Honda S360
The pre-production model S360 (Type Code AS250 ) of 1962 was the first Honda automobile that S stood for Sports Car and the number for the Displacement in cc. This cabriolet was the forerunner of Sports series Honda S500 / S600 Honda / Honda S800.
He was on 25 October 1962 at the 9th Tokyo Motor Show alongside the T360 (T stands for mini truck, small truck type code AK250 ) and the S500 (Type Code AS280 ) presented to the public.
Development and presentation
1955 had the MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry ) proposed to build a four-seater in Japan " People's Car ", ie a national car, with a top speed of 100 km / h at a price of 150,000 yen. Even Honda had been suggested by thinking about the construction of cars. The car development at Honda began in 1958 with a small group of 50 new employees, who formed the first development department for automobiles. Yoshio Nakamura, future Formula 1 team manager, was responsible as project manager of the Honda Sports series. Motoo Nakajima headed the body, steering and suspension. 1957, at the age of 39 he left Kurogane for Honda and his third Honda Research Department at Honda R & D has been transferred. First, only seven young engineers were put to him to side. In developing the TAS260 were already involved more. Takashi Kume, Tadashi Mori Teruyuki and Niimura Kimio were responsible for engine development. The transmission took Tadashi Nakamura, Yoshio Kurihara and Kiyoshi Kume. The chassis was the task of Kiyoshi Mori and Makoto Nagatomo worked around the subframe. The body designed Nakashima Hazime, the interior Taisuke Mori, Masao Kawamura and Hagiwara Hidekuni. The development of the rear axle and the chassis transferred to Kiyoshi Mori, the front axle Kamiyama Mikihiro.
In October 1958, the designs were completed, in early 1959 the first prototype XA170 was completed and made the first attempts. He had a longitudinally-mounted air-cooled four -cylinder V- engine with 60 degree bank angle and two carburettors, which was combined with a four-speed transmission. This test vehicle was designed only for the first attempt and had a semi - monocoque frame with a flat bottom on which you could also install rear seats. The hood and fenders were bolted from sheet metal parts and. The roof and the doors were made of plastic sections and were clipped. Due to various limitations, the air cooling of these four-cylinder V-engine was initially rejected as unsuitable. Air cooling was an obsession Soichiro Honda, he held until the mid-sixties firmly in air-cooled engines, but was then convinced of the benefits of water cooling. 1967 but first came the N360 and N600 1968 with a transverse air-cooled two-cylinder engine on the market. In the Honda 1300/145-Modellreihe also air-cooled 4-cylinder engines have been fitted crosswise at the front in 1969.
The following two-seater prototype XA190 from December 1958 now had a longitudinally-mounted air-cooled four -cylinder boxer engine with two carburetors and a four-speed transmission. The body was made of polyester.
In the prototype TAS260 of May / June 1962, the true forerunner of the S360, you could see the small sports car now, it is a water -cooled 360 cc 4- cylinder engine ( XA250 ) has now been built and tested. From him two copies were built at the Honda Institute of Technology Albino / Wako.
In the prototype 3x120 in April 1962 and XAK250 in June 1962 was available for the van T360 also a water-cooled 360 cc engine used.
The Japanese government, represented by the MITI had in 1962 decided to pass a law in which only three companies should be given the rights to build automobiles. The colors red and white to commercial vehicles were prohibited by law, which is actually preferred for its new Honda vehicles. It was believed that white vehicles with the ambulance or the police ( white / black) and red could be confused with the fire department. Soichiro Honda sat down with the help of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun in an article for the free choice of color on a vehicle. The ban was lifted shortly afterwards.
The first presentation of the red S360 ( TAS260 ) was on June 5, 1962 the 11th National Honda Meeting at the Honda 's and soon after completed Suzuka circuit. Soichiro Honda himself drove the car to this internal presentation, where a few privileged traders were present. These traders were happy to now be able to soon offer vehicles to offset the slowdown in motorcycle sales in the winter months.
