The Man Behind Honda | Bad Blonde Car History The story of how Soichiro Honda would found one of the largest car makers in the world. At just 15, Soichiro Honda would drop out of school and leave his family traveling to Tokyo to work at one of the busiest mechanic shops in the city. His dedication and talent caught the owner’s attention who decided to take Soichiro under his wing. The owner wanted to open another shop and he thought Soichiro would be the perfect fit to run the new branch. Though the first year would be a struggle for the new shop, Honda’s youth was a detriment. Many customers didn’t trust taking their cars to someone so young but that wouldn’t last long. Over the course of a few years, he would grow from a one-man operation to employing over 30 mechanics. While growing a successful business, Soichiro did not forget his love of racing and would prove himself a talented driver. Inside his shop, he built the record-breaking, Hamamatsu race car that he drove to 120mpk breaking a Japanese speed record that had stood for 20 years. Soichiro was ambitious and wanted more, he wanted to begin manufacturing car parts. He branched out creating his own company to manufacture piston rings. Founding the Tokai Seiki Heavy Industry. He was still working at the mechanic shop but also working hard on his new venture at night. It was not going so well and Soichiro knew it too. He decided to enroll in the Hamamatsu Industrial Institute to improve his knowledge of metallurgy. In 1939 he would successfully create a working piston. With that success, he left the mechanic shop entirely to pursue his dream. BUT things weren’t perfect, his work and products were still flawed. Toyota would reach out to purchase pistons from Honda only to find that three out of the 50 sent passed their quality tests. He wasn’t thwarted, he dove deeper into research to better improve his knowledge of manufacturing. Soon he would perfect his product. With a quality product, Honda would soon see orders flowing in and grew the company to employ 2,000 people. In 1947, Soichiro completed the type-A engine and it would also be the first time we see the HONDA name on a machine. This was the beginning of the Honda Motor Company. The Super Cub was an immediate success and won the Emperor’s Prize, a national decoration. In 1958 the stats would get their hands on the Super Cub for $295.. A ¼ of the price of American motorcycles of the time. Soon in the 1960s, HONDA would become the biggest motorcycle company in the world. Producing 10 million motorcycles by 1968. It would be in 1963 that Honda would begin its long and well-known US campaign You Meet the Nicest People On A Honda.. The idea had actually been purchased by an advertisement company from a kid at UCLA who had created it for an assignment. The campaign was the first domino to mark the drop of dominance in domestic and British motorcycles brands and the rise in popularity of Japanese brands. It would not be long after that Soichiro would pursue his childhood dream and announce Honda would start producing automobiles. HONDA would put out the T360 Mini Truck and then their first sports car the S500, neither of which hitting it big in sales. During this time though, HONDA would be making their name in F1 taking first at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. But Soichiro, new they needed to focusing on a sales hit instead of winning trophies, and HONDA would take a break from racing to create one of the most successful vehicles ever. The Honda Civic. Debuting in 1972, the Honda Civic within the next few years it became one of the most popular cars in the world. Part of this success due to the 1970s oil crisis and Soichiro’s creation of the compound vortex controlled combustion. Soon the Honda Accord would release and become one of the best-selling sedans in automotive history. With the success of the Civiv and Accord, Honda would soon become the 3rd largest producer of cars in Japan and quickly following that in the 90s, the 3rd biggest car company in the world. Soichiro was a badass even in his golden years, he was a pilot, loved skiing, golfing and ballooning all while being an accomplished artist. He would pass away on August 5th 1991, days later Ayrton Senna would dedicate his victory at the Hungarian GP to Honda.