37 inches. That’s the difference in length between this plucky Honda Z600 and a brand new Fit. This miserly car’s bulk is a stone’s throw away from the size of a Smart Fortwo, except it has room for four people and stuff. This is essentially everything that you’d want in a modern city car, but it’s old enough to have its own mid-life crisis.
This 1972 Honda Z600 is a Japanese Kei car, meaning that it has a less-than-660cc engine and must be no larger than a predetermined number of Japanese postage stamps lined end to end...or something like that. What that means is that this car is light, frugal, and nimble, not to mention the fact that it’s one of the rarest and quirkiest cars you’ll find online, and with this one being a running and driving example that’s a little rough around the edges, it’s a definite steal, especially for an asking price of a few grand.
Just as any barn find worth its salt, this car needs a bit of work, however it isn’t insurmountable to any backyard wrencher, as evidenced by the description:
Great little car. No rust. All solid and original parts, radio, paint, interior, engine. Runs and drives. Brakes need work. Front right tire does not hold air. Some spots where a little rust had started but sanded and primer added to prevent. Comes with lots of extra parts...carbs, pads, new carpets, new rear seat and more. Missing driver window and crank. Back hatch has plexi instead of glass.
Is this car worth it? I’m not sure, because the pictures are grainy and the description is quite short. However, there’s not much to go wrong on these cars, and they do rev out to an astronomical degree, so driving this little runabout around town, buzzing away, would be an event in itself, so it would be worth a look, as they don’t come around very often. Check it out at the very least - it’s just what the our future needs.
(H/T to BarnFinds)
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world’s cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he’s the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn’t feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.
You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He won’t mind.