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Soichiro Honda
Soichiro Honda
Sichir Honda
Born Died Nationality Other names Occupation November 17, 1906 Tenryu, Japan August 5, 1991 (aged 84) Japan Japanese Shacho San
Sichir Honda ( , Honda Sichir, November 17, 1906 August 5, 1991) was a Japanese engineer and industrialist, and founder of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.. Soichiro was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.
Honda spent his early childhood helping his father, Gihei, a Spouse Sachi Honda blacksmith, with his bicycle repair business. At the time his mother, Mika, was a weaver. At 15, without any formal education, Honda left home and headed to Tokyo to look for work. He obtained an apprenticeship at a garage in 1922, and after some hesitation over his employment, he stayed for six years, working as a car mechanic before returning home to start his own auto repair business in 1928 at the age of 22.
Founder, Honda Motor Company Limited
In 1937 Honda began producing piston rings for small engines which lead to manufacturing small engines to be used in motorcycles, and then in 1948 he started producing complete motorcycles as president of the Honda Motor Company. Honda turned the company into a billion-dollar multinational that produced the best-selling
motorcycles in the world. Honda's excellent engineering and clever marketing resulted in Honda motorcycles out-selling Triumph and Harley-Davidson in their respective home markets. In 1959 Honda Motorcycles opened its first dealership in the United States. Honda remained president until his retirement in 1973, stayed on as director, and was appointed "supreme adviser" in 1983. His legendary status was such that People magazine placed him on their "25 Most Intriguing People of the Year" list for 1980, dubbing him "the Japanese Henry Ford." In retirement Honda busied himself with work connected with the Honda Foundation. He died in 1991 from liver failure.
Contents
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1 Early years 2 Art Shokai 3 Honda Motor Co. Ltd. 4 Racing 5 Last years 6 External links
The bicycles had another use: Those that his father sold from the shop he subsequently opened helped Honda to hone his engineering skills. As he grew, the dream of the car on the country road acted like a magnetic force, drawing him ever closer towards things mechanical. In 1917 a pilot named Art Smith flew into the Wachiyama military airfield to demonstrate his biplane's aerobatic capabilities. Honda raided the family's petty cash box, "borrowed" one of his father's bicycles and rode 20 kilometres to a place he had never before visited. When he got there he soon realized that the price of admission, let alone a flight, was far beyond his meagre means, but after climbing a tree he watched the plane in motion, and that was enough. When Gihei Honda learned what his son had done to get to the airfield, he was more impressed with his initiative, determination and resilience than he was angry with him for taking the money and the bike.
most trusted friend, and urged him to look to the long-term. They complemented one another perfectly. The first fruit of their partnership that hit the streets was that of a 98 cc two-stroke motorcycle appropriately named "Dream". Several times Honda Motor Co. sailed close to the rocks in the years that followed, for both Honda and Fujisawa were gamblers who knew that expansion would only be possible with risk. Growth at one stage was unprecedented, until the purchase of state-ofthe-art machinery in the early 1950s led them perilously close to bankruptcy. Honda stated that "Without Fujisawa, we would have gone bust a long time ago" while Fujisawa stated that "Without Honda, we would have never become this big". Honda claimed that he had never touched nor seen the company seal (hanko).
[edit] Racing
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2010)
Later, when the Juno scooter flopped and bankruptcy again beckoned, his reaction was to embark on the Tourist Trophy race program that would eventually make Honda's name as an international motorcycle manufacturer. It took him five years, but by 1959 Hondas were racing on the Isle of Man. Two years later they won the TT. In 1963, a 1.5 litre V12, designed by Honda engineer (and future president) Tadashi Kume, was produced for Formula One. Honda Racing's first F1 win as entrant, constructor, and engine supplier was in 1965 (the last race for the 1.5 non-supercharged formula; the first F1 win for Goodyear tires). In 1966, Honda entered Formula Two (1.0 litre) racing and Jack Brabham won 11 straight races, becoming the F2 champion. Meanwhile, F1's displacement limit grew to 3.0 litres; Honda produced a 400-hp V-12 engine for the revised class. Still in 1966, Honda won the Constructor's Championships in all five motorcycle Grand Prix classes. In 1967, John Surtees won the Italian Grand Prix Formula One race, Honda's first 3.0 litre F1 victory. Honda had great successes in the mid to late 1980s and beginning of the 1990s supplying Williams and McLaren F1 teams and Honda Racing continued to participate in F1 as entrant, constructor, and engine supplier through 2008 with some interruptions.