Manufacturing for the Honda Accord began in 1976, and the nameplate has been used for an array of vehicles -- including wagons, crossovers, hatchbacks, sedans and coupes. Almost from the start, the Accord began making history. In 1982, the Maryville Auto Plant in Ohio began to manufacturer the vehicle, the first such occurrence in terms of Japanese cars. Since 1989, the Accord has been one of the United States' best-selling vehicles, and was the first import brand to do so. In order to continue to appeal to car buyers, the Honda Accord has evolved and transformed to meet their needs and introduce innovative breakthroughs to the general public. The first generation of the Honda Accord, introduced in 1976, was a three-door hatchback with cutting-edge features such as cloth seats, AM/FM radio, intermittent wipers and tachometer. An LX version released in 1978 added a digital clock, power steering and air conditioning to its list of standard equipment.
Also in 1978, a four-door sedan with a redesigned bumper trim, remote mirrors and new grilles, was released. The model released in 1981 featured only minor detail changes. Because of its superior fuel economy and appealing size, the Accord enjoyed considerable success from its initial release forward. This second generation of the Honda Accord marked a number of notable events. Not only did it become the first Japanese vehicle to be produced in the United States, this is also the year that the Accord started its 15-year long streak of being the bestselling Japanese vehicle in the United States. With the introduction of the 1984 model, Accord became the first Japanese vehicle to offer multiple port fuel injection. In addition, this second generation featured a significant modernization in features compared to the first generation including velour cabin trim, shag carpet and chrome accents. The models released in 1984 and 1985 provided refreshed features including new exterior and metallic colors, rear light markers, power brakes, power steering, power windows and more.
One of the most obvious changes that occurred with this third-generation of Honda Accord was the inclusion of the hideaway headlights. The sedan, coupe and hatchback styles of this car continued to be popular with the hatchback available only in the United States. This generation of the Honda Accord proved to be evolutionary and unlike anything else on the market at that time. While the car became larger, it kept its wraparound rear window and low-slung design. For this fourth generation, Honda provided the Honda Accord with significant engineering advances. These included a standard 2.2 liter 16-valve all aluminum engine with electronic fuel injection that served as a replacement for the 2.0 liter 12 valve engines from previous generations. For those Accords that were equipped with automatic transmissions, a rear engine mount that was electrically controlled and designed to reduce the amount of vibration and low-frequency noise experienced. New trim levels -- the DX, LX and EX -- were introduced as the LX-i and SE-i designations were dropped. In 1993, Honda marked the tenth year of production of the Accord with a 10th Anniversary Sedan.
While this anniversary model was built around the LX trim model, it also contained numerous features that the regular LX models did not. The fifth generation of the Honda Accord was larger still than the previous generations as it needed to do so in order to meet the demand for a mid-size car in the United States. Built on a new chassis dubbed "CD," the Accord grew wider in stance, but shorter in length. During this generation, the Accord's trim levels remained the same -- DX, LX and EX -- as did the manual transmission. The automatic transmission underwent an improvement to address previous concerns about hard shifting. The 1995 model year included a V6 engine in both the LX and EX trim levels. The 1996 model saw some design changes such as a slightly modified fascia and more rounded bumpers. With the sixth generation Honda Accords, the station wagon model was no longer available.
The Accord coupe was given specialized treatment to differentiate it from the more family-focused sedan. During the 1998 model year, the coupe was offered in five trim levels -- DX, LX, LX-V6, EX and EX-V6 -- while the sedan gave consumers the same options -- minus the DX trim level. The four-cylinder model offered five-speed manual transmissions with an optional four-speed automatic available. During this generation, the Accord had some issues with transmission failures that resulted in class action lawsuits. There was never a formal recall, though, and Honda extended the car's warranty. Once again available as both a coupe or a sedan, this seventh generation Honda Accord also introduced a hybrid version in 2005. And again, this generation also became larger. It also introduced five lug nut wheels rather than the four that were traditionally used on four-cylinder cars as well as a timing chain instead of a timing belt.
