I remember being in the Acura dealership with my family when my dad bought the '86 Legend sedan, and seeing these renderings and brochures for the upcoming Legend Coupe. It seemed like such an incredible exotic car to me! 😂
They were. Great handling cars with double wishbone suspension and a 24 valve engine. Very advanced for its time but once the second generation came out with the 3.5 liter the game was over. They became seriously fast after that. And they still use a variation of the 3.5 which is one of the best motors ever made. Unfortunately, they are starting to use a boosted 4 banger to replace it. These early Japanese premium cars from lexus/Acura ended the domestics domination in luxury sedans.
@@kenlee9874 Can't speak for the 3.2 or 3.5, but I have a 1990 Legend Coupe and its 2.7 still runs so smooth I can balance a nickel on top of it while its running. I know that the 3.2 is known for blown head gaskets, but I'm not sure if the 3.5 has that problem.
My dad actually had the gold colored one seen in this video. I did a fair amount of driving with it and it was a bit slow off the line but it revved nicely. Seats were very comfortable and it rode low with very low roof line as all the Honda's did at the time. The handling was excellent for the day and the double wishbone suspension was great. It was a fun car to drive as I recall. The stereo was crap and I remember convincing my dad to put in some polk audio speakers in place of the oem's which helped. Polk as you recall was the rage at the time with their big SDA designed home speakers etc.. The wind noise at interstate speeds was quite significant. The seal on the side glass was quite bad. It was a very attractive car in its time and one of the better looking ones on the road. My dad owned it for maybe 4 years and I don't recall it ever having any issues. He also bought a 1990 accord EX which was a better all around car then the legend. Both were Japanese made and bullet proof. His last one was a 92 Legend 4 door white with blue leather. That was the second generation and it blew away his earlier coupe. It was quite fast as I recall. Liked that car the most but he traded it in after only a few short years and never bought the brand again. But the second generation legend started to really challenge the higher end European and domestic brands. It was the end of domestic domination for luxury sedans. And it only took Acura/Lexus a few years to do that.
@@mro9466 I guess you’ve never heard of a 4 Series, grand coupe & numbers that don’t match the engine displacement anymore huh?🤷🏽♂️ or Mercedes EQS which will eventually replace the E Series… Audi A4 coupe becoming the A5.
A few months back I spent the morning with John Davis at MPT Headquarters and saw where they film some of their segments, sat in on some voiceover work, met the staff, got a personal tour & he even treated me to lunch & let me drive their latest car. Super nice guy and such an awesome experience. Love MPT & a long time fan of MotorWeek!
Drove my dad's allot back in the day. This first generation was a 2.7 SOHC 24 valve I believe. It was a very smooth motor and revved nicely but was very slow of the line. Power came on higher revs. Very little torque from the start. The 3.5 did allot better on the second generation and that motor is still used today on some Honda models.
@@AnthroGearhead I've drove it allot back in the day. My dad had a gold one just like in this video. Its less then 200 HP and not the 3.5 like they have now. That was the SOHC 24 valve 2.7. It did ok once you got the revvs up but off the line very slow. It took awhile to get things moving. This car is over 30 years old now. It looks allot faster then it is. Back in the day it was fast. But cars now are allot faster.
Oh yeah, agreed. Personally I hate nondescript naming in general...especially when the cars all look so similar, it's just as sea of bland blah. At least call it something distinctive.
They should bring it back, but only if they bring back a car WORTHY of the Legend name! And as far as I'm concerned, the TLX/RLX are not in that category...at all. Acura hasn't been cool since they dropped the nameplate.
I was born in late 1970's, was a child through 80's, but really grew up in the 90's, and an adult in the 00's, and very successful now. But I have to say, the 80's seem to be the best decade to have been alive and an adult.
@@mostly_normal_man Born in 1977 here and agree with you! And I know people will say, "oh you're just being nostalgic because you were a kid then." But the '80's were really distinct compared to later decades, especially the last two (blah).
@@mostly_normal_man I live in Canada and we had a bad recession through the early '90's, so the whole decades wasn't really great times. I think Americans have better memories of the '90's. The '80's, though, felt so positive, like everything was getting better. I mean, yeah it was very materialistic, but you felt like you could be one of the rich people too, or at least you enjoyed the stuff you could afford. I think 9/11 really fucked everything up, or maybe it was just all an illusion that was bound to come crashing down. But a fun illusion while it lasted, lol.
A friend of my mother had one of these back in the '80s. I remember being *extremely* impressed with its quietness and smoothness. Really was totally blown away by it, honestly. It was as quiet as a Lincoln or a Cadillac, but without the massive "floaty" feel that those cars have. It was the first car I'd ever been in that felt so incredibly solid while also being unbelievably quiet and smooth. BMWs of the era certainly handled better, no doubt. But they couldn't match this Acura in smoothness or quietness, that's for sure.
