Am I a negative person or a realist? Maybe I’m a little bit of both, since with automobiles I’m rarely disappointed at being disappointed. Due to a variety of circumstances – some of them outside of their control – car companies often let us down.
Recently, Honda teased us with an ultra-cool concept EV that they swore would go into production, but now it appears that we’re getting the bait-and-switch with something far less interesting. That’s a shame, since this show car that many of us Autopians really loved could have made a great new Accord for the few sedan lovers still out there.
Say Yes To Pop Ups
Let’s face it; the terms “radical” and “racy” are rarely applied even to conceptual proposals for mid-sized Honda sedans. It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the first Accord built; Honda has never made one that I’d call unattractive, but when a Garfunkel and Oates song describes a guy as a “grey Honda Accord in a parking lot,” you know exactly what they mean.
For the most part, Accords never really violated any rules for what a typical sedan of the day should look like, and their buyers seemed to like it that way.
Actually, that isn’t entirely true. This year is also the fortieth anniversary of the launch of an Accord that really did stand out. The 1986 model had a completely unexpected wedge shape with a nose so low that it needed retractable headlights – on a family sedan!
More dramatic than that was a version that we never got in the States: the shooting brake-style “Aerodeck” sports wagon/hatchback.
Still, that model was the exception and possibly a high-water mark for cool that Accords never achieved again. These cars are nails that do not stick up; inoffensive and ubiquitous. However, there was a ray of hope not long ago that got us thinking Accords might be cool once again.
Zero Sum
Honda unveiled a mid-sized EV sedan at CES last year called the Zero Saloon that both surprised and delighted us. With its sharply raked profile, low nose and elevated “box” like rear, it looked more like something to come from Marcello Gandini’s desk than Honda. It’s even got retractable doors over the headlights, so you know that’s got Eighties Kid me all fired up when Honda swore up and down that the production version would look almost exactly like this.
The rakish front end terminated in a rather controversial tail with a tunnel-like rear window or taillight panel sitting high above an aggressive-looking diffuser.
As Matt Hardigree has pointed out, the design is rather similar to Honda’s Kiwami concept from 2003. Honda obviously seems to like this shape.
The strange shooting brake style with the hint of a trunklid was bold, daring, and also polarizing:
From the back, the Zero is in some ways reminiscent of Honda’s very early car, the 600 hatchback:
Personally, I thought this Zero Saloon looked awesome. Of course, you’re talking to a guy who, if given 200 grand or so to spend on a car, would immediately go out and buy a Lamborghini Espada; I even scribbled up a love letter to it here a while ag0:
Matt Hardigree and Jason Torchinsky also love fast breadvan-looking cars, so I’m sure there are at least a dozen people out there who would buy this thing. Yeah, that’s not a good business plan. The response from some less imaginative car “critics” was to be expected, like this guy reporting for JD Power proved:
My family took one look at my photos of the Honda 0 Series Saloon Prototype and agreed that it looked like a mashup between a Lamborghini, a Cybertruck, and a DeLorean. It was not a compliment.
Well, like it or loathe it, it really doesn’t matter, based on what happened next.
Honda Zero, Accord Won
Last March, Honda made the announcement that they were cancelling these stunning upcoming EV products as production vehicles. That didn’t mean Honda needed to abandon the design since it could have been rather easily translated into a hybrid or gasoline car, but it appears they took the opportunity to do so.
As a consolation prize, Honda claims it has translated the look onto a new concept called the Hybrid Sedan Prototype (below, and what an awful name) that was shown recently, though “concept” might be a misnomer for something shown with left-hand drive, DOT-style side marker lights, and reflectors. This had most of us speculating that this thing might very well be the next Accord sedan, especially based on what Matt quoted from Automotive News recently:
Gary Robinson, American Honda’s head of product planning, described the changes as “pretty major,” declining to elaborate on what’s headed to dealerships in the second half of 2027. “Customers will see a substantially redesigned Accord that will feel like a new model,” Robinson said.
The sleeker, more aerodynamic design draws inspiration from Honda’s scrapped 0 Series electric sedan. “The 0 Series went too far,” one of the people with knowledge of the update said. “The Accord strikes the right balance.”
