Inside Honda’s Top Secret Car Collection Museum
By OR Staff, Photography by Joey Leh
Go for a drive through the east side of California’s South Bay area and you’ll bear witness to what is known as a Japanese auto manufacturer wonderland. Nissan used to be a stone’s throw from the freeway here until they got up and moved to Tennessee.
Toyota’s headquarters is still here, just a few minutes from Honda’s campus, the two auto giants staring at each other through closed blinds. But, resisting the pull of competition-fueled hubris, straight-laced Japanese corporate work ethic doesn’t leave much in the way of extravagance.
There are no IndyCar burnout demonstrations at Honda and it’s more likely that you’ll see a lawn mower on display in the front lobby than a NSX. There are a few employees that are into the faster side of things but, on a whole, at Honda, it’s all business.
Rigid business – a curious character trait for a company that has raced its cars in IndyCar, Formula One, World Challenge, Grand-Am, Le Mans, Super GT, and pretty much every other racing series in the world.
In Tochigi, Japan, at Honda’s home Twin Ring Motegi racetrack, there exists a three-story palace to all things Honda called the Honda Collection Hall. In the US, nothing. Or so we thought.
We received an invite from American Honda to visit a non-descript office building, not too far from their main headquarters. With its average looking, modern, cookie cutter business complex exterior, you’d expect the office to house a garden hose distributor or paper manufacturer. Not even close.
Inside rests the hidden car collection of American Honda. Famous and classic racecars are situated near pristine and meticulously maintained examples of past Honda machines. An entire rack of IndyCar racecars sits next to display-only V8 engines and posters of past winners. The IndyCars all vary in age, design, and driver but it’s impressive to be surrounded by so much carbon and steel at once.
On the floor rests an old SEMA Show Civic, classic SCCA Civic, two Realtime Racing Acuras, and the Spice-Acura IMSA car. Like seeing an old friend again, we were glued to the Realtime Racing Acura NSX, which we hadn’t seen since it got Vortech supercharged and raced in Speed World Challenge GT.
The interior itself is bright and roomy, essentially a giant warehouse that has been covered with a spotless coat of white paint and floor epoxy. Well lit, the building itself is the perfect complement to the cars contained within. The setup is large and spacious, with plenty of viewing space and visibility.
Every car, even the bone stock Acura Integra Type-R and Honda Accord, are fully restored and completely spotless. Truth be told, they wouldn’t be out of place sitting in a dealer’s showroom.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Honda’s secret museum car collection is that it’s not open to the public. The location isn’t published and you can’t just show up on a Saturday and expect to walk in. You wouldn’t even know where it is. Hell, we’ve been there and we can’t even remember where it is. The facility and the maintenance on the cars can’t be cheap but Honda continues to use the facility only for private functions and showings.
It’s a shame that not everybody will be able to enjoy these Honda-powered machines in person but that just might be the key to keeping them in perfect condition for years to come. For now, just enjoy the pictures.