It's actually amazing how smooth this v6 was, I drove a 2.5 liter version last year with the 5 speed and wow the engine was unbelievably quiet and refined, honestly more so than a lot of newer cars I've driven. It actually won an award for quietest engine at idle or something crazy. There's a reason the Legend won import of the year. In later model years they even had a full fledged lcd trip computer with mpg, trip info, and fuel, oil, timing belt change, etc info as well as upgraded interior materials and wood that was very handsome. Very advanced for the time. These were awesome cars and this generation Legend was good for 250k+ miles.
@@shartingfish5761 The last good year for Mercedes Benz was about 1987. Ask any old timer who has worked on them for a while. About the same for BMW. Probably 1990 or so for BMW.
There is a guy who I believe owns a bar/restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh who drives one of these to this day. Yes in 2021. It's dark metallic grey and I always see it parked on the side of the business, and sometimes I'll spot the guy driving around in it. The car looks just as good as the one in this episode.
I had one of these (an 87 V6 LS coupe, in gold!) If it wasn't the best car I ever owned, it was tied for first. It ran like a champ for YEARS and years. I got it used and drove it all across the country many times for over a decade. Only one major repair-I had to get a new transmission at about 180K miles, but with a rebuilt transmission it ran for another 100K miles. I felt so sad when its end finally came. Literally could not go another foot it was so worn out. Still, a great car. Plus, all those features in a car from that era was staggering!
@@MatrixDiscovery while the inflation rate in 1987 was lower than it was in the 70's that doesn't mean it was low. In 1977 the inflation rate was 6.5%. In 1987 the inflation rate was 3.65%. In 2018 the inflation rate was 2.4%. In the 80's it wasn't un common to see APR's on cars in the high teens. You can even look up car commercials from the 90' s and see APR's being advertised as low as 9%. Now an average APR for good credit is between 2.5 and 6%. So let's say someone with excellent credit walks in and is able to get that $65,000 car with an APR of 1.9%(its a rate that was was offered a couple of years ago) for 5 years that's a total cost of 68,188. Now let's say that same person. Walks into that dealership in 1987 with excellent credit and gets a 5 year loan at 9% (which is what great credit was getting in the 80's) that same loan would be equivalent to $80,958. It is actually cheaper to buy a car now than 30 years ago.
@@emeyer6963 okay, airline miles were better back then also, so what does that have to do with buying a car. That also doesn't disprove my point that it was actually more expensive to buy a new car and that inflation was higher 30 years ago.
Agreed... although I live in Buffalo...salt capital of the U.S. I suppose people garage them for the winter. Pretty much anything that old you have to in this climate.
I used to work at an Acura dealership in the early 90s and my favorite version of the Gen1 Legend was a 1990 LS coupe, 5 speed manual transmission, black with the tan interior. Among other things the LS had a small rear spoiler that smoothed out the lines and had polished rims. Not very fast but cool. In 1991 the Gen2 Legends came out and those were quicker. In 1991 people complained the transmissions shifted too abruptly and they toned down the shift harshness for 1992 but the cars felt slower. On a wet surface a 1991 Legend could easily spin the tires through second and possibly into third gear due to the way the tranny shifted. Cool cars imo. The gen 2 has a longitudinal v6 vs the gen1 which had a transverse v6.
That design was an instant classic, with the perfect balance of sport and elegance. Those slim pillars were amazing. Acura actually improved on BMW's 6 series coupe. The next generation of Legend was a bloated mess in comparison.
@@777jones That exterior just never appealed to me, especially in comparison to the 1st gen car. I did like the 2nd gen Acura CL also, especially the Type S. The 2004-08 Acura TL Type S was my favorite Acura of all time though (that isn't an NSX). The new Type S concept is also very promising.
Wait, what? The BMW E24 6 series is known as an all time classic design and proved it with such a long model run. These Legends, while interesting, are forgettable Japanese design language of the era, just like John calls out.
WB Wayne i agree Wayne, the first generation Legend Coupes might have been conservative but they were beautiful and better looking than the fussy second generation
Surprising how no one is bashing a Honda product despite costing as much a then new Corvette, delivering hourglass slow acceleration times and dismal fuel economy. Speaks volumes on how tactile feel and reliability is what most people want and Honda has always mastered those characteristics in their products. :-)
This car wasn’t slow and would keep up with traffic today. Honda and Toyota and Mercedes-Benz were the best-engineered and built cars of the 1980s. Buyers wanted the best.
