In his recent 'mid-year speech' on September 21st (2012), Honda CEO Ito-san announced the availability of a new Honda 'open-top sports-car' for Japan in 2014. This car is widely held to be the new Honda Beat and will supposedly be based on the EV-STER concept car which Honda first showed in last year's Tokyo Motor Show

Along with the emphasis on 'sports-car' and 'strong driving dynamics', Ito-san has also clarified that this will be a 'mini-car'. A bit of a mystery ? So, just what can we expect from this new Honda Beat ? How expectant should we be, bearing in mind that it will be the first proper sports-car that Honda will be adding to a line-up currently devoid of any model which they acknowledge to be a 'sports-car' (Honda did not acknowledge the CR-Z as a sports-car when it was launched). Also, this new 'open-top sports-car' will become available before even the new Civic Type-R or the new 2G NSX.

As the original Honda Beat was a JDM-only model and not widely available or known outside of Japan, we publish this feature-car article on it to let TOV/TOVA readers have an idea of what it was and perhaps what to expect come 2014. Read the feature article by clicking on this link or the photo of the Honda Beat on the left.