In 1963, two small white cars were entered in the Spa-Sofia-Liège. It was the new Honda S500. It was clearly evolved from motorcycle lineage, which, being a Honda, was a definite plus. It was a larger displacement variant of the S360 roadster which, though developed for sale in 1962, was never produced. One S500 was driven by the Belgium team Henri Quernette-Jean Pierre Guyette (nr.78) , and the other one was driven by a Japanese team Suzuki-Koga (nr.58). The engine was a dual overhead cam straight-4 with four carburetors and a red line at 9500 rpm. Originally intended to displace 492 cc, the production version was 531 cc and produced 44 hp at 8000 rpm. Weighing just 680 kg, the tiny S500 could hit 129 km/h using its 4-speed manual transmission with chain drive at the rear wheels. Both cars had Belgium registration plates and had a fiberglass hardtop . On the 2nd picture: Soichiro Honda, Nobuo Koga and Giichi Suzuki with the S500 (during the race at a check point? or beforehand? ). Note that Koga is wearing his participants name plate, and Belgians Reip-Henrard are parked behind them in their Porsche Carrera. Story to be continued!
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 16:48:48 +0000
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