I disagree John(back then and now), this Acura Legend Coupe was a legend to me, it represented a new era of sporty styling that wasn't seen before, without having to spend the Mercedes Coupe money. It gave people another choice ! It was an intsant classic to me, and it still is because it is a rare car that never see.
Bought one of the first 1986 Legend Coupe with custom Enke wheels. Zero to 60 in less than 8 seconds. The only problem is if you are 6 feet tall or more you don't fit correctly in the driver's seat. So I got my wife to take over the car and she loved it. It took years to get her to trade it in.
They didn't ever test correctly on MW they were dummies. It was 0 to 60 in eight seconds for the automatic. They didn't have it in sport mode. So it was shifting at 4,000 instead of 6k rpm. I know because I used to have one. Actually I had several Acura, but had one of these exact cars. Identical to the one they just tested here on MW. If you had the 5 spd manual you could do 0 to 60 in 7 sec flat. Which was pretty good "hauling ass" for the time! Just about the same as a 5.0 mustang at the time.
Brother had one just like this. Very nice car and faster than one would think. The car lost the 4th speed on the automatic and still cruised at 70mph+ with loss of little mpg. We keep it and sold to a kid who could work on the transmission. Those rear windows were great with the sunroof. To me Toyota is their own galaxy and planets with quality period. This was impressive though....
My friends sister has two of these sitting at her farm house. Trying to convince her to sell me one, but she only wants to sell both for $900 all together. She really loves the cars and doesn’t want to give them up.
Take them both and resell one...you will probably more than make your money back. Even if they need work, there is still a descent following for early Japanese luxury cars like this and you should have no trouble turning one of them around for a profit if you use the right channels.
At 4.34 min, John Davis says "rear seat room is adequate for even large passengers"..I wonder if the lady sitting in the back, displaying the rear space, putting her seat belt on, appreciated being referred to as a 'LARGE passenger' LOL!
These have always been a hood classic, they were faster than the horsepower and torque would have you believe, it is a idk long or type big care but it didn't feel,had a sedan and coupe, and the later year body style type 2 which was bananas, these and a chevy ss from the 90's i would trade my 97 e38 for,oh and the mark 8,and infinite Q45 first gen as well
Miss mine. Got one in 2001 for $1500. Drove it a few years until the auto tranny started slipping at 170k. Sold it for the same amount. It would float like a cloud at highway speeds+.
No doubt Acura made a name for itself with the Legend. However, I think Acura always suffers from the same problem with redesigns. Simply falling short in the pack. You can distinguish them but there’s always something missing, some extra touch.
All this comparing to BMW yet I still see these Legends on the road today! My Uncle still has his from 1988 with a 5Spd Manual with 569k and still looks & drives brand new!!
I always liked the look of the first generation Legend. Still do. I've heard the V6 engines were massive oil burners and the automatic transmission failure prone though. That's disappointing. You'd expect better from Honda, especially during the late 80s/early 90s, when Honda was on top of their game.
I had this car way back then even the same color, the car was incredible on the highway, comfortable and you could go anywhere you wanted to go, car was very boring, I traded it in for a Volkswagen Corrado. Which was actually not as nice as the highway but more fun.
The one constant I find about Japanese cars is they are great followers - they'll take a pre-existing car and reproduce it, usually at a lower cost and at nearly the same quality, for cheaper. But ask them to come up with something unique and you're out of luck. The result is a very good product (that has already been on the market for a while) but one that lacks soul. They are not trying to create a response, they are the response, the reaction.
My wife and I had an automatic 1987 Legend Coupe and a five-speed 1988 Legend sedan. The coupe was a terrific car, but the sedan's clutch had to be replaced at 60,000 miles and then again at 120,000 miles. My wife and I have always driven manual transmission cars with the exception of the Coupe and an SUV we now have. The Legends' manual transmission was not fully engineered to handle the power that that the car had, which was only 160 hp. But the engines, for their time, were somewhat high performance. At 100,000 miles both cars developed rattles that made both of them feel very old. The build quality was just not up to par. Our replacement cars, in 1998 and 2001, were BMWs, a 5 series and a 3 series respectively, which we still own. The build quality on both cars are amazingly wonderful. No matter how many miles are put on them they continue to feel almost new. Tire and control arm bushing replacements are essential to continue make the cars terrific to drive.
Lol no sir, sorry, it's not "the same" 😂 They made it look like a larger prelude but they have nothing in common whatsoever, except maybe the brake pads and the rotors, and maybe the occasional switch or knob lol
@@Mr_Chris77 I just bought a '93 accord EX...The seller is an auto tech, worked for Honda, same pump noise, he said they all made that sound. Has nothing to do with wear.