The first official presentation of the S360 ( AS250 ) was on October 25, 1962 at the 9th Tokyo Motor Show. The metallic-silver S360 Cabriolet was equipped with a water-cooled 360 cc engine next to the T360 (T stands for mini truck, small truck ) and the scarlet S500 presented.
Of these, a total of twelve S360 prototype no copy has been preserved.
Due to marketing considerations, the S500 was better than the vehicle, and for export, considered. Only the T360, which came on the Japanese market in August 1963, had now the water-cooled 360 cc engine with 30 hp more civil (22 kW) at 8,500 min -1.
Technology
The small water-cooled 360 cc engine high performance engine was made of cast aluminum, longitudinal and placed 45 degrees to the left around the longitudinal axis inclined in the engine compartment to allow for a lower installation height. For the bearing of the crankshaft, the two overhead camshafts and for the lower connecting rod bearings used Honda needle bearing, which had in addition to smaller friction losses also reached lower lubricating and cooling problems. Keihin four horizontal carburetor throttle motor supplied with the mixture, so that the 33 HP (24 kW) at 9000 min-1 produced. Mean piston speed at rated speed was thus 14.1 m / s This resulted in an outstanding power output per liter of 92.6 hp / l
Some of Honda engine designers were the way to the design team led by Dr. Nakagawa, under whose direction the engines of the Zero fighter (Mitsubishi A6M ) emerged.
The force was transmitted to the rear wheels through a propeller shaft and the differential on two drive shafts, and from there via a respective left and right chains. The chain boxes with oil bath were supported as a swing through coil springs with telescopic shock absorbers inside the frame. The car therefore had an independent suspension. This design principle has been retained for the whole sport series. Only the later S800 got from May 1966 conventional rigid axle on trailing arms and Panhard rod. The front wheels were out on wishbones and damped by shock absorbers, as well as, sprung by a left and right longitudinally arranged pivot rod, which was attached to the frame. The delay took four drum brakes.
The instruments consisted of the tachometer up to 11,000 min -1 ( Red area 9.000 min -1), speedometer to 140 km / h cooling water thermometer, ammeter and fuel gauge. The S360 had a split front bumper and just a tailpipe. Above the headlight and parking light was ever a glass dome grown. The grille had four struts in which the turn signals were integrated. The soft-top roof was fully retractable.
The first prototype red TAS260 of S360 had a tubular frame and the body was mainly composed of polyester, which is described in the Japanese book HONDA SPORTS so. He was presented at the 11th National Honda Meeting racetrack at Suzuka.
The second, white or silver prototype ( TAS260 ) was also shown at the Suzuka circuit. The prototype had a box frame made of steel and the body was made of aluminum. He had 6 "( ) Headlight, formed the body slightly rounded and the headlights to the front wheel cut a little longer. The front grill was slightly narrower than the following AS250.
The third, metallic-silver prototype S360 ( AS250 ) was presented at the 9th Tokyo Motor Show and had 7 "( 152 mm) headlights and a side lockable fuel cap. , This prototype also had a steel box frame, but the body was now made of sheet steel. of him in 1962 only two copies at the Honda Institute of Technology Albino / Wako and 1963 again eight copies in the Honda factory Hamamatsu built. Five other incomplete copies served to develop the S500.
Since the car with 2.99 m was shorter than 3 m, the buyer need not prove its own parking space, as it is prescribed for longer vehicles in Japan. He was able to reach a large group of buyers. This micro-car was called in the 60s in Japan as the K -car class.
Model Overview
( 730 kg coupe )
( 755 kg coupe )
( 13.9 s coupe )
(30 liter Coupe)
(Super Plus 98 ROZ )
(Japan only)
(Japan)
(1967)
( Number of items)
Production summary table
Replica
Honda Motor Co. Ltd.. has a copy of a Sports360 reconstructed prototype according to old plans and 13 October 14, 2013 presented to the public for the Honda Sports 50th Anniversary at Motegi / Japan. This vehicle was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show 2013 next to the new S660 CONCEPT.