US dealers, the Honda 1300 was not sold in the US. The 1.3 litre engine displacement also gave Japanese buyers tax savings when the annual road tax was due over competitors with larger engines. Surviving examples outside Japan appear mostly to be located in countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, 731 unit of 1300 coupés were sold in Australia from 1969 to 1973. ==Engine==

The engine was SOHC and air-cooled, with a fan attached to the flywheel to pull cool air through the engine block. Honda labeled this Duo Dyna Air Cooling (DDAC). The air that had absorbed heat from the engine block, and additional hot air from around the exhaust manifold, was then used to heat the passenger compartment, a novel approach which was not commonly used afterward. Hideo Sugiura, then the head of the R&D Center, looked back upon the sentiment of the time: "We had a powerful company founder, Mr. Honda, who was on top of the engineering operation. He also had expertise, which he had acquired through a string of enormous successes. Having such a leader, the sentiment in the company was that we had to see it all the way through, regardless of where the road might take us. There was to be no surrender. We could not give up halfway." Honda's power output claims for the car were initially met with skepticism among competitor manufacturers and in the trade press, but those who drove it reported an engine that would freely rev to an indicated 8,000 rpm, and remarkable performance for a 1,300 cc engined car: the factory figure at launch for a standing quarter-mile acceleration test of 17.2 seconds was felt to be not unreasonable. but continued to race with some modest success through the next year. The engine block was also used to create the 2991cc V8 used in the Honda RA302 that was raced at the Formula One racing car produced by Honda Racing, and introduced by Honda Racing France during the 1968 Formula One season. The car was built based on the order by Soichiro Honda to develop an air-cooled Formula One engine.{{cite web DDAC Duo Dyna Air Cooling ('''''') was a feature of air-cooled engines presented by Honda in 1968. Its double-wall structure was the origin of its name. DDAC took the concept of the "water jacket" used in liquid-cooled engines and applied it to an air-cooled engine; the outer wall of the cylinder block is part of the structure in a two-casting mold, and the cooling air passes through the space where coolant would flow in a water-cooled engine. The cooling system used two fans: one to force cool air into the passages, the other to direct the heated air away from the engine. The engine was all aluminum, but this design increased engine weight compared to the usual air-cooled design – while benefiting from cross flow cooling. ==Running gear==

The car employed rack and pinion steering. At the front it had disc brakes, with drum brakes controlled via a dual-line hydraulic system at the rear. Suspension was independent, employing MacPherson struts at the front and an unusual combination of full-width swing axles and half-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The front suspension was substantially modified after the car's initial presentation: production cars incorporated modified front suspension geometry, a lowered steering ratio and a steering damper, intended to reduce the unusually strong self-centring propensity which was a feature of the pre-production cars originally presented to journalists. The cars as sold also incorporated an updated gear-box and final drive ratios along with re-sized wheels. ==Legacy==

The experience of developing and producing the 1300 provided the shock needed to change Honda's operating structure. Under the new system, Honda introduced the water-cooled Life and Civic models as its new mini automobile and small passenger cars. The Civic, which was equipped with a CVCC engine in full compliance with the Japanese government's Air Pollution Control Act, drew the world's attention to Honda's engineering approach. Those involved in the 1300 project agreed unanimously: the pain they endured in completing it contributed much to the development of Honda's subsequent successful automobile models. ==Honda 145==

In October 1972, the 1300 was facelifted again and also rebranded as Honda 145, again offered as a sedan or a coupé. The 145's body was little changed from the 1300, but it was powered by a SOHC water-cooled 1,433 cc EB5 engine with carburetor () or fuel injection (, coupé only). The engine is mated to a 4-speed manual transmission and a 2-speed Hondamatic semi-automatic transmission. The car's engine displacement was the inspiration for its name. The market was not impressed by the 145; only 9,736 were produced, and the model was quickly overshadowed by the introduction of Honda's own Civic 4 months earlier. The 145 ended production in October 1974 and the sedan was succeeded by Accord. After the 145, Honda did not produce a coupé again until 1978, when the Prelude was introduced. ==Notes==