If that’s the case, I’m disappointed. This “Prototype Sedan” does look “substantially redesigned,” but it was redesigned by committee, not visionaries. It appears less like the 0 Series that it was supposedly “inspired” by and more like a Tesla Model 3 with a variety of other things thrown in for good measure, like BMW door handles and headlights from a Buick that I can’t be bothered to remember the name of. Also, this thing is slated for a mid-2027 launch, by which time those cars that it seems to be copying will be half a decade old or more.
None of the designs the Prototype Sedan resembles are particularly outstanding, and worse than that is none of them are actually “sedans” at all: they’re crossovers.
It’s hardly a terrible-looking car, but if this really is the new Accord, I fear that Honda is quietly abandoning the sedan market. Do we really need another fastback crossover? Does Honda want to use this design to replicate the sales numbers of their last true flop – the Accord Crosstour hatchback – that this “Prototype Sedan” bears a bit of a resemblance to? I think the Zero Saloon could be made a bit more palatable to the average person and give us an Accord as striking as one from ’86. Let’s give it a try.
“For I did not speak of my own accord” – John 12:49
The Zero Saloon isn’t really as radical a design as you might think after a first glance, especially when you see it from the side. With crisp edges and clean looks, it’s a lot like the designs coming out of Hyundai or Kia now, but without the weird, superfluous creases, folds, and gingerbread detailing seen on many of those.
Still, it does have a number of elements that make it hard for the public to accept it, and I’ve attempted to make it more mainstream without losing the essence of the original.
First, I raised the roofline a bit and then added a bumper up front to match the back in the same cool speckled plastic material they use on the rocker panels. I love how that visual texture can hide marks. Note that I added, as an option, a piece to hold the front license plate since that’s something almost all manufacturers seem to have forgotten exists.
I took the grille design off the Zero SUV launched at the same time as the Saloon; it gives the thing some personality and also sort of recalls the earliest generations of Accord.
The other change made was to add more of a fastback to the roofline to eliminate the controversial part of the design: the “breadvan” shape. You can also see that I went ahead and added normal door handles just to piss off those who want to do something different for the sake of doing something different.
From the rear, that roofline change is most noticeable and dramatically changes the Zero from a polarizing design to something I feel is hard to dislike. The bumper line is brought down, the odd rear window now becomes a taillight, and a large glass rear window lets in light. I’ve kept the diffuser rather similar but just added an exhaust outlet below the Buckeye plate and reflectors/back up lights.
Below you can see with the slightly taller roof and reducing the banana-shaped profile it still looks dramatic but far more acceptable to someone trading in a 2022 Accord:
Yeah, I know what you’re saying: “I really dig that breadvan design so why did you kill it?” Hey, I liked it too, and we haven’t had an Accord wagon in a long time; I think it was the one that shared rear doors with the sedan:
That’s why I’d offer an Aerodeck touring (station wagon) version as well.
The tailgate would cut into the roofline not unlike the original Aerodeck or the Dodge Magnum wagon from years ago, and the giant rear window recalls the much-loved Volvo 1800ES and C30. Taillights are incorporated into the window area as well.
You can see from the animation below that I’ve kept a lot of the feel of the original but gone more practical and accessible with the alterations I’ve done to create the Aerodeck version:
It’s really just a matter of how much Costco two-ply you need to bring home that would determine if you should go fastback sedan or Aerodeck wagon. The hatch below is shown with the cargo cover removed. Honestly, we could just make one with a simple trunk lid as well, but I just hate these latest fastback sedans with stupid, tiny cargo openings.
The Aerodeck would give you just that much extra space:
It’s almost a forgone conclusion that the Aerodeck version of this Accord wouldn’t sell well, but who cares? It would be a sign to the world that Honda isn’t letting the Koreans take the lead in new design directions. Plus, it would get those car journalist weenies that keep begging for station wagons (me) some raw meat to chew on.
Hey, one last version that also won’t be a big seller but I’d want to have: an Accord coupe. Many of you will disagree with me, but there were many times that I thought the Accord coupe looked better than that supposedly sportier Prelude. This might be another one of those times. You’ll note the old-school quarter “vent” trim that also recalls Italian designs from half a century ago:
How long has it been since Honda offered a full line of body styles from coupe to sedan to wagon with any model? If the Accord is the keeper of the non-SUV-crossover flame, I’d say they should go for it.
