Honda Motocompo

History

Released in Shetland White, Daisy Yellow and Caribbean Red variants, the Motocompo was introduced as a "trunk bike" to fit inside subcompact cars like the Honda Today and the (then new) Honda City; it was inspired from the World War II-era British Welbike folding motorcycle. The handlebars, seat, and foot-pegs fold into the scooter's rectangular plastic body to present a clean, box-shaped package of 1185 ×. It is the smallest scooter ever built by Honda. The company's initial monthly sales projection for the domestic market was 8,000 City and 10,000 Motocompo. The City surpassed its targets, but in all only 53,369 Motocompos were sold by the end of production in 1983 (no more than 3,000 per month). The scooter was marketed in conjunction with the City in television ads featuring British ska/2-tone band Madness.

Although discontinued in 1983, Honda has revisited the idea since with several concept vehicles such as the 2001 e-Dax and e-NSR, and the 2011 Motor Compo electric scooter.

On September 14, 2023, Honda announced the Motocompacto, an all-electric successor to the Motocompo, with a release date of November 2023 and an MSRP of $995 at Honda and Acura dealerships.

In fiction

The Motocompo is used by Natsumi Tsujimoto in You're Under Arrest. It is tucked away at the back of her partner Miyuki Kobayakawa's Honda Today police car when not in use. It was released as a Bandai model kit.

A Motocompo is the inspiration for the character Sou in the Kino's Journey —the Beautiful World— anime and manga series.

References

• Infobox specifications from these honda.co.jp pages on 2008-02-19:
  • Here
  • Here

References

1. (2005). "Motocompo (1981)". Honda Collection Hall, Honda.
2. "Years made". Honda.
3. Kierstein, Alex. (June 10, 2020). "The Honda City and Motocompo Are Supremely Tiny '80s Urban Besties". MotorTrend.
4. Petroelje, Nathan. (September 24, 2019). "The Honda Motocompo is (still) the coolest urban mobility scooter". Hagerty.
5. "Initial sales projection". Honda.
6. "Total sales". Yasu.Tanaka.
7. "CM Honda City". Honda.
8. (2009-03-02). "Honda City and Motocompo study in 2001: the Honda e-DAX".
9. (January 2002). "Cycle World Magazine".
10. (2011-12-02). "tokyo motor show honda motor compo foldable electric scooter".
11. Hawkins, Andrew J.. (September 14, 2023). "Honda’s Motocompacto scooter will satisfy your secret desire to ride an electric suitcase to work". The Verge.