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Honda New Zealand has listed 16 vehicles from the heritage car collection up for auction. Before the auction went live, these collectible cars were located on the Nelson Bays site. The auction is the result of Honda New Zealand closing this location and moving distribution to Auckland. Proceeds from the auction, which closes on July 29th, 2026, will go to various charities.
Assembled in New Zealand, the 16 vehicles range in age from a 1981 Accord to a 2000 Civic Type R. The latter is the highlight, a desirable JDM with manual transmission and high-revving engine with a starting price of $30,000 and no reserve. The first-generation Type R is a fun drive, with great handling and a loud engine. Other standout listings include a 1995 Accord LXi with just 4,722 miles — which is possibly the lowest mileage example in the world — currently at $11,000, and a 1988 Honda City Jazz, a cute compact car with a quirky design, lightweight construction, and manual transmission with a current bid of $6,050 at the time of writing.
Read more: 10 Common Mistakes Mechanics Rarely Make With Their Own Cars
Honda's history in New Zealand and the closing Nelson plant
Honda was founded in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1948, but quickly established itself as a global company. By 1959, the American Honda Motor Co. Inc was established in Los Angeles, California — the first overseas subsidiary — and the Honda N600 became the first car sold in the United States in 1969. However, the United States wasn't where the expansion ended.
The 1976 Honda EB1 Civic was the first vehicle Honda assembled outside of Japan — and the first hatchback car it assembled in New Zealand. Its design was boundary pushing at the time for its fun, small look. Every EB1 was assembled at Petone, but Honda later started assembling the second-generation Civics at the Panmure and Nelson Bays plants.
Before Honda moved in, however, the Nelson Bays assembly plant location originally manufactured Jaguar, Triumph, and other British vehicles. These brands started to lose favor in New Zealand in the 1970s, which is when it switched to Honda. When Petone shut down completely in 1982 and sporty cars started gaining popularity, Honda ramped up production at Nelson Bays. Honda continued to assemble vehicles at Nelson Bays for 50 years, although it largely served as a location to store new cars and prepare them for sale in recent years.
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Read the original article on SlashGear.
