Honda City (AA)

The first generation Honda City (Honda Jazz in Europe) was a subcompact hatchback aimed mainly at the Japanese domestic market. The somewhat ungainly designed City, referred to by Honda as "Tall Boy" style, page on Honda Fact Book: City was also marketed abroad and was available in a number of versions. First introduced in November 1981 it carried the model codes AA for sedans, VF for vans, and FA for the widetrack Turbo II and Cabriolets.

History

While the City's layout was traditional for its category, with front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted engine, the innovative tall seating arrangement created comparable legroom to a car many times its size. This, combined with class leading fuel economy led to it being a considerable success in the Japanese domestic market. The engine was the CVCC-II 1,231 cc four-cylinder "ER", specifically designed for the City. It was also available together with the Motocompo, a special 50cc 'foldaway' scooter constructed to fit in the City's small luggage area, itself designed around the Motocompo.Originally a sportier R version, the economical E and two commercial van versions ("Pro") were introduced. In September 1982 a turbocharged version of the Honda ER engine was added to the lineup.Designed by Pininfarina and introduced in August 1984, a drop-top Cabriolet utilized the wider track, fenders, and bigger bumpers of the Turbo II "Bulldog", but was only normally...
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