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:Sections of this article are translated from Japanese Wikipedia.The Honda Legend is a mid-size luxury car made by the Japanese automaker Honda. It was the result of Project XX, a joint agreement started in November 1981 with the Austin Rover Group of Great Britain and was mechanically related to the Rover 800 series. When the Legend made its appearance into the market, rival companies in Europe, Japan and North America took notice, and quickly introduced or revised products that could be compared to it. Toyota began development in 1983 with the F1 project, the code name for a secret flagship sedan effort that became the Lexus LS, and Nissan updated their premium flagship the President initially introduced in 1966, and offered the new President in North America as the Infiniti Q45. In 1986, Mitsubishi completely redesigned its flagship sedan, the Mitsubishi Debonair (introduced in 1964), and shared the new Debonair with South Korean manufacturer Hyundai, introducing the Hyundai Grandeur, and in 1990 the Mitsubishi Diamante joined the Debonair. In North America, Lincoln took a new approach to the venerable Continental offering for the first time a front wheel drive luxury sedan with a V6 engine in 1988, and General Motors introduced the GM H platform (FWD) that was used by Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac mid-level sedans. Cadillac also introduced the Sedan de Ville on its new "C" body platform with front wheel drive in 1985. In Europe, Audi took a fresh approach to the 100 and in 1994 introduced the A6, and BMW introduced the BMW 5 Series (E34) in 1988. Honda introduced the Legend as a flagship sedan to compete with the popular JDM Nissan Cedric / Nissan Gloria twins, and the Toyota Crown. In North America, the Legend competed with larger rear wheel drive V8 sedans Lexus LS, Infiniti Q45, Cadillac Brougham, Lincoln Town Car, and the large German sedans, however, the Legend was packaged to compete in the slightly smaller Executive car class, such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Lexus ES, Infiniti J30, Alfa Romeo 164, and the Volvo 940 sold at the time. The Legend was initially a four-door sedan, with a two-door personal luxury coupé added later. It was the model which launched Honda's upscale Acura brand in the United States, and the Honda Clio sales channel in Japan. Honda was inspired by the word "legend" to create the first Honda vehicle with a V6. 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 as the Acura RL, while the Legend name is still used in Japan and other markets. The Legend hardtop coupe was introduced to compete with the Nissan Leopard coupe, the Toyota Soarer, and Mazda Cosmo and shared many mechanicals with the Rover 800 coupe. Recently there is some market based pressure for Honda to upgrade the engine from a V6 to a V8, as products identified as Acura have the same refinement and engine efficiency as the top line Legend/RL. There is speculation that Honda has developed both a V8 and V10 engine used in racing models, but no decision has been made to actually install any engine larger than a V6 into the Honda flagship as of yet. |