For all those that complain about inflation, this car would cost about $80,000 in today's money. The only Acura that ever sold for above $80K was the NSX. Which means car prices have actually gone down over time, relative to the $.
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I remember being in the Acura dealership with my family when my dad bought the '86 Legend sedan, and seeing these renderings and brochures for the upcoming Legend Coupe. It seemed like such an incredible exotic car to me! 😂
They were. Great handling cars with double wishbone suspension and a 24 valve engine. Very advanced for its time but once the second generation came out with the 3.5 liter the game was over. They became seriously fast after that. And they still use a variation of the 3.5 which is one of the best motors ever made. Unfortunately, they are starting to use a boosted 4 banger to replace it. These early Japanese premium cars from lexus/Acura ended the domestics domination in luxury sedans.
@@HiPlains1 I seriously prefer the 3.2,much quieter, less vibration,3.5 was a noisier engine by a lot.
@@kenlee9874 Can't speak for the 3.2 or 3.5, but I have a 1990 Legend Coupe and its 2.7 still runs so smooth I can balance a nickel on top of it while its running. I know that the 3.2 is known for blown head gaskets, but I'm not sure if the 3.5 has that problem.
They were exotic cars back then.
I love the 1st generation Honda/Acura Legend. They're very timeless and nostalgic!
Nostalgic, yes. Timeless? Sorta. In the way that they look like every other car that came out of Japan in the 1980s. Timeless, but not unique.
My dad actually had the gold colored one seen in this video. I did a fair amount of driving with it and it was a bit slow off the line but it revved nicely. Seats were very comfortable and it rode low with very low roof line as all the Honda's did at the time. The handling was excellent for the day and the double wishbone suspension was great. It was a fun car to drive as I recall. The stereo was crap and I remember convincing my dad to put in some polk audio speakers in place of the oem's which helped. Polk as you recall was the rage at the time with their big SDA designed home speakers etc.. The wind noise at interstate speeds was quite significant. The seal on the side glass was quite bad. It was a very attractive car in its time and one of the better looking ones on the road. My dad owned it for maybe 4 years and I don't recall it ever having any issues. He also bought a 1990 accord EX which was a better all around car then the legend. Both were Japanese made and bullet proof. His last one was a 92 Legend 4 door white with blue leather. That was the second generation and it blew away his earlier coupe. It was quite fast as I recall. Liked that car the most but he traded it in after only a few short years and never bought the brand again. But the second generation legend started to really challenge the higher end European and domestic brands. It was the end of domestic domination for luxury sedans. And it only took Acura/Lexus a few years to do that.
I agree somewhat but the Acura Legend of the 90's looked much nicer.
@@steveespinola7652 I agree. Honda lost their way with design. That first gen Honda legend coupe that my dad bought was a great driver.
@@mattt198654321 First generation of Honda Acura Legend is best
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When Acura had great model names: Legend, Vigor, Integra...
Now it’s just like rxtlx-s type s. They still have some cool stuff but I wish they brought back the integra and the old names
If they wouldn’t have changed then Ppl would complain about that too🤦🏽♂️..
@@MandusahRamirez are people complaining about the German names? They never changed
@@mro9466 I guess you’ve never heard of a 4 Series, grand coupe & numbers that don’t match the engine displacement anymore huh?🤷🏽♂️ or Mercedes EQS which will eventually replace the E Series… Audi A4 coupe becoming the A5.
The Integra has been brought back. We just now need the Acura Legend and Vigor. And not as pure electric cars.
Acura golden era when its cars had names.
A few months back I spent the morning with John Davis at MPT Headquarters and saw where they film some of their segments, sat in on some voiceover work, met the staff, got a personal tour & he even treated me to lunch & let me drive their latest car. Super nice guy and such an awesome experience. Love MPT & a long time fan of MotorWeek!
I wish Honda Acura still made cars like these. I miss my Legend coupe!
9 sec 0-60, oh how spoiled we are today.
Kevin MZY and how that time was praised in those days lol
Exactly! We don't need such fast cars we have today, but we are so used to it. It's nice to drive an old car once in a while.
Drove my dad's allot back in the day. This first generation was a 2.7 SOHC 24 valve I believe. It was a very smooth motor and revved nicely but was very slow of the line. Power came on higher revs. Very little torque from the start. The 3.5 did allot better on the second generation and that motor is still used today on some Honda models.
Bet i can get that in under 7 seconds
@@AnthroGearhead I've drove it allot back in the day. My dad had a gold one just like in this video. Its less then 200 HP and not the 3.5 like they have now. That was the SOHC 24 valve 2.7. It did ok once you got the revvs up but off the line very slow. It took awhile to get things moving. This car is over 30 years old now. It looks allot faster then it is. Back in the day it was fast. But cars now are allot faster.
