Top Gear Philippines’ associate editor Sharleen Banzon pitched the idea of reviving the original ’80s-era City hatchback and its tiny Motocompo ‘trunk bike’ companion after she discovered the Sundiro Honda S07 was still too big for a compact SUV.
As a refresher, the first-generation Honda City hatchback made its debut in 1981, it was bigger than a kei car but was smaller than the second-gen Civic from that period. Much like the modern-era Jazz hatchback, the O.G. City was designed to have a small exterior and a large interior. It could fit four occupants and a Motocompo in the cargo area. The goal is to update these two little ’80s icons for the electrified era.
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e-City
For our e-City, I decided to use the widebody City Turbo II ‘Bulldog’ hot hatch as my inspiration. The idea was to capture the original model’s familiar design elements and give it a sleeker flush treatment. It was important for me to keep its unique face. I kept the familiar recessed circular headlights but gave it a full LED makeover. Another distinguishing feature of the original model that we kept is the asymmetrical grille design with the ‘H’ logo positioned on the left side.
In the e-City, the twin slit openings of the classic model has been replaced by gloss black trim pieces since it is now an EV. The blanked-out area with the ‘H’ logo is now the charging port door. As we move to the sides, it has the trademark Turbo II blistered fenders but smoothened out like the rest of the body surfaces. The door handles are flush, and we lessened the creases on the sides. Like the Honda e, it uses the ‘Side Camera Mirror System’ instead of bulky side mirrors.
At the back, I kept the general design layout but made it sleeker with flush surfaces and a larger back window. Our e-City is 3,568mm long, 1,740mm wide, and 1,499mm tall. It rides on a 2,352mm wheelbase.
The e-City is powered by a front-mounted electric motor which puts out 138hp and up to 295Nm of torque. It comes standard with a water-cooled 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It should have an estimated range of 295km. Its front-motor platform is partly based on the Honda e’s rear-motor platform. The e-City’s front-motor-front-drive layout allows the car to have a lower cargo floor, something necessary so it can accommodate the e-Compo electric ‘trunk bike.’
e-Compo
The e-Compo is a modern electrified interpretation of the classic early 80s Motocompo. It borrows the folding handlebars and retractable seat design of the original model. Like the e-City, it features smoother lines with flush surfaces. Unlike the original Motocompo, the e-Compo gets a single-sided arm front suspension.
Our e-Compo is powered by a 400W brushless hub motor, it comes with a removable 24Ah lithium-ion battery pack. Thanks to its sub-45kg weight, it should have an estimated range of over 60km.
Would you consider the e-City and e-Compo if Honda built them? Let us know in the comments.
