Javillac
The Japanese automobile industry is known for offering a wide variety of products, including a long tradition of off-road vehicles. By the 4s, practically all manufacturers in the country had a 4XXNUMX in their catalog., these being vehicles that were sold in large numbers all over the world.
Curiously, a brand with as much international recognition as it is Honda had not sold an SUV until the nineties, and seeing how lucrative this market was, they decided to look for a candidate from another manufacturer rather than developing their own four-wheel drive vehicle, choosing the Land Rover Discovery, an idea that in theory would help them save a lot of money in costs.
HONDA'S LAND ROVER, A HISTORICAL DISASTER
Although this alliance between Land Rover and Honda to manufacture the Discovery may seem unusual, it makes perfect sense if you take into account that The Japanese brand had helped the British industry to manufacture the Triumph Acclaim and some models Rover.
Unfortunately at that time Land Rover was not having a good time creating cars plagued with quality problems, and Honda, which had already built a good reputation for manufacturing reliable and well-designed cars, would pay the consequences for selling the first-generation Discovery.
The car debuted in Japan in 1993 under the name Honda Crossroad, and aesthetically it varied very little from its British counterpart, also being offered with three- and five-door bodies. As a curiosity This model has been the only Honda in history to mount a V8 engine since it shared the Land Rover mechanics of 3,9 liters and 182 HP, which was only available with a four-speed automatic gearbox.
As it could not be otherwise, the car was a commercial failure, given that Its price was extremely expensive and the build quality left much to be desired. becoming the object of a recall in 1997 because the driver's door had a defect in which it could open on its own.
THE END OF A CAR THAT HAD NEITHER PAIN OR GLORY
La purchase of the Rover group by BMW in 1994 notably angered Honda's board of directors, and they came close to ending the Crossroad at that time, but unfortunately the agony of having to sell that car continued for a few more years, until 1998, when production of the first generation Land Rover Discovery ended.
Currently finding a Honda Crossroad from the nineties is practically impossible, since in Japan the useful life of many cars is much shorter and large displacement vehicles pay exorbitant taxes. Many units ended up in New Zealand, where apparently their badges were changed to Land Rover ones., meaning that if there is any unit left circulating it is disguised as something it is not, or is it?
Although this model has gone unnoticed by many fans and is currently practically unknown, the brand relaunched the Crossroad name in 2007 in the form of an SUV, but, although this type of vehicle is very popular, this nomenclature must be cursed, since it did not succeed either and was discontinued in 2010.
Images: Honda and Land Rover
