Honda Legend Coupe History

Honda Legend

Honda Legend

The Honda Legend, currently marketed as the Acura RL in North America, is a large luxury automobile made by the Honda Motor Company of Japan. It was originally developed as part of Project XX, a joint venture with the Austin Rover Group of England and was a twin of the Rover 800 series.

The Legend was initially a four-door sedan, with a two-door coupe added later. It was the model which launched Honda's upscale Acura brand in the United States.

The first-generation Honda Legend was manufactured from 1985 until 1989, with a second-generation model (also offered as a sedan and coupe) launching in 1990. The Rover 800 was not renewed, continuing on the old XX platform. The third-generation Legend was released in 1996.

The first and second-generation Honda Legend was known as the Acura Legend in North American markets from 1986-1995, and in 1996 the third-generation was renamed the Acura RL, while the Legend name continued on in Japan and other markets onto a third and fourth-generation.

The second-generation Legend was also manufactured by Daewoo in South Korea from 1993 to 2000 under the name of Daewoo Arcadia, for the domestic market mostly.

The third-generation model was offered as a sedan only. A mid-term facelift came in 1999.

The swoopier fourth-generation Honda Legend was launched on October 7, 2004 and became Japan's Car of the Year for 2004 - 5, marking the fourth time in five years that Honda has taken the award. The new car has a 300 PS engine and an intelligent night-vision system to detect pedestrians.