About 40 years ago, the motorcycle and its riders had a very rough image and reputation. Think Hell’s Angels.  But there were plenty of young professional motorcycle enthusiasts and others who didn’t fit that image.

Along came Honda with their technically refined bikes, and a U.S. ad campaign with the slogan, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” It was successful, as were Honda motorcycles in the marketplace. They transformed the image of motorcycling.

Also in the mid-60s, Honda fielded a successful Formula One Grand Prix car, long before Toyota did. It grabbed the automobile world’s attention, because at that time, the Honda car was hardly a blip on the international car-scene radar.

Honda built the first Japanese-owned car factory in the U.S. Another first was the Acura brand, Honda’s upscale entry. It hit the U.S. several years before Infiniti and Lexus. Honda’s products have always been a bit out of the mainstream, with an air of mechanical elegance. Honda motors were a little sexier, they met smog laws more easily and they tended to outperform their rivals. Not unlike another car company that’s big in motorcycles: BMW.

With these thoughts in mind I got behind the wheel of a 2006 Honda Accord V-6 with a six-speed manual transmission. No oddball this.  The Accord regularly vies with the Toyota Camry for the title “Best Selling Car in the U.S.”

Hondas are also on the top rung on Owner Satisfaction surveys, reliability ratings, resale value, and appeal to hardcore motoring enthusiasts.

The Accord coupe is either bland looking, or clean and uncluttered. You’ll have to look at one and decide for yourself. Get behind the wheel and it’s one thoughtful, well designed feature after another. Although it’s perplexing why a $2,000 navigation system makes sense when a $12.95 road atlas works fine, the Honda system proved easy to understand and operate. No small thing for those of us who are electronically-challenged.

This Honda is impressively smooth, powerful and buttoned down — a very sporty coupe. The Accord sedan is available with the same mechanicals, which make it a very sporty “Sports Sedan.”

A few years ago, one of the major car-buff magazines that publishes an annual 10 Best Cars list had an editorial battle. One of the editors took the position that Hondas were the most meritorious cars in the world, considering their quality build, economy, reliability and environmental friendliness. Therefore, he said, the 10 Best Cars should all be Hondas. He didn’t back down easily, but his colleagues did manage to present a more varied list.

We always had the Big Three concept in the U.S.: Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouth. The Plymouth brand died a few years ago, and the other two are faltering. Today, the Big Three are Toyota, Nissan, and Honda, fine cars all, that offer at least as much variety and choice as the historic Big Three ever did, along with a level of quality the old-timers never dreamed of.

Today’s Big Three are not without challengers, and the sub-$15,000 KIA Rio 5 is enough to keep any competitor on their toes. It offers a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty.  It’s powerful enough, attractive, practical and reliable. Not bad for a relative newcomer. KIA came to the U.S. about 12 years ago, with some cheap, fairly mediocre cars. In these few years, they’ve kept their cars inexpensive, but the mediocre days are long gone.

Innovative Design

At the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, my vote for the most appealing concept car went to Suzuki (!) for their high style aerodynamic minivan that looked like a cross between an old-time aluminum-sided Greyhound bus, and an Airstream travel trailer. Do you like it?

Next month we’ll discuss the new Buick Lucerne, a GM car that promises to bring some much-needed business their way. We’ll also explore some more trendsetting top-drawer cars, especially the Maserati Quattroporte.

Mark Your Calendar

The California Mille, our 1,000-mile historic race car tour of Northern California, kicks off on Sunday, April 30^th, at the Fairmont Hotel, with the race cars on display on Mason St., in front of the Hotel. That block will be closed for the day.

Also on display, courtesy of the Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance, will be 50 or so cars of the last 100 years; cars in which guests might have arrived at the Fairmont Hotel when the cars were new. Lois Lehrman, publisher of the Nob Hill Gazette, will award a prize to the car she likes best.

The Nob Hill Association will have their traditional afternoon Italian buffet. Tickets available for $40 by calling Bella Farrow, 415-673-0614, or Katherine MacMillan 415-345-2856.

 As a free service to Gazette readers, Martin will gladly offer suggestions on how to dispose of a cherished car. Call him at 415-479-9950.