The original Civic was developed at a time when a struggling Honda’s future as a car firm was in doubt after a number of technically innovative vehicles failed to win over buyers. As a result, the firm focused on developing a ‘basic car’.
The wheels were pushed to the corners to boost comfort and a 1.1-litre engine made it affordable. The result: Honda sold a million examples in just five years.
RC142
The Heritage Hall contains an amazing assortment of motorbikes but none was more key to Honda’s history than the RC142 from 1959, built to enter the world’s most important road race, the Isle of Man TT.
Becoming the first Japanese firm to enter the race was an audacious move from a company in financial trouble, but Honda said that “dreams are seeded more in hard times”. Honda won the makes’ title in its first season; three years later, Mike Hailwood led a sweep of the top five places.
S600 and T360
Honda was founded as a motorbike firm in 1946 but expanded into four-wheeled vehicles with the T360 pick-up in 1963.
It was rushed into development in the face of Japanese government plans to effectively shut out new manufacturers from the car industry but proved a big hit. It was followed a year later by something totally different: the S600 sports car.
It used techniques from the bike world, such as rear-wheel chain drive, and its 43bhp four-cylinder engine and light weight gave it plenty of performance.
Lotus 99T, McLaren MP4/4 and McLaren MP4/6
Formula 1 cars on display range from John Surtees’ 1966 Italian Grand Prix-winning Honda RA300 to Max Verstappen’s championship-winning 2023 Red Bull, but the most memorable ones date from Honda’s F1 peak in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The 1987 Lotus 99T claimed two wins in Ayrton Senna’s hands, although this particular car was driven by team-mate Satoru Nakajima, the first full-time Japanese racer in F1. Behind it sit two of Senna’s title-winning cars: 1988’s dominant McLaren MP4/4 and 1990’s MP4/6.