Acura should bring back the Legend name
Bobby Macabagdal it never left in Japan. Here was the RL now the RLX in Japan both were called Legend lol
justen ramirez Lackey I don’t like the way Acura has been naming their cars
Oh yeah, agreed. Personally I hate nondescript naming in general...especially when the cars all look so similar, it's just as sea of bland blah. At least call it something distinctive.
They should bring it back, but only if they bring back a car WORTHY of the Legend name! And as far as I'm concerned, the TLX/RLX are not in that category...at all. Acura hasn't been cool since they dropped the nameplate.
Maestro_T I also like Vigor with the inline 5 cylinders
V-I-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y in cars, do I ever miss it.
I have the very car. You really don't mirrors.
For real. Literally can’t see shit out my car cause how narrow the roof is.
jesus christ man, im thinking the same thing, whats with the modern cars having low visibility? lol
I have always loved the 1st and 2nd generation Legend coupe
3:40. Them 1980s clothes. I grew up in the 80s and I miss the funky threads and big hair. And music. And the cars....well, some of them.
I was born in late 1970's, was a child through 80's, but really grew up in the 90's, and an adult in the 00's, and very successful now. But I have to say, the 80's seem to be the best decade to have been alive and an adult.
@@mostly_normal_man Born in 1977 here and agree with you! And I know people will say, "oh you're just being nostalgic because you were a kid then." But the '80's were really distinct compared to later decades, especially the last two (blah).
@@MaestroTJS I didn't even grow up here, I grew up in another country and came here in 1989, so I missed the whole decade and even I love it!
@@mostly_normal_man I live in Canada and we had a bad recession through the early '90's, so the whole decades wasn't really great times. I think Americans have better memories of the '90's. The '80's, though, felt so positive, like everything was getting better. I mean, yeah it was very materialistic, but you felt like you could be one of the rich people too, or at least you enjoyed the stuff you could afford. I think 9/11 really fucked everything up, or maybe it was just all an illusion that was bound to come crashing down. But a fun illusion while it lasted, lol.
A friend of my mother had one of these back in the '80s. I remember being *extremely* impressed with its quietness and smoothness. Really was totally blown away by it, honestly. It was as quiet as a Lincoln or a Cadillac, but without the massive "floaty" feel that those cars have. It was the first car I'd ever been in that felt so incredibly solid while also being unbelievably quiet and smooth. BMWs of the era certainly handled better, no doubt. But they couldn't match this Acura in smoothness or quietness, that's for sure.
It's actually amazing how smooth this v6 was, I drove a 2.5 liter version last year with the 5 speed and wow the engine was unbelievably quiet and refined, honestly more so than a lot of newer cars I've driven. It actually won an award for quietest engine at idle or something crazy. There's a reason the Legend won import of the year. In later model years they even had a full fledged lcd trip computer with mpg, trip info, and fuel, oil, timing belt change, etc info as well as upgraded interior materials and wood that was very handsome. Very advanced for the time. These were awesome cars and this generation Legend was good for 250k+ miles.
I truly enjoyed my 88 L coupe 5 speed.
that is past tense, what happened to it?
@@alexander1485 Traded the 88 for a 90 LS automatic. The 5 speed was the best!
Had an '89 in the early 2000s, have very fond memories. It was a great car.
My buddy's parents had the couple 5 speed, he was 14 and take it out . It really liked to rev and sounded good with engine noise
@@RobJaskula me too, a '90 in early 2000's. I miss that car.
Unlike a bmw, that Acura is still running today...
Naa.. in the mid/late 80s bmw and benz were bulletproof reliable.. not like today..
ShartingFish I wasn’t alive then, but from all bmws/mercs, I’ve owned they were terrible.
@@shartingfish5761 The last good year for Mercedes Benz was about 1987. Ask any old timer who has worked on them for a while. About the same for BMW. Probably 1990 or so for BMW.
acura last forever
There is a guy who I believe owns a bar/restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh who drives one of these to this day. Yes in 2021. It's dark metallic grey and I always see it parked on the side of the business, and sometimes I'll spot the guy driving around in it. The car looks just as good as the one in this episode.
That was my second new car when I was 24 love it I miss that car so much to much memories going to the clubs and djing in the late 80s
I had one of these (an 87 V6 LS coupe, in gold!) If it wasn't the best car I ever owned, it was tied for first. It ran like a champ for YEARS and years. I got it used and drove it all across the country many times for over a decade. Only one major repair-I had to get a new transmission at about 180K miles, but with a rebuilt transmission it ran for another 100K miles. I felt so sad when its end finally came. Literally could not go another foot it was so worn out. Still, a great car. Plus, all those features in a car from that era was staggering!
