6 Of The Rarest Honda Cars Ever Made

Most people would not think of a Honda as a rare car. After all, Hondas are generally known as mass-produced vehicles that are made in very large quantities, a point proven by the 1,291,490 Hondas that were sold in the U.S. in 2024. In fact, three Honda vehicles (the Civic, the Pilot, and the Odyssey) were the top-selling vehicles in their market segments, while the Accord also sells in large quantities. But that doesn't mean that Hondas can't be rare.

A number of very rare cars have been made over the years, some of which are Hondas you didn't realize existed. The reasons for their low production quantities vary. There were homologation specials, experimental cars intended to be leased for a trial period, badge-engineered high-performance variants that sold in low quantities, sales failures, track-focused variants, and others. 

This article will cover six notable examples of the rarest Hondas ever made. The production quantities of each of these Hondas range from a high of somewhere around 1,000 down to just five.

The 1963-64 Honda S500 (also known as the Sports 500) was Honda's first sports car, as well as its first car (the T360 truck preceded it as the first Honda four-wheeled vehicle). It made its production debut in October of 1963. The Honda S500 was Honda's answer to the Japanese market's readiness for an affordable sports car. The S500 cost about $1,300 at the exchange rate of the time. 

The Honda S500 entered production with a tiny 0.531-liter aluminum inline four-cylinder DOHC engine with a roller-bearing crankshaft and hemispherical combustion chambers, which permitted an output of 44 horsepower with an extremely high redline of 8,500 rpm, increased to 9,500 rpm in the successor S600 model. The front-mounted engine sent the power through a four-speed manual transmission and drove the rear wheels through the use of chain drive. Top speed was 80 mph (130 km/h). The S500 featured a fully independent suspension. Inside, a large speedo and tach were placed directly in front of the driver, with additional instruments off to the side.

Production of the S500 ended in 1964. Although some internet sources report Honda produced a total of 1,363 units, production numbers of the S500 remain mostly elusive because Honda quickly transitioned into mass producing its replacement, the more popular S600, and records are nearly impossible to find from that time. The S600 had a larger 0.606-liter engine that produced 57 horsepower. 

Based on the well-received Honda Life Step Van, the 1973-74 Honda Life Pickup was developed by Honda and released in 1973. It is a "Kei" truck, which stands for keitora, which can be interpreted as compact, light, or miniature in Japanese. Kei trucks and cars comprise a special Japanese classification for vehicles that do not exceed certain standards for length, width, and height. They must also have engines that are no more than 660 cc (0.66 liters) in displacement.

The Honda Life Pickup was not successful, even though initial production was planned for 500 units per month. This was likely related to the Life Pickup being a front-wheel drive (FWD) design, which resulted in less usable cargo space within the bed compared to the rear-engined, rear-wheel drive (RWD) trucks that were preferred by truck buyers at the time. Space is at a premium in a Kei truck, and its maximum size is fixed, so a truck with more cargo space will attract more buyers. Because RWD pickups had their engines located under the pickup bed, the cab could be totally devoted to holding the driver and passenger without the need to fit the space-hogging FWD powertrain in there as well, as the Life Pickup had to.

The Life Pickup also had direct competition from the existing Honda TN360, the company's own rear-engined pickup that boasted much more bed space and practicality. This helps to explain why only approximately 1,000 Honda Life Pickups were sold during its brief time in the marketplace.

The 1997-2000 Honda Torneo SiR-T was sold exclusively in Japan at Honda's Primo and Verno dealerships. The Torneo was a badge-engineered, sportier version of the sixth-generation Honda Accord. As a performance variant of such a vehicle, production of this rare Honda Torneo SiR-T was extremely limited. The Torneo SiR-T is powered by a 2.0-liter F20B DOHC VTEC inline four-cylinder engine with an output of 197 horsepower (200 PS), about 20 hp higher than in the standard Torneo SiR model. Its power is channeled through a five-speed manual gearbox with shorter shift strokes (the only transmission choice available) and then to the front wheels. 

