- Available for just two Accord generations, the Honda Accord wagon was a practical Honda from the days before the CR-V existed.
- This first-gen Accord wagon has just 42,000 miles and is being sold by the original owning family.
- Recent work includes the all-important timing belt replacement.
In the early 1990s, Honda was flying high. The fifth-generation Civic was thrifty but zippy, the Acura NSX was a performance revelation thanks to the tasseled-loafer input of Ayrton Senna, and the Accord was a reliable and handsome choice for family hauling. Then the big H went one better and turned that Accord into a station wagon: ultimate practicality from a time when a “crossover” was just Run-D.M.C. collaborating with Aerosmith on a rap/rock version of Walk This Way.
This 1993 Accord LX wagon, up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is a well-preserved example from the Golden Age of Honda. It has been in the same family since new and has just 42,000 miles on the odometer. Its clean and unfussy lines call back to an era when styling was all about less, not more.
In the U.S. market, the wagon variant only existed for two generations of Accord, the fourth and fifth gen. All were built in Ohio at Honda’s Marysville, Ohio, plant, even those sold in Japan. In fact, Honda built a very sporty variant called the Accord wagon SiR, with a 190-hp four-cylinder under the hood; it was built in Ohio but sold in Japan only.
This 1993 example is much more subdued, with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine good for 125 horsepower and 137 pound-feet of torque. Paired with a four-speed automatic transmission, this particular Honda is less Brazilian F1 god and more farmer’s-market shuttle.
Which is not to sell the appeal short. The elegant simplicity of the instrumentation, the well-thought-out cargo area, the nicely bolstered seats, the sensible ergonomics and controls—everything about this Accord is enough to make you nostalgic for the days before touchscreens and smartphone connectivity.
As it’s an LX model, the options list isn’t overwhelming, but all the necessities are there. It’s got power windows, air conditioning, and a factory cassette stereo if you want to dig out your ’90s mixtapes. More important, perhaps, this example has had plenty of service in the past six years, including the timing belt. It’s cleaned up and ready to go.
A pleasant driver with plenty of life left on the odometer and simple serviceability, this Accord wagon will still be on the road years after many a high-tech modern car has bricked itself off to the scrapyard. That’s the wonderful thing about Golden Age Hondas: part of their appeal was that they were an inverse of an exotic. They were lovely to drive, but also asked very little in return.
The auction ends on Monday, July 17.
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.