Me too!
I had a '90 coupe with a 5-speed for 13 years. I loved that car and thought it was one of the most beautiful cars ever made!
My second car after owning an 88 accord hatchback. Love old Acura’s
Loved the reae windows!!! Miss those in honda coupes!! Would really help cool off the cabin
Tachometer, ✓ Voltmeter, X And DANG! 1987's $28,688 is equivalent to $64,793 in 2019. Inflation since the 80's is no joke.
Interest rates in the 80's was like 22%...inflation was very low back then. Now with near 0% rates, everything is more expensive.
@@MatrixDiscovery while the inflation rate in 1987 was lower than it was in the 70's that doesn't mean it was low. In 1977 the inflation rate was 6.5%. In 1987 the inflation rate was 3.65%. In 2018 the inflation rate was 2.4%. In the 80's it wasn't un common to see APR's on cars in the high teens. You can even look up car commercials from the 90' s and see APR's being advertised as low as 9%. Now an average APR for good credit is between 2.5 and 6%. So let's say someone with excellent credit walks in and is able to get that $65,000 car with an APR of 1.9%(its a rate that was was offered a couple of years ago) for 5 years that's a total cost of 68,188. Now let's say that same person. Walks into that dealership in 1987 with excellent credit and gets a 5 year loan at 9% (which is what great credit was getting in the 80's) that same loan would be equivalent to $80,958. It is actually cheaper to buy a car now than 30 years ago.
@@kenyattaclay7666 Could also get CD rates near and over 20% in early 80's
@@emeyer6963 okay, airline miles were better back then also, so what does that have to do with buying a car. That also doesn't disprove my point that it was actually more expensive to buy a new car and that inflation was higher 30 years ago.
@@kenyattaclay7666 Relax tiger.Just adding a little to the conversation not disagreeing with you
3:20 I assume this was before Honda contracted with Takata.
You still see these rolling around here and there over 30 years later. Says something pretty good about this vehicle.
Steve depends in how much salt in the roads.
Agreed... although I live in Buffalo...salt capital of the U.S. I suppose people garage them for the winter. Pretty much anything that old you have to in this climate.
I used to work at an Acura dealership in the early 90s and my favorite version of the Gen1 Legend was a 1990 LS coupe, 5 speed manual transmission, black with the tan interior. Among other things the LS had a small rear spoiler that smoothed out the lines and had polished rims. Not very fast but cool.
In 1991 the Gen2 Legends came out and those were quicker. In 1991 people complained the transmissions shifted too abruptly and they toned down the shift harshness for 1992 but the cars felt slower. On a wet surface a 1991 Legend could easily spin the tires through second and possibly into third gear due to the way the tranny shifted. Cool cars imo. The gen 2 has a longitudinal v6 vs the gen1 which had a transverse v6.
'91 Legend was already in dealers in 1990.
Cute lady at 1:53
*Yes*
definatly a minority looking
Hottie!!!
😋
I had a 1990 model with the manual. It’s a fun car to drive. It’s pretty reliable too.
That design was an instant classic, with the perfect balance of sport and elegance. Those slim pillars were amazing. Acura actually improved on BMW's 6 series coupe. The next generation of Legend was a bloated mess in comparison.
WB Wayne these were nice cars but the Legend GS Coupe was legendary also. You call them bloated, but they were graceful compared to new cars today
@@777jones
That exterior just never appealed to me, especially in comparison to the 1st gen car. I did like the 2nd gen Acura CL also, especially the Type S. The 2004-08 Acura TL Type S was my favorite Acura of all time though (that isn't an NSX). The new Type S concept is also very promising.
Wait, what? The BMW E24 6 series is known as an all time classic design and proved it with such a long model run. These Legends, while interesting, are forgettable Japanese design language of the era, just like John calls out.
WB Wayne i agree Wayne, the first generation Legend Coupes might have been conservative but they were beautiful and better looking than the fussy second generation
@@jameswillard1
Thank you. I knew I wasn't the only one that could see the beauty of that design.
Surprising how no one is bashing a Honda product despite costing as much a then new Corvette, delivering hourglass slow acceleration times and dismal fuel economy. Speaks volumes on how tactile feel and reliability is what most people want and Honda has always mastered those characteristics in their products. :-)
0-60 in 9sec was actually pretty quick in 1987. Most mainstream cars were doing it in 12+sec.
This car wasn’t slow and would keep up with traffic today. Honda and Toyota and Mercedes-Benz were the best-engineered and built cars of the 1980s. Buyers wanted the best.
