How badly do you want a Honda Integra that gets 65mpg and can do 0-to-60 in under five seconds? Really bad, right? The good news is that Honda is bringing the Integra name back next year and putting it on a vehicle with those exact specs. The bad news? It's a, wait for it... scooter.
Now hold off on your torch lighting, there is precedent here. Before the Integra was a legendarily capable FWD coupe, it was actually a motorcycle. The Honda VT250F you see below was dubbed Integra in some markets three years before the Integra car first appeared on the scene in 1985. Honda actually has a long history of shifting names from motorcyle to car and back again — some would say, fitting, for a company that produced its first bike way back in 1948 and sold 19 million of them last year.
But, the Integra name means something special to the car enthusiast. Mostly because they don't make anything similarly light and fun and cheap anymore.
When this latest Integra, the scooter, was announced earlier this month, the auto Internet erupted in outrage.
"What next, Honda Civic superbike, Honda Accord tractor, Honda City scooter etc…" commented one PaulTan reader.
"…and also honda civic generator set i-vtec for kampung houses, and also honda city hybrid water pump for car wash," responded another.
"I am a Honda fan as well, but using the Integra name on a bike is just a huge joke. Just when I thought things would not get worse when they scrapped plans for a new NSX this came along…"
Perhaps the problem isn't necessarily using the name on a bike, but on something that doesn't exactly tick the same performance boxes as that sports car did?
"Sorry but the issue is not the motorbike. it's why use the name ‘INTEGRA' when its supposed to be a high performance, rev happy sports car."
Or maybe those complaining just aren't big enough Honda fan-boys?
"To all of you guys honda fan wannabe… The 1st Honda Integra was not a car but a motorcycle!!!!! I own the 1st honda integra, a 1984 Honda VT250F Integra MC08. And yes it is a motorcycle and there is still a few running around in Malaysia. So the Integra name has come full circle… Other Honda name such as the Jazz and the Stream is also 1st debuted on a motorcycle, before being put on a car…"
Or maybe these Integra purists are missing the greatest insult of all. This new Integra is the first model of a new trio that share the same 670cc parallel-twin engine and steel tube frame. The other two members of the threesome? A naked sportsbike and a round-the-world adventure bike, just ones with scooter underpinnings.