Happy 40th Birthday: the Midsize Honda Accord is Middle Aged
Guest Contributor
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Honda celebrates 40 years of the popular Accord.
If it seems like the Honda Accord has been around for awhile, you’re right. With sales of over 12.7 million units, the Honda Accord is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The Accord is a popular car, to say the least. Honda sold 10.5 million Accords in the United States since it started production here back in 1982. More recently, the Accord was the top retail-selling car in America for the past three years and the most popular midsize car with buyers under 35 for five of the past six years.
Forty years is a long time and things have changed quite a bit. Back in June 1976 America was celebrating the Bicentennial, the number one song was Silly Love Songs, and a gallon of gas cost only 59 cents. Now the ‘cents’ symbol isn’t even on keyboards.
1996 Honda Accord. Image: Honda
The Accord has seen many firsts
The Accord was the first Honda model and the first vehicle from a Japanese automaker to be produced in the US when production started in Marysville, Ohio on November 1, 1982. It was also the first US-made vehicle from a Japanese automaker exported overseas with American-made Accords shipping to Taiwan back in 1987.
The first Accord looked a lot different than the ones Honda is building today. It launched as a hatchback that was smaller than even today’s Honda Fit. The modern Accord is available as a sedan, coupe and the newly-launched hybrid with things no one could even imagine 40 years ago like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
See just how far the Accord has come in 40 years with this timeline that shows the Accord’s evolution from small hatchback to modern sedan. Honda is also sharing highlights on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Happy birthday, Accord! Now, where’s the car-shaped cake with 40 candles?