Honda S800 Coupe
A tiny coupe that thought like a racing machine
1966 Japan Honda S800 Coupe · Asterion · CC BY 2.5
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Honda's first road cars were meant to prove that a motorcycle company could build world-class automobiles. The S800 was the enlarged final step in the S500/S600/S800 family, announced in January 1966 with a 791 cc engine, 70 PS and a claimed 160 km/h maximum. Its fastback coupe body added useful enclosed luggage space without abandoning the two-seat sports-car idea. A May 1966 update replaced the family's unusual chain final drive with a propeller shaft, showing how quickly Honda refined the car once customers began using it beyond Japan.
Look a little closer.
Honda made a tiny 791 cc four-cylinder engine that happily spun to an 8,000 rpm power peak.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
The bonnet bulge for a technology that never arrived
The S800's bonnet bump is a fossil of an abandoned plan. Honda intended to fit fuel injection and made room for its extra height, but developing the system proved difficult and the production car kept carburettors. The metal tooling was already committed, so the bulge stayed. It is a lovely example of how production cars can preserve evidence of decisions that were reversed before launch.
Source: SPORTS 360/S500/S600/S800 model history ↗A coupe for luggage as well as lap times
The fastback roof was not only about style. It made the cabin and luggage space continuous, gave the steel body more rigidity than the open car, and still kept the car extremely light. Honda's history notes that the coupe body was attractive to motorsport users as a stronger base, so one shape served two audiences: people who wanted a practical small GT and people who wanted a compact race car.
Source: SPORTS 360/S500/S600/S800 model history ↗Where these facts come from
- Honda S800 Coupe official archived specifications
- SPORTS 360/S500/S600/S800 model history
- S500/S600/S800 product chronology
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 2, 2026.