New Honda Museum Opens Right of the Lobby of Company Headquarters

Honda is so diverse, it makes so many different products, that you might forget just what a big deal it is. Depending on how you see it, Honda is either: one of the largest manufacturers of competent automobiles and motorcycles in the world, a dominating force in racing, a producer of reliable water pumps, generators, and outboard motors, and even a maker of one very comfortable business jet.

But where can all this mechanical diversity and heritage be celebrated? Actually, there are several places.

You used to have to travel all the way to Marysville, Ohio, for the Honda Heritage Center museum. That one’s open every Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm. It has cars, motorcycles, power equipment, outboard motors, and even a Honda Jet. And when you’re done with that you can get a tour of the Honda Marysville car plant.

True Honda faithful will want to make the pilgrimage to Honda Heritage Hall in Motegi, Japan. There they have original Honda F1 cars, racing motorcycles, and all manner of Honda street cars and motorcycles.

Now, as of this morning, another center of Honda heritage has opened: the New American Honda Collection Hall just off the lobby of the company's headquarters building in Torrance, California. It has a nice gathering of historic street and race cars, a good selection of motorcycles, several power products, and even a small model of a Honda Business Jet.

The collection had been housed in an anonymous concrete tilt-up a few blocks away that common people were not allowed to see. You had to know a powerful executive—or the janitor. I had seen it a few times and was impressed.

There were racks and stacks of race cars from the company’s long and storied Indycar history, along with street cars and quite a few motorcycles. There was even a full-size model of the storefront that served as American Honda’s first toehold in the US.

Some of that collection is on display in the new facility.

It’s located in the main lobby on the ground floor of the American Honda headquarters building in Torrance.

As it is, the new display includes more than 60 “historic and significant Honda and Acura automobiles, motorcycles, power equipment, race machines, engines, and concept models, plus images, graphics, and video presentations.”

The new place takes up 20,000 square feet, so there’s certainly room for more pieces from the Honda Heritage collection.

If you want to visit, all you have to do is just show up at American Honda headquarters at 1919 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90501. Your best bet might be to wait until regular "Cars, Bikes & Coffee events,” held on the third Saturday of every other month. THose events will start Oct. 21. Start planning your pilgrimage now:

• Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, 9 am to noon

• Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, 9 am to noon

• Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, 9 am to noon

• Saturday, April 20, 2024, 9 am to noon

• Saturday, June 15, 2024, 9 am to noon

• Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, 9 am to noon

And check out the N600, the CVCC Hatchback, and the 1965 E300 Generator with 300-watt output.