S660 sports concept car to be sold only in Japan - Honda

Honda Motor Co. Ltd has released a press release announcing that the Honda S660 concept car. This convertible sports car could be one of the major attractions of the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 wich is plannd to begin from November 20 2013. Apart from it other notable cars would be the global unveiling of the production version of the Urban SUV concept and the Japanese premiere of the NSX concept.

The Honda S660, a 21st Century adaptation of the brand’s S600 sports car, first seen in the 1960s. The tiny two-seater roadster but Honda UK gave red signal to release it in Britain.  The fourth model in the N Series of the Honda mini-vehicle range, the N-WGN would also make its debut along with the all-new Accord Plug-in Hybrid and the Fit equipped with Earth Dreams Technology. Looking very similar to 2011’s electric EV-STER concept, the S660 swaps batteries for internal combustion power, and ushers in an interior not pinched from the set of Star Trek, indicating a step closer to showroom-ready condition.

Honda S660 is an "open-top sports-type mini-vehicle", the S660 looks a lot like the EV-STER concept from 2011 but with a conventional engine in the form of a small 660cc three-cylinder turbocharged motor outputting 64 bhp (48 kW) linked to a seven-speed CVT. The concept will emerge into a production version with a fully retractable roof sometime in 2015 but it will be sold only in Japan. However, some reports are indicating an export version equipped with a bigger 1.0-liter turbo engine rated at 100 bhp (74 kW) could happen sometime in the future. An exact weight figure has not been released but it's most likely somewhere in the 900 kg (1,984 lbs) region.

The S660 name refers to the front-mounted engine’s capacity: it’s a 660cc three-cylinder petrol powerplant, boosted by a teeny turbocharger and free of the hybrid nonsense forced upon the slow-selling (and moving) CR-Z coupe. The engine is thought to be mated to a CVT automatic gearbox, though paddleshifters behind the steering wheel allow selection of stepped ‘ratios’, like a proper automatic. Engine spec sounding familiar? The recently-revealed Caterham Seven 160 uses an identically-sized Suzuki-derived three-pot, which develops 80bhp. The 660cc capacity comes about from Japan’s miniature ‘Kei-car’ regulations, which demand such cars boast no more than 660ccs under their dinky bonnets.