Honda S660 to be built in Japan starting 2015 - report

To be built in Yokkaichi

Based on a report coming from Japan, Honda has apparently decided to put the S660 concept into production.

It was November 2013 when Honda unveiled a spiritual successor for its legendary Beat kei car at the Tokyo Motor Show and now it seems they made up their mind to start assembling the vehicle at home in Japan at the Yokkaichi factory. Hopefully the production version will keep the concept's design intact as it was a very pretty little roadster drawing its styling cues from the EV-STER concept.

The Honda S660 is programmed for a 2015 market launch and will have to compete with another resurrected popular kei car, the Daihatsu Copen. There are also some rumors about a Suzuki Cappuccino reboot for 2016 so we might see more of these models but chances are the automakers will offer them only in Japan.

Source;
http://www.worldcarfans.com/114050674781/honda-s660-to-be-built-in-japan-starting-2015---report

Honda’s EVster Concept Needs to Be the New Honda Beat in 2014

by Joe Borras of www.gas2.org

This is the Honda EVster concept … and, after seeing it myself, I am ready to go on the record. The Honda EVster needs to be the new Beat.

For the uninitiated, the Honda Beat was the last Honda to be overseen by the great Soichiro Honda himself. It was a tiny, 600 cc roadster that topped out at speeds that might have gotten it crushed on US highways, but on a tight and twisty mountain road on a sunny day, it was (by all accounts) a sublime piece of simple, light-handling fun. Back in 1991, it looked like this …

1991 Honda Beat

… the EVster above, though, is a bit more exciting. It’s looks a bit heavy on the Michael Bay, I know, but the photos don’t convey how tiny this thing really is. It’s cute and adorable, it’s fun and light and breezy and if you don’t want one you’re probably dead inside.

I know there’s some debate on the new Beat, which Honda has been promising (threatening?) for a decade or so, now. Other outlets are pointing to the CRZ roadster concept and saying that’s the new Beat – but, if it is, then Honda has truly lost its way. A new Honda Del Sol? Sure, make this thing a new-age Del Sol, if you must. No one misses that frog-eyed runabout … but the Beat? The Beat, like the NSX, is a legend, and Honda needs to get this one right.

How right does the EVster get? Honda’s electrics are proven, reliable, and deliver 100% of their torque off the line, making for a new-age Honda Beat that will be quick and squirty in heavy traffic, where the diminutive Kei cars compete with scooters for the title of “fastest way to get from A-B in rush hour”. In other words: it will be perfect.

EVster for 2014 Honda Beat.

Source;

http://gas2.org/2013/02/18/honda-evster-is-the-new-honda-beat/

Honda Beat on Track for Production

by Noah Joseph

 

New roadster from Honda could be based on Fit/Jazz. 

 

Back in the early 90s, Honda made a small mid-engined, rear-drive roadster called the Beat, a tiny Kei car roadster designed by Pininfarina. It was the last car overseen by company founder Soichiro Honda before he died, when Honda's current president Takanobu Ito was working on developing the original NSX. "I was kind of envious of the little cute sports car," admitted Ito in a recent speech in the United States, in which the Japanese auto exec revealed that Honda would bring revive the Beat with a new compact sports car.

 

We first reported on plans for a Honda Beat revival back in June 2011, when it seemed that the roadster would be based on the CR-Z hybrid sport-hatch. Now it seems, however, that the Beat will more likely borrow its underpinnings from the Fit with a design derived from the EV-STER and OSM concepts, though its powertrain could go either conventional or hybrid. One way or another, don't expect the Beat to retain the mid-engine/rear-drive layout of its predecessor, as the new roadster is more likely to go front-drive. Whether that proves enough for Honda to take on the likes of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S, or even the Mazda MX-5 Miata, remains to be seen.

Source;

http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2012/10/15/Honda-Beat-on-Track-for-Production-7711168/

Japan Car Design Corner: Honda may be readying a Small Convertible (Honda BEAT?)

This is not a new rumour and Japanese Best Car Magazine has revealed another rendering of Honda's upcoming open top sports car. It seems that the new sports car won't be a Kei car, but instead, it will be based on the CR-Z. Also, Honda is also about to reveal an updated CR-Z

Source;
http://jp-cardesigncorner.blogspot.ca/2012/09/honda-readies-small-open-top-sports-car.html