A pretty Honda Accord sedan, as seen in the Chinese capital Beijing back in 2014. The Honda was in fine shape. It was painted white, a relatively rare color for an Accord of this age in China. Most of them are black, some are silver, and very few are white.
Internationally, this Accord is called the ‘North American seventh generation’. It was the second-generation Accord that was made in China by the Guangzhou (GAC)-Honda joint venture. Production in China started in 2004 and ended in 2007, a relatively short run.
China-made Honda Accords have these cool LEV stickers on the third-side window on the left side of the vehicle. This shows how closely the China-made car was related to the US Accord. The LEV abbreviation refers to a US Emissions Rating system. This system originated in California and became a federal system later on. Other ratings included LEVII, ULEV, and SULEV. All the 7th gen Accords I have seen in China had the LEV sticker, not any other, so I assume they have this US LEV rating, which in China meant nothing, but the joint venture apparently decided to apply the stickers anyway.
The Accord was marketed in China as a luxury mid-size sedan. It had leather seats, lots of wood trim, and luxuries like a CD-player and a small infotainment screen. Most Chinese car owners cover up the original seats with ugly after-market covers, but the owner of this particular car did not.
The leather still looks good after all those years.
The Guangzhou-Honda Accord was available with 3 engines: a 2.0, a 2.4, and a 3.0 V6. Today’s car has the 2.4-liter i-VTEC four-cylinder under the hood. It has an output of 162 hp and 219 Nm. This was by far the most common engine. The 2.0 and the 3.0 V6 are very rare.
The engine was mated to a five-speed automatic transmission, sending all horses to the front wheels. The top speed is 200 km/h and it did 0-100 in 9.3 seconds. That was quite speedy for the time compared to the competition.
Badge time! This one says: 广州本田, Guangzhou Bentian, Guangzhou Honda.
The license plate is as old as the car. It is a lucky plate too. Eight and six are both lucky numbers in Chinese culture. This Honda has a double 8 and a double 6. No wonder it is still around.