Accord Zero, Honda Won
Come on, a true Zero-inspired Accord would be a clean but strikingly different car to bring some energy to the market. Let’s summon the ghost of Rocky’s coach to give us the old Honda mantra:
That’s right: simple but complex was the Accord way, and to honor this great nameplate’s half-century mark, we don’t want some damn crossover thing to sully the legacy. We want nothing less than Zero.
Top graphic base image: Honda
The proposed design changes to makeover the 0 prototype into a showroom ready Accord replacement somehow made it both boring and even more polarizing. Like going from a sci-fi movie prop sedan driven by Tom Cruise to one driven by Jared Leto when he inevitably appears in Sharnkado Ten: Future Shark!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Minibull_2_Moletai_May_2014.jpg
I can’t help but to see an English Bull Terrier and nothing else.
All these legacy OEMs, especially Honda, get scared of their own shadow, second guess themselves and back-peddle at the slightest sign of doubt or public criticism. The only one with some backbone seems to be Hyundai Group that doubles-down on everything they do.
Precisely put! Hyundai + Genesis rock. Luc Donckerwolke is crazy and I love it.
Do you remember what happened the last time Japan started building Zeros?
Heyooooo
That was Mitsubishi
True, but Soichiro Honda had his own business, Tokai Seiki, that manufactured aircraft engine piston rings for Nakajima that did make complete engines for Zeros.
I thought Nakajima was part of Fuji (Subaru)?
Nakajima Aircraft Company eventually became Subaru.
Incestuous Zaibatsu
Be a good name for a kaiju.
it had better be ROOMY! “They were all in one Accord in one place” Acts 2:1.
Reminds me of the Pastor I had growing up.
He asked us who was the shortest man in the Bible. Famously Zacchaeus was so short he had to climb a tree to see Jesus, and someone answered that.
Then our pastor looked at us and grinned and in a very Southern accent drawled
“What about Knee-High-Miah?” (Nehamiah).
I think my dad is still booing and that was 40 years ago.
The Honda Sedan Prototype borrows nothing, if you ask me, of the most excellent Zero concept. Perhaps the four wheels.
I saw the Zero and thought, hell yeah. Honda found its balls. They’re going to sell a shitload of Accords to, of all things, futurists and early adopters.
Clearly they have lost them again.
Honda has truly leaned into being the most boring of brands lately. Very, very snoozy lineup. I actually think a lot of their current lineup looks good, but like many other brands they won’t paint any of their vehicles a nice color (outside of one aggressively bright blue color on the Civic).
I actually don’t mind that likely to happen “prototype sedan”. It doesn’t look like a crossover at all to me? Hopefully Honda doesn’t flip all of us off and turn it into one. But please Honda, for the love of God, paint it a couple of actually interesting colors.
Wow Bishop, your concept looks so much better than the original concept! I’d dig that. It looks more usable and so much sexier at the same time. The front reminds me of the Hyundai N Vision 74 concept.
Also I love cars which “go too far”. But I am not the mainstream customer.
Thing is that Honda used to be the company that went too far.
GO back to 1983. There is a standard look for a small car. Corolla, 323, Sentra, all have the giant square black bumper and an upright grill. Honda brings the Civic into the 80s with… no grill at all. Just a blank small panel over a bumper that has the air inlet under the plate. Nobody else did that and Honda tripled down on that look and kept the no grill thing going to the mid-90s.
Now go to 1990. All the Japanese have mid-sized cars that look like their popular small cars with extra sauce. Honda has a clear look that everyone knows. Big bumper with a mouth, Hood rolls all the way into the bumper with a big H on it, curvy. But with the Accord, Honda decides to make a car with a small elegant grill over the bumper (with the H) and creases going down the side instead of curves. The result is a car that looks more like a 2000s instead of a 1990.
Even the 1st Gen Rav4 (1995) has some funk in it, with the asymmetrical tire and license plate and the glass in the back not being at the same level as the door glass. It was an odd-looking thing when it first came out. It didn’t try to be a Small off-road vehicle, but something that wasn’t a car or a SUV, but something new.
Honda lost their courage for the 2000s and 2010s. I think the 2017 Accord is nice looking and very Honda looking, but the rest of their lineup is not really special and out-there like the 83 Civic, 90 Accord or 85 CR-V were at their times. (we don’t see them as special today because they sold a crap ton of each of them, many are still on the road and there were copycats of the design, including Honda sticking with a successful formula for a couple generations).
