Tweedehands Honda HR-