Honda's Towering Collection

HONDA'S TOWERING COLLECTION

SOICHIRO HONDA ONCE said, "A company is most clearly defined neither by its people nor by its history, but by its products." That may be, but a walk through the new Honda Collection Hall certainly provides much insight into the company's history, if not its employees' souls.

Housed in a pair of three story towers at the new Twin Ring Motegi race circuit 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, the collection includes a dizzying array of 350 motorcycles and cars. And not just Hondas, ei ther-many significant competi tors' models are displayed, including some identified as "reference models" for various Honda products.

What is perhaps most refreshing about the museum is that for years, Honda perpetuated a myth that it destroyed all of its compe tition vehicles once they had outlived their usefulness. Thank fully, this turned out to be a gross exaggeration-the company had indeed kept many of its rac ing bikes and cars, and was se cretly housing them in the base ment of the Suzuka bowling alley. That selec I tion has since been moved to Motegi, and forms the back bone of the col lection; indeed, II one room contains no fewer than 106 race bikes, encompassing the Hail wood era through the current Doohan regime.

Best of all, admission is free to anyone attending a racing event at Twin Ring Motegi. That alone justifies the cost of a round-trip ticket to Tokyo-doesn't it?

Brian Catterson