Honda’s S660 Roadster Spotted In Tennessee
By Paulo Acoba
A lone Honda S660 was spotted on a Tennesse interstate in RHD trim.
Update: Rumor has it that this particular model is owned by the Lane Motor Museum. They also have a Honda Beat in their collection, the predecessor to this S660.
Update: Honda Pro Jason has confirmed that this S660 is owned by the Lane Motor Museum.
It looks like the rumor mill for a Honda S660 being exported for other markets is alive and well and this latest spotting surely adds fuel to that fire. According to Chicagoland Petrolheads and car meets member Paul Bulthuis, this particularly clean looking Honda S660 in right-hand drive trim was spotted on Interstate 65 just three miles north of Murfreesboro.
Rumors based on a couple of quotes from Honda management have been floating around for a couple of months now stating how Honda is trying its best to ready this kei-car for U.S. export. Albeit if it makes it down here there’ll be a bit more punch under the rear engine cover. These latest photos certainly stoke our interest as to what this little roadster is doing on U.S. soil. Check out a couple of photos of the potential Miata fighter below and let us know what you think about this car coming over the Pacific in the comments below.
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If our motoring friends down under are to be believed, according to their inside source earlier last week, a special Honda S1000 is already greenlighted for international export. Instead of the 660cc three-cylinder currently churning away underneath the S660, Honda already has a 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder developed by Mugen ready to shoehorned in its place. This’ll take the roadster from 63 HP all the way to a more palatable 125 HP.
When Top Gear tested out this new 1.0 turbo triple (in FWD trim btw) they were impressed by how much torque this powerplant had. Stuff it in a car that already weighs a lithe 1,830 pounds and you’ve got the recipe for some real fun.
According to Paul, compared to other American sized cars surrounding the roadster, it looked small. As it should be. Being a good two feet shorter in length than a Miata, there are few cars on the road as short as an S660. It is as wide as a Miata though. Wikipedia lists an S1000 with slightly larger dimensions in length, width and height but no source to back it up.
More cars: Is This CAD Sketch The New Mid-Engine Honda S2000?
Honda is doing its best to bring exciting products to market. With the introduction of the Honda Civic with 1.5T (that happens to be killing it in the showrooms), its best-selling Accord and the all-new Acura NSX, Honda is off to a strong start on its revival here in the states. If this S660 to S1000 sighting makes the leap to a confirmed statement of development from Honda, who knows what other exciting products they might have up their sleeves.
We’ve reached out to Honda for comment and they agreed with our updates we’ve posted above.