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Honda museum opens at company HQ in SoCal, first public day is next month

You don't see too many ordinary cars in automotive museums, and it makes sense. Rare luxury models, iconic muscle cars and obviously collectible vehicles are far more likely to get preserved and find themselves parked upon a climate-controlled pedestal someday. And yet, even if they may not be as collectible, everyday cars typically strike a stronger emotional and nostalgic chord in all of us. They firmly recall a specific time in our lives; what we were doing and where we were. Even if we never owned the car in question, ordinary cars were bound contribute to the overall landscape of your world.  Which is why finding a museum devoted to ordinary cars such a treat. Now, "ordinary" can have negative connotations, so perhaps "ubiquitous" is better to describe what you'll find in the new American Honda Collection Hall at the company's headquarters in Torrance, Calif. As you can see in the gallery above, there are pristine examples of the Hondas we grew up in, learned to drive in, brought us to college ... and those are just my own personal examples. Of course, there are also decidedly less ordinary examples such as the S2000 CR, Civic Type-R Limited Edition and Acura NSX, but apart from perhaps the latter, it would be rare for you to see such "Radwood-era" cars in a museum. You can also see some of the cars we've actually had the chance to review here on Autoblog: the 1999 Honda Prelude, the 1999 Honda Civic Si, the 1985 Honda CRX Si, and a handful of others.  According to Carl Pulley, who is the steward of the collection, the cars on display are just a taste of what is actually available since space was limited within the Collection Hall that's adjacent to HQ's primary lobby. He'll be able to swap different cars in or adopt a theme such as prominent examples from Honda's motorsports endeavors. Indeed, it isn't just Honda and Acura road cars -- we're just focusing on those because, you know, Autoblog. There are race cars, noteworthy motorcycles and even power equipment such as marine engines, generators and weed whackers.  While most car companies have a collection stored someplace, this one will actually be open to the public on a limited but regular basis. There will be scheduled "Cars, Bikes & Coffee" events hosted at the Collection Hall where people are invited to drive or ride their own piece of Honda history (all makes and eras are still welcome) to show off in Honda HQ's vast parking lot and come inside to check out the Collection Hall.

Honda China struggling with high-end Accord because Chinese covet German cars, too

It's not particularly unusual to see cheap cars in China, or those with designs stolen from foreign competitors, but increasingly the best-selling vehicles there would be very recognizable to just about any auto enthusiast. There appears to be one fact of life whether looking at car buyers in Sacramento, Stuttgart or Shanghai: People who can afford to buy premium cars often look first at the Germans.
Honda recently thought that it could challenge this perceived wisdom by including a premium Accord in the ninth-generation sedan's Chinese launch last year. The market-exclusive version was priced against the Audi A4. The venture failed, miserably.
According to Automotive News China, sales for the new Accord in China are down 37 percent through May of this year. Honda's overall sales are actually up by about 11 percent there on the strength of smaller, less profitable models. However, the company is still off its forecast 19-percent rise.

Honda Accord barely edges Toyota Prius as California's best-selling car

The Toyota Prius definitely still matters, at least to car buyers in California. The long-lived hybrid was the state's second-bestselling vehicle in 2014 by moving 71,210 units across all of its variants, including the Prius C. The Toyota was the leader there in 2012 and 2013 but lost the sales crown this time – just barely – to the Honda Accord, which sold 71,578 examples. The results in the Golden State illustrate just how different the auto market there is compared to the rest of the country. Prius sales slumped last year nationwide with a drop of 11.5 percent to 207,372 examples sold. However, according to the LA Times, the model's numbers ticked up two percent in California in 2014. Taken by itself, the standard hatchback model would have been the sixth-bestseller there, with 39,036 units purchased. While the Toyota showed modest growth, it wasn't enough to fend off the Accord's 17 percent year-over-year jump in the state, though. According to the Los Angeles Times, the rest of the California top ten included the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Corolla, Ford F-Series, CR-V, Nissan Altima, Sentra and Chevrolet Silverado, respectively. That list was quite a departure from the nationwide bestsellers in 2014, which was led by the F-Series, Silverado and Ram pickups. The Camry was the country's foremost car on the list in fourth place overall to beat the Accord in fifth. The Prius didn't break into the ten biggest sellers in the US last year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Honda Accord V6 Touring: Review View 42 Photos News Source: LA TimesImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Green Honda Toyota Car Buying Hatchback Hybrid Sedan sales California hybrid sales toyota prius c