Look Back: Honda Logo

Honda's Logo was a kei car produced between 1996-2001 and was available in a 3dr or 5dr hatchback. The design car/concept for the Logo was nicknamed, "Tall Boy". it was refreshed in 1998 with a new front end and a slightly extended wheelbase along with the introduction of 4WD. It was sold in Japan for its first few years then expanded to the UK market in 2000 (UK Logo consumers got another revised front end) until its death in 2001. Its platform was shared with the Capa and the Honda City/Jazz eventually replaced the Logo.

Honda called the styling of the Logo as stylish and distinctive, many of you would say otherwise. A meagre 1.3L engine powered the Logo which was an upgrade from a smaller engine. The smaller engine raked in complaints where it was too underpowered. The Logo did however, have its share of accolades. It was the only sub-10 000 euro car with ABS, dual airbags, A/C, power steering and power windows as standard equipment. Honda offered a CVT or a 5spd manual. Its suspension was tuned for European roads and final drive gearing was improved upon to give better acceleration, 0-60 in 14.2 seconds if you were wondering. Dismal in 2011, but it was comparable in 2000. Fuel injection was offered, but Honda's class-leading VTEC technology did not make it to the Logo.

The interior was very spacious for the car. It had a flat rear floor with a high roofline, giving class-leading headroom (at the time) for 5 occupants. If you needed more room, a 50/50 split rear seat was offered as standard equipment. 230 litres with the seatbacks raised was the cargo capacity, very reasonable for a small car.

Resale values for the Logo are very high especially in the UK. The Logo in the UK has retained its value outstandingly. It topped a JD Power Survey in 2001 with outstanding value.

Look Back: Honda Capa

Editor's Note: Today, we begin Look Back, an information and historic look at the vehicles that have graced Honda's lineup in the past 50 years. Some were award-winning, some were downright awful, but each car reflects Honda's multitude of automotive ideas. 

Honda's Capa short for capacity was a small subcompact 5-door hatchback (think an older version of the Fit/Jazz) that was produced between 1998 and 2002. A concept car called the J-MW premiered at the 1997 Tokyo Auto Show. The Capa was powered by a 1.5L fuel injected engine inline-4 SOHC producing 98 horsepower and 98 pound feet of torque. A CVT transmission called Multimatic S or a 4-speed auto was offered on the car. On September 16, 1999, a Real-Time 4WD version of the Capa was introduced offering standard Brake Assist as well. The Honda Mobilio later replaced the Capa due to its slow sales.

The Japanese concept car, 1997 J-MW that lead to the debut of the Honda Capa

Honda's initial motive for the debut of the Capa was to offer a larger vehicle with more capability (hence the name) for Japanese buyers. The CR-V was also introduced in 1997-1998 and these two models offered substantially more room and comfort than the kei cars in the late 90s. Folding seats and cargo cover added to their spaciousness. The reason behind Capa's slow sales was that it was slightly larger than standard-sized kei cars in Japan and Asia at the time. Why is that the reason? Due to the fact it was slightly larger, its price was astonishingly higher than other kei cars, especially in Honda's own lineup. Honda outfitted the Capa with the 1.5L Civic engine instead of the smaller kei car engines to compensate for the extra weight. Despite the fact it was more functional than more kei cars at the time, buyers were never too interested and this was dropped in 2002.

The interior of the Capa at the time, on par with most Honda interior designs of the late 90s

Resale values of the Capa have been normal. A 1999 moderately-used Honda Capa's sale price in US dollars sits at around $3000-$3500 depending on the model. The majority of the Capa models were sold in Japan with a few scattered throughout Asian countries.