Other features of the Honda Torneo SiR-T include a new five-link double-wishbone rear suspension with a Watt link, electrically-assisted power steering, and a lighter-weight, diecast magnesium steering wheel. As of January 1999, the Torneo SiR-T was upgraded with the addition of the "S Package," which is pictured in the photo above. This included sport seats in moquette and leather, perforated leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel, trunk spoiler, aluminum rims, and a front spoiler.

Since the Torneo was made only for the JDM, all examples are right-hand drive. A few Torneo SiR-Ts have made their way to the U.S. thanks to the 25-year rule and have been put up for sale on various auction and importer sites. 

The Nürburgring-inspired 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition was released following 2,500 miles of development there by Honda engineers. As a lighter-weight, more track-focused version of the Civic Type R, the Type R Limited Edition (LE) was even more hardcore than the basic car.

While the Civic Type R Limited Edition's engine is mechanically identical to that of the standard Type R, there were a number of other changes that had been made. One was a wheel and tire upgrade, replacing the original Conti SportContact tires with stickier (and lighter) Michelin PS Cup 2 rubber and mounting the tires on lighter BBS wheels that together save 22 pounds of unsprung weight. Other weight savings came from removal of sound deadening (another 28 pounds) and deleting the rear heater ducts, rear wiper, and rear cargo cover. 

Reprogramming of the car's software improved the handling, adding roll stiffness and increasing steering effort. Every example was painted Phoenix Yellow, with the hood intake vent, roof, and exterior mirror caps in gloss black. Each LE also came with a numbered plaque on its center console. Performance stats include 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds and 0-100 mph in 11.4 seconds, with a top speed of 169 mph, according to Car & Driver. The LE also set a front-wheel drive speed record of 2:23.993 at Honda's Suzuka F1 circuit. A total of 1,020 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Editions were made for the world, of which 600 came to the U.S.

The 1997-99 Honda EV Plus was the result of a nearly decade-long effort at Honda to create a practical and marketable electric vehicle (EV). When Honda created its EV research team in 1988, there was no existing industrial base to produce either electric motors to power EVs or the batteries to power them. Honda's offer to purchase small quantities of motors got some suppliers involved in the development process. But there was no cutting-edge battery technology then, just the same old lead-acid batteries that were under the hoods of gasoline-powered cars.

Honda's sense of urgency increased in 1990 when the U.S. Clean Air Act was amended to include California's LEV standards. In 1992, the EU followed suit with its first emissions standards. These regulations would only get stiffer, pushing Honda to seek cleaner vehicle solutions. The team grew to over 100 Honda engineers and set out to make the world's best EV. California would be its primary market, so testing would happen there — 80,000 miles worth. 

The test cars had power steering as well as air conditioning and performed as well as gasoline-powered cars under all conditions. They featured brushless DC motors, which provided high efficiency and performance. The EV Plus was the first EV to use longer-range, more energy-dense nickel-metal hydride (Ni-Mh) batteries. The first EV Plus rolled off the production line in April 1997 and was available for lease only. A total of 340 EV Plus cars were made by the time the program ended in 1999.  

The Honda NSX-R, also known as the Honda NSX Type R, was somewhat different from the Acura-branded NSX that was sold in the U.S. at this time. The NSX-R featured the same 3.2-liter V6 with 290 horsepower and six-speed manual transmission as the Acura, but the Honda NSX Type R received additional weight reduction measures in the form of carbon fiber body panels that included a flow-through hood panel and a large rear wing. Thanks to these improvements, the NSX-R achieved greatly increased downforce not often seen on a road car. The V6's crankshaft was balanced, while the car's brakes and suspension were recalibrated for track use. 

The 2005 Honda NSX-R GT was a homologation special that was created to get the car approved for the GT500 class of the Japanese Super GT series. Only five of them were ever produced, and they were all painted Championship White. An evolution of the limited-edition 2002 Honda NSX-R (as it was known in the Japanese market, shown above), which itself was only produced in a quantity of 140, the NSX-R GT was mechanically the same as the NSX-R — except for some unique bodywork that, once homologated, could then be used on the racing versions. 

These parts included a large air scoop that reached above the roof (non-functional on street cars), bigger side air ducts, and restyled carbon fiber fascias front and rear. Unfortunately, the 2005 GT500 season saw Honda finish second in the team championship behind NISMO.