The Honda Acty is a range of cabover micro vans and Kei trucks produced by Honda from 1977. It took five years later for it to reach the shores of Australia, going on sale there from 1982 to 1986. The reason behind the discontinuation in Australia was Honda's reservations concerning the truck's engine, finding it underpowered for Sydney's hilly terrain.
While Honda halted the Acty in Australia in 1986, sales continued through three generations in other markets. The latest generation premiered at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show as a truck only. Honda plans to end Acty's production in 2021.
The Economical Acty
The Acty range of vehicles is specially designed to be an economical and agile utility vehicle. Honda has, however, offered it in several trims that featured power steering, air conditioning, and other customisation options. Acty's primary competitors are the Nissan NT100/NV100, Suzuki Carry/Every, Daihatsu Hijet, Subaru Sambar, Mazda Scrum, and the Mitsubishi Minicab.
First Generation (1977-1988)
The first-generation Acty, introduced in July 1977, was Honda's way of replacing previously offered Kei trucks, including the Honda TN36 and Honda T360. Its release came after Japan had introduced laws (Road Trucking Vehicle Law) in 1975 to regulate engine size and dimensions of the Keitoras.
For this reason, Honda used a mid-mounted 545cc two-cylinder EH SOHC water-cooled engine that achieved 20.6 kW of power at 5,500 rpm and a torque of 41 Nm at 4,000 rpm. This engine was about 50% larger than its predecessor, the TN7. Some export models, specifically the ones with lower emissions, could achieve 22.8 kW at the same rev per minute. The models sold in Australia came with either a four-speed or five-speed manual gearbox.
Model Trims and Facelifts
The model series produced in this generation were TA, TB, TC, VD, and VH. Honda used the TB nameplate for a truck-based panel van. The car shares several aspects of the truck, including side doors with centre-mounted handles and taillights.
There was also an upper trim of the Acty van that went on sale from February 1981, called the Street. This passenger van, which was present in two generations of the Acty Van, was available in either standard or all-new high-roof design.
In 1982, the Acty series received a facelift, which included wraparound turn signals. The facelift also added two Acty versions - the Hondamatic and Big Cab. The Big Cab model came with a passenger compartment stretched by four inches.
In 1983, Honda introduced a four-wheel-drive Acty/Street with 12-inch wheels for increased ground clearance and boosted the engine's output to 21.3 kW at 5,300 rpm and 44Nm torque at 3,500 rpm. The Japanese carmaker discontinued the Street nameplate after the reintroduction of the Honda Vamos trim in 2001. This van, however, never made it to Australia.
Subsequent generations were not offered in Australia, so there were few units sold. For this reason, it might be hard to find spare parts for repairing a Honda Acty. If you’re having issues looking for original secondhand parts in Australia, your best bet would be to contact Carpart.com.au for car owners selling their Actys or car parts suppliers.
-Eric Anyega