Practically Classics Forum

Back in 1963 Honda produced its first automobile, the T360 truck. Power by a DOHC water cooled straight 4 with quad carbs the T360 clearly showed Hondas motorcycle heritage whilst also displaying its innovation in engineering. The fundamentals of this engine eventually grew into the S800 sports car.
Seeing as the T360 was never sold in the UK it was a real treat for me to see one recently especially as this truck is an early production prototype. Of the 108,920 T360s produced from 1963 through 1967 it is believed that only 2 in Europe are road worthy.

Damn! That's just such a cute wee thing. Looking at it, it's easy to see where the Acty got its looks from. Lovely. Cheers for posting pics of that.

It looks in lovely shape

i had the acty tn7 pickup. a great little wheelbarrow when i get the lottery up its on the shopping list...

The TN7 is such a great looking truck especially with the double headlights.

Yet again, an otherwise innocent forum post has made me want to go out and acquire yet another vehicle that I'd probably never actually use.
That's just gorgeous.

That's a stunner,must have been a real treat to see it. Did you have a drive ?

The owner was kind enough to take me out for a drive. My size 14 feet made driving it a bit difficult

Lets have a closer look at this amazing little truck.

The front emblem



Rear axel



The engine from the underside



Under the hood the spare wheel is stored



Original seat



Under the seat the engine lies, a DOHC 356cc unit with quad keihin carbs



The dash



Attention to detail. Note the gas pump for the fuel guage and the thermometer for the temp gauge.



The tailgate

What a funny little truck, but that's possibly why honda still make little commercials.

Cor! What a wee beauty! I love the way those exhaust pipes curl round in front of the rear axle.

Mr Honda was a real genius and inovator. When he started making bikes just after the war, fuel was in very short supply in Japan. The Honda family owned an area of pine forest, so clever Mr Honda found a way of turning pine trees into fuel to power his bikes. He then sold the fuel through Honda dealers.

Over in the Philippines you will see many of Suzukis interpretation of the Acty, called the Suzuki Karry. Due to the Japanese MOT being so very strict, they usually throw their vehicles away at 4 years old when they become test eligible. So the Philippines import these small pick-ups, convert them to LHD (the Japs put the steering wheel on the correct side) fit new tyres and a cheap re-spray.

You can get a basic pick-up for about £1400 at the current exchange rate. That is 3 cyl,550cc, 6V points electrics and triple carbs with manual choke and 4WD - yes, that's right, 4WD! Also, the drivers seat is bigger than the passengers due to the LHD conversion.

For a grand more, you get wide alloy wheels with chunky tyres, 12V electrics, a 650cc engine, a stereo and a sliding cover over the pick-up bed.

We borrowed the basic version and it was a hoot! OK for the road conditions over there apart from going up the hills. I got 16 people on it and drove it the 8Km from Mum-in-Laws to Sister-in-Laws, up dirt tracks with ruts big enough to lose the thing in and 1 in 4 gradients. It just chugged along in 2nd with the odd change down to 1st.

Top speed would be a white knuckle ride at about 60, but I never took it over 50 due to the road and traffic conditions over there.