(tires screeching)
- Beautiful.
- Its the sedan that put Acura on the map
and showed everybody that you don't need
to spend a ton to get a ton.
From turbos to all wheel drive to crazy hybrid systems.
This Acura has done it all.
There isn't a person in the world who's owned one of these
and didn't love it, but why?
Well, I'm about to tell you,
this is everything you need to know
to get up to speed on the Acura legend
(gaming music)
Just wanna give a big shout
and a huge thanks to Acura for actually sponsoring
this episode of Up To Speed.
As we'll see, Acura has always been a hyper focused company
obsessed with precision crafted performance.
They have a legacy of purposeful design,
but how did this legacy begin?
(soul music)
In early 80s, Honda was hatching a plan.
The car maker known around the world for affordable
and reliable economy cars was gonna do something
a little brazy.
They were gonna make some nice ass luxury cars.
Internally, it seemed like the logical move.
Honda was really good at making great cars
that were affordable.
Detroit just couldn't keep up
and Honda figured they could bring some of that same kind of
fight to ze Germans and bring
an exquisitely designed sedan to market.
There was also a very practical business reason to build
more expensive cars for America.
- This notification indicates our intent to challenge
the continuing discrimination against United States autos
and auto parts in Japan.
- The US was imposing automotive tariffs on Japan so
that Japanese auto makers voluntarily limited
the amount of cars they sold in the US.
Now because of this limit,
Honda had to make more premium cars
to make up the difference.
That makes sense, right?
In 1981 the company got to work on designing
its flagship luxury sedan, code codename project HX.
Honda worked closely with Austin Rover Group.
Over (mumbles) England, during the design phase.
Rover was interested in developing a sedan of their own,
which would greatly benefit from having
some Japanese engineering involved.
The sedan would be powered by the Honda C25A engine.
The first time Honda used a B6
in one of their production cars.
The cars exterior design wasn't too controversial.
It was a handsome and sleek four or sedan.
Rover's version of the car was called the Rover 800
or Sterling 800 as it was known over here in the US.
The Rover was different from the Honda on the inside,
featuring genuine British woods and leathers very luxurious,
but there was a bit of the problem.
Honda was known in the US for their economy cars
and now they were going to sell a luxury car?
I mean, people might be skeptical.
So along with the new car,
Honda launched a new company called Acura
and their new sedan would be called the legend.
That's bold, all right.
That's like naming your son Adonis.
What if he turns out to be chubby?
Anyway, the sedan launched in Japan as a Honda in 1985,
then arrived in the US as an Acura in 86.
Alongside the legend was Acura second car,
the Integra, a sporting compact that we've talked about
a million times before, heey!
This is a freakin' GS-R.
I'm gonna put the link to those videos down
in the description below.
Acura, expected to sell 55,000 units
and met that goal in the cars second year.
The legend gave customers features, usually found in much
more expensive cars at a much more affordable price.
With that famous famous high build quality.
The sedans interior was plush and super comfortable,
complete with a bangin' system and a power freakin' sunroof
so you could look at the sky while you drive.
Underneath the legend suspension featured
a Honda staple, double wishbones in the front.
Now double wishbone suspension looks like this
and it was developed in formula one racing.
A little team called McLaren was using Honda engines
in the mid eighties and kicking a lot of butt.
(formula 1 car engine rumbling)
Honda saw that McLaren was using double wishbone setups
and they thought,
hey, that would probably work in our road cars.
Acura was so sure of the legend
that they only gave customers one option,
besides paint, the transmission
You get a four speed auto or five speed manual,
both of which were praised by auto journo types
as being smooth like Santana featuring Rob Thomas.
♪ It's a hot one ♪
While the legend was only available with
the C25A in America.
Japanese buyers had other interesting engine options,
including a very small two liter V6.
In 1987 Honda Japan offered a turbocharge version
of this little tiny buzz boy,
which used a special variable geometry turbo or VGT.
(car engine roaring)
These special turbos can change the amount of exhaust gases
needed to get them spooled up by using actuated veins.
Is pretty freakin' complicated.
But long story short, they can make large amounts of boost
while also keeping turbo lag to a minimum.
Now, if you're thinking about C20at swapping your legend,
be prepared to be patient because Honda didn't sell
very many of those cars with this engine,
making them extremely, extremely rare.
Back in the US the legend was selling well
and quickly establishing Acura as a legit luxury brand.
Things were a little different for the Sterling 800,
remember the Rover from before?
Unfortunately for Rover,
the Sterling used Rover electronics,
which were notoriously faulty
and quickly bombed the Sterling's reputation.
The Rover 800 would soon leave the US market
just five years after its debut.
With less than 2,500 units sold.
On the flip side, Acura was just getting started.
(car exhaust roaring)
Two years after the sedans debut, Acura added the legend
coupe to the lineup.
And as the name suggests, this legend was a coup.
And it only had two doors
Had a larger 2.7 liter V6 under hood.
Make it 161 pony boys power them front wheels.
The Acura experiment was officially a success
and inspired other Japanese manufacturers
to launch their own luxury lines.
Toyota has Lexus.
Nissan gave birth to infinity.
Acura achieved their goal of breaking into the luxury market
and caught more established brands off guard.
Now was the time for accurate punch him in the tummy,
then punch him in the face.
Ding, ding, ding.
The second gen legend debuted in late 1990,
the styling borrowed cues from Acuras new NSX supercar
which launched that same year.
I got to tell you, the second gen legend freakin'
blew people's minds and how could it not?
The new legend looked amazing.
Ahhh Uh Ooh Wow!
My mind is blown.
The proportions and stance made it look
like a rear wheel drive car, but it wasn't.
How they do that well instead of mounting
the engine transversely,
Acura engineers mounted in the new
3.2 liter V6 longitudinally.
The result was a longer and lower hood line
which gave the legend very sporty dimensions.
Inside the car, the hits just kept on coming.
Automatic climate control.
Had a freakin' car phone in it.
Heated leather seats.
Real mounted volume controls
for your radio and doors.
They use vacuums to suck them close
if they weren't closed all the way.
Guys, this is 1991 all right.
This stuff was groundbreaking
and the Germans were like shyza.
We do not have ze doors that sucks in self closed.
Along with the new sedan, the legend coupe was back baby
and it looked even better than before.
With one of the most 90s rear ends of the decade, right?
In 1993 the C32A engine was upgraded
to make even more power baby.
Now pushing 230 horsepowers.
Acura offered a six speed manual as an option for the coup,
making it one of the few cars available at the time
With that many years, people were like, Whoa!
Six gears, that's crazy, man.
Fun fact, from 1994 to 1999 the legend name continued living
on under the Daewoo brand.
♪ Daewood ♪
The Daewod legend was pretty basic compared
to some of the more option out legends
from Honda and Acura, but compared to other cars,
Korean companies were building at the time.
The Korean legend was one of the most sophisticated cars
in the entire country.
(tires screeching)
The Acura legend lived up to its name.
It crossed the pond and showed everyone that Acura knew
how to build a great car.
The legend is a legend.
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Let me know what you think about the Acura legend
down in the comments below for Donut on Instagram
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Go get yourself some merch.
Tell your mom you love her.
I love you. Bye.