GM engineer tried an Accord and said 'Wow'
 | Allen Staples Photo credit: NATHAN SKID |
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I always admired a great new car, no matter whose it was. Engineers are just that way.
I remember when the first Honda car, the 600, showed up in the United States. I drove out to a Honda motorcycle store in Flint to look at it.
I remember walking through that motorcycle store and looking at that little car and thinking it was fantastic. Its engine was half the size of a Volkswagen Beetle engine, which was already something we were keeping an eye on.
But GM wasn't interested in little cars. There was no money to be made on them -- still isn't.
Then in around 1986, I remember the new Accord had just come out, and I wanted to see it. I was on vacation in Virginia, and I stopped in at the local Honda dealership to look at it.
The dealer handed me the keys -- I didn't tell him who I was -- and I took it out on the road. I thought, "Wow." The ride was quiet. There was no noise or vibration. The shifter was silky smooth.
You can reach Lindsay Chappell at lchappell@crain.com.