One of the best cars on the road at that time! And the brand still shines!
1:52 Look how quickly she went out there to get his number.
Now I see from where the '88 Prelude took its inspiration for the rear end design. Looks nice overall!
I disagree John(back then and now), this Acura Legend Coupe was a legend to me, it represented a new era of sporty styling that wasn't seen before, without having to spend the Mercedes Coupe money. It gave people another choice ! It was an intsant classic to me, and it still is because it is a rare car that never see.
4:28 John: WE EXPECT THEM (THE FAKE PLASTIC DASH PLUGS) IN ECONOBOXES, BUT NOT IN LUXURY COUPES! LOL
*G'd, those ACURAS were SUPER BEAUTIFUL and elegant*
Bought one of the first 1986 Legend Coupe with custom Enke wheels. Zero to 60 in less than 8 seconds. The only problem is if you are 6 feet tall or more you don't fit correctly in the driver's seat. So I got my wife to take over the car and she loved it. It took years to get her to trade it in.
Honda's Japanese luxury car was Acura Legend 2-door coupe as well as same as 4-door sedan.
My first car!
Reminiscing about the past!
Yes, it uses a "Base" sound system. Thought there was a Bose logo there.
Lol
4:28 And yet they still do it today...
my dad drove this for decades then was handed down to me for my first ride.
doubt it, traded it in @ 180,000 miles.
3:20 balls of steel this man has!
One of the cars that changed the game.
I had a 2 door 95 sport with a 6 speed. Fun and comfortable car for its time
I loved this, the gen 2, and the vigor.. man i miss those days..
I owned this car, I still look back with very fond memories and appreciation for it. I wish Acura still made attractive vehicles.
This 33 year old engine still looks incredible and better than today's engines.
I always wanted one, sadly never purchased one.
0-60 in ‘only’ 9 seconds... what a beast. 🤣😂🤣
They didn't ever test correctly on MW they were dummies. It was 0 to 60 in eight seconds for the automatic. They didn't have it in sport mode. So it was shifting at 4,000 instead of 6k rpm. I know because I used to have one. Actually I had several Acura, but had one of these exact cars. Identical to the one they just tested here on MW. If you had the 5 spd manual you could do 0 to 60 in 7 sec flat.
Which was pretty good "hauling ass" for the time! Just about the same as a 5.0 mustang at the time.
Brother had one just like this. Very nice car and faster than one would think. The car lost the 4th speed on the automatic and still cruised at 70mph+ with loss of little mpg. We keep it and sold to a kid who could work on the transmission. Those rear windows were great with the sunroof. To me Toyota is their own galaxy and planets with quality period. This was impressive though....
One thing he couldn't predict in this review! I still see these on the road where as BMWs from the 80's are either dead or endless money pits lol
I hope Acura make a new Legend Coupe like Acura brought back the Integra name badge
These were everywhere back in the day, nowadays you rarely see an Acura.
My friends sister has two of these sitting at her farm house. Trying to convince her to sell me one, but she only wants to sell both for $900 all together. She really loves the cars and doesn’t want to give them up.
Take them both and resell one...you will probably more than make your money back. Even if they need work, there is still a descent following for early Japanese luxury cars like this and you should have no trouble turning one of them around for a profit if you use the right channels.
That 108 ft stopping distance surprised me.
I almost died in one of these as my friend hit top speed. Pretty quick car.
At 4.34 min, John Davis says "rear seat room is adequate for even large passengers"..I wonder if the lady sitting in the back, displaying the rear space, putting her seat belt on, appreciated being referred to as a 'LARGE passenger' LOL!
I still see these once in a while on the road. $28,000.00 was a ton of money for a new car back then. Honda Accords were about $10-$11 k at the time.
A 1988 Honda Accord LXi (the best model at the time) was right at $16k compared to $28k for a loaded Acura Legend LS
*20-30k in 1987 would be 45-65k today...*
Os carros da década de 90 são muito da hora esse clássico amigão 👍👍👍
I had an 88 v6l 5 speed with a custom CAI. My first car. The memories....
These have always been a hood classic, they were faster than the horsepower and torque would have you believe, it is a idk long or type big care but it didn't feel,had a sedan and coupe, and the later year body style type 2 which was bananas, these and a chevy ss from the 90's i would trade my 97 e38 for,oh and the mark 8,and infinite Q45 first gen as well
theres visually nothing at all wrong with this car, it would rival anything out there today imo
Miss mine. Got one in 2001 for $1500. Drove it a few years until the auto tranny started slipping at 170k. Sold it for the same amount. It would float like a cloud at highway speeds+.