I think during that 2000-2010s period, Honda’s response to any failures became, “I guess we were too bold, we need to be more mainstream/conservative”.
Bold clean designs replaced with black plastics. Unique Civic models for Eurasia vs US.
When you take the Civic 8gen (the “ufo” design, not the American model), that was such a bold choice! Very Honda. But in Europe, sales were not going well at all. Sure, it peaked at over 100k units sold over its lifetime, but apparently not good enough.
So came the 9g Civic, still weird, but much less so, much more mainstream. I had the 9g Tourer, thinking it will be easy to get spare parts for a 2016 car and boy was I wrong. Sales tanked, less than half of the 8g.
The 10g was a first global Civic. But somehow it did even worse than the 9g. British factory closed. I thought it was a great looking car on the outside, but inside it was all dark plastics and crappy screens.
The 1.5 engine was good, although it can never replace the 1.8 vtec reliability monsters.
But the most sold engine was a 1.0 wet belt 3cyl nightmare, originally developed by Peugot and Ford, adopted by Honda. I test drove one and heard horror stories from the owner.
And now you have the 11g, very conservative look, high price, hybrid only in Europe. Not selling.
I assume the next Civic will be even more trendy and mainstream 🙁
I’m really sad for Honda. I wish they would find again what originally made them great with things like the S600, City Turbo II, Civic g4 and g8, NSX… but now they wasted their money on the failed EV transformation and I worry they again learned the wrong lesson.
The next best thing: Hyundai’s Ioniq V…
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71120940/hyundai-ioniq-v-new-ev-styling-language/
Interesting top line (cant rail line? whatever you would call the A pillar line plus the roof line plus the last pillar line) on that. Not necessarily attractive, but good functionally for headroom.
New Accord looks like it’s using the bones of old Accord, probably because cost. Given that constraint, could that actually make a wedge shaped car? Can they move (or fake) the A pillar to make it work?
Why are we even discussing this beyond an academic exercise? There is no way that that prototype will pass the leading-edge height requirements. I love the look of it, but “Think of the pedestrians!!!”
I always assumed that since the release of the Cybertruck that pedestrian impact regulations were something that we assumed existed, but never really did. A Mandela Effect event, like the Sinbad movie Shazaam.
I want a third gen Accord with a manual transmission so darn bad. Do something cool honda! (Certified honda boi here – 3 civics in my past and currently 3 different honda bikes)
The “Prototype Sedan” not only looks better than the Zero but is a far more functionally looking vehicle. The only miss is keeping a sedan style trunk lid instead of making it a hatch.
This “sedan” doesn’t have nearly enough ground clearance to be a crossover.
It looks like Honda is following Toyota’s lead with the Crown and giving their next sedan a slightly higher ride height but still keeping the ground clearance less than 6 inches.
Unless the market for them really blew up recently, you shouldn’t need anywhere near $200k to get an Espada. I would think around half that would get you a good one. I remember when decent ones were hardly over $20k and I almost bought a white one before coming to my senses on maintenance. If you drive them and follow the maintenance schedule, though, I’ve talked to several owners who swear they’re reliable (one of those guys had even added NOS to his). I don’t know if that’s VW owner “my ten year old one has 40k miles on it and it hasn’t blown up!” reliable or a more common idea of reliability, so I took it as MMMV.
One of the main reasons the 1986 accord was so beloved was its massive greenhouse and low dash. It made driving it so easy, airy, and low stress.
The first company to engineer a return to large windows and a low body line while meeting today’s side impact standards will have a sedan win.
A large greenhouse and low body line requires crossover ground clearance to meet side impact standards.
That’s an engineering issue not a given.
All things are possible with enough money and compromise.
The reality though is that the top of the new barrier is 44.8 inches off the ground which means automakers are going to have metal at least that high for a run of the mill sedan built to a budget.
“All things are possible with enough money and compromise”.
So its an engineering problem. All design work is compromise, and good design and engineering is not necessarily expensive. You just have to have to prioritize the right goals.
Today there aren’t a lot of new car buyers that prioritize low seat height.
The engineering itself may not be very expensive (and isn’t really the problem here), it’s that the low-beltline solution to the side-impact test problem is inherently significantly more expensive (materials, parts, manufacturing processes) than the current conventional solutions. Engineering is all about balancing compromises, and in this case it’s about balancing the utility and looks of a low beltline with per-vehicle cost.
