Honda Concerto (1989 – 1994) Review
Honda Concerto (1989 – 1994) At A Glance
Refined engines, smooth 4-speed autos and good build quality.
Rust badly around front screen. ABS problems are economically terminal. Engines need more maintenance than their Rover counterparts.
The Honda Concerto was launched in 1989, a spin-off from Honda’s relationship with Honda. And while much of the engineering was carried out by Honda (the EF Civic and the Concerto had quite a bit in common, for example), all versions of the Concerto for Europe were assembled at the Rover factory in Longbridge, Birmingham, where they were constructed alongside the outwardly similar Rover ‘R8’ 200 and 400 models.
Unsurprisingly, the Concerto was a marginal seller here in the UK, where patriotic buyers generally voted for the home-grown Rover-badged models, but for those who bought a Concerto, there was little to disappoint. The Rover R8 was, after all, a thoroughly decent car, and here was a variant that came with the additional promise of Japanese mechanical reliability and Honda quality control - indeed, all Concertos that came out of Longbridge were taken to Honda first for quality approval, before being sent out to dealers.