Classic Acura
I wanted one so bad when I was 17 years old.
@Pete everyone at my high school Woodward academy had one.
Romey must've seen this and decided to go with the XR4ti.
No doubt Acura made a name for itself with the Legend. However, I think Acura always suffers from the same problem with redesigns. Simply falling short in the pack. You can distinguish them but there’s always something missing, some extra touch.
Hey do you guys have a review of a Mazda MX6 or a Toyota Camry wagon?
Did I hear crickets at the beginning of this video? Who was that hottie in the blue jump suit?
All this comparing to BMW yet I still see these Legends on the road today! My Uncle still has his from 1988 with a 5Spd Manual with 569k and still looks & drives brand new!!
My stepmother had a 1988 Legend coupe in white back then , i remember it was fast.
I always liked the look of the first generation Legend. Still do. I've heard the V6 engines were massive oil burners and the automatic transmission failure prone though. That's disappointing. You'd expect better from Honda, especially during the late 80s/early 90s, when Honda was on top of their game.
Just bought an 89 in the same color. She needs TLC but she runs, and she looks damn good!
That shifter though... o_O
ikr? That's gotta be about 12 inches. Guess they were aiming for easy to grip hehe.
I had this car way back then even the same color, the car was incredible on the highway, comfortable and you could go anywhere you wanted to go, car was very boring, I traded it in for a Volkswagen Corrado. Which was actually not as nice as the highway but more fun.
See one of these everyday I walk to work/school. Always curious about it.
What a great name for a car!
Glad that the Legend didn't have the dreaded automatic safety belts!
I just bought a 1988 legend and it pretty clean.
*The second generation coupe looked sooo much better...*
The one constant I find about Japanese cars is they are great followers - they'll take a pre-existing car and reproduce it, usually at a lower cost and at nearly the same quality, for cheaper. But ask them to come up with something unique and you're out of luck. The result is a very good product (that has already been on the market for a while) but one that lacks soul. They are not trying to create a response, they are the response, the reaction.
Acura now a days makes the best cars. I would take an acura over nissan any day.
Joshua Connacher yeah I like Nissan sports cars, I got a Fairlady Z (Z33 JDM import) but I’d never buy one of their luxury cars
I wonder if the v-6 had a timing belt or timing chain?
belt
I would buy this in a heartbeat if I were buying in 1987
And just a few years later you could get a 2.3 four cylinder in the prelude that put out nearly the same hp and torque numbers.
My wife and I had an automatic 1987 Legend Coupe and a five-speed 1988 Legend sedan. The coupe was a terrific car, but the sedan's clutch had to be replaced at 60,000 miles and then again at 120,000 miles. My wife and I have always driven manual transmission cars with the exception of the Coupe and an SUV we now have. The Legends' manual transmission was not fully engineered to handle the power that that the car had, which was only 160 hp. But the engines, for their time, were somewhat high performance. At 100,000 miles both cars developed rattles that made both of them feel very old. The build quality was just not up to par.
Our replacement cars, in 1998 and 2001, were BMWs, a 5 series and a 3 series respectively, which we still own. The build quality on both cars are amazingly wonderful. No matter how many miles are put on them they continue to feel almost new. Tire and control arm bushing replacements are essential to continue make the cars terrific to drive.
My brother in-law had one back in the 90s. His was red.
This is the same as the Honda Prelude without the pop up lights but with a V6.... Nice one.... Miss the Prelude...
Lol no sir, sorry, it's not "the same" 😂
They made it look like a larger prelude but they have nothing in common whatsoever, except maybe the brake pads and the rotors, and maybe the occasional switch or knob lol
I still see this car on the streets.
I had a Prelude from the same era, great cars.......
God I love old Acura’s so much, I like new ones too but the old ones are sooo damn cool! And I’m more of a Lexus guy too lol, I own 3 Lexus lmao
Such a pretty car.
one of the best acura cars is automotive history
Anyone else catch that power steering pump whine on revs?
I didn't know that was the cause of the noise.
@@skylinefever have had several cars do that and fixed more than I'd want to count. Either the pump is going out or it's low on fluid.
@@Mr_Chris77 I just bought a '93 accord EX...The seller is an auto tech, worked for Honda, same pump noise, he said they all made that sound. Has nothing to do with wear.
Miss my 89 legend all windows rolled down with sunroof and v6 was my first car paid 700 bucks
omg this car was so dope!
I love my G1 coupe. Runs like a sewing machine.
For all those that complain about inflation, this car would cost about $80,000 in today's money. The only Acura that ever sold for above $80K was the NSX. Which means car prices have actually gone down over time, relative to the $.
This was most definitely not worth that price!