Sedans are already struggling in a market where buyers would rather pay thousands more for crossovers even if they’re smaller; there’s much less margin available to eat into for a factor than many buyers can overlook for a $300 lower MSRP.
The main complaint I hear about modern vehicles of any kind is that they are like driving around in bunkers. I think many buyers would gladly pay more to comfortably see their surroundings when driving. Choosing to spend money in this area, perhaps at the cost of other features, is a design issue. Finding a way to have that improved visibility without excessive cost is an engineering issue.
Egg-seeking missiles will solve it. Can’t have side impact if car running red light is steel confetti
looks like someone flatted a Chevy Lumina/Olds Silhouette/Pontiac Trams Sport
The Espada link is legit. But actually gives me more Marzal vibes. Which was also a sort of saloon car.
I have never understood why looking unconventional = looking bad in the eyes of many people. The Honda Zero concept is really cool, looks good, seems reasonably practical, and is forward thinking. That quote about a cross between Lamborghini, Cybertruck, and DeLorean not being a compliment is weird. 2/3 of those are considered good-looking cars. And there are absolutely no Cybertruck vibes in there at all.
I agree with the Bishop; I’m sad that it won’t see production. I’m also sad that Honda seems too afraid to take a swing.
Because most people are lemmings
I stated that the Zero had zero change of ever seeing the light of day as a production vehicle the second I saw it. And I fully stick by that. I thought it was ugly when they first showed it off, and I still think it is ugly today.
Ugly and completely impractical with the lack of forward sight lines.
No kidding. THere have been countless videos of how horrible the Countach was to drive. It just happened to be such an outrageous vehicle that everyone still wanted one. But to actually live with it and drive it, it was crap. I’m sure this would be better, but probably not that much better.
Implying the Crosstour wouldn’t sell well.
Considering everything else has gone that way, and seemingly selling like hotcakes, why wouldn’t it?
Crosstour was just a little too frumpy, and came with a premium pricetag over the sedan.
“Of course, you’re talking to a guy who, if given 200 grand or so to spend on a car, would immediately go out and buy a Lamborghini Espada”
That’s me too!
The only Lamborghini I want. Well the Muria is nice too. Interestingly, the Espada was more expensive than the Muria and vastly outsold it
I was really into the Marcello Gandini vibe of the Honda, adding details sort of spoils it.
Oh, and the little window in the back of the Espada is wonderful. On the Prius, you can look out the back but position your gear so that headlights are blocked by the space between the glass.
You know I’m usually on board with the Bishop here, but I’m not seeing much “sedan” here and that’s an important aspect for the Accord in my opinion. This thing looks more like a Model Y cross-bred with a DMC-12 (though that may be the silver-ish color impacting my judgement).
Center exhaust is a bad idea, especially for a practical vehicle, as it makes it difficult or unduly expensive to add a hitch receiver and might restrict it to wussy 1-1/4, like with my Focus ST (had to sandwich it between the exhaust and body). Those BDSM strap-on bike racks suck. Center exhaust also looks awful on probably anything built since the ’60s.
My uncle had a trailer hitch on his 62 XKE.
1-1/4 size-down is usually to discourage people from overloading tongue weight. Probably for the best on the Focus.
I’ve put a trailer hitch on every small car I’ve owned. If not just for the bike rack, the versatility for utility trailers when I can’t fit things in the hatch (or for transporting a motorcycle).
Yeah, I built a 5×8 utility trailer for my GR86 as kayaks can’t go on the roof, but also for yard waste disposal, construction material, or whatever, but the need to transport bikes is a lot more common. The problem I have with 1-1/4 is the torsional load a bike rack puts on it and I worry more about dynamic loads. One would need some pretty massive bikes to exceed the TW on a class 2 hitch with bicycles. I would think the rack’s rating would be a lot lower (my Kuat is 160 lbs, I think). While I didn’t have an issue with the 1-1/4, the 2″ class 3 I have on the ’86 almost doesn’t move at all, which is a lot more reassuring.
Man I love the aero deck so much…high want
I like these a lot – of course a coupe would be especially cool.
Honda seems to be veering towards styling and engineering conservatism these days – and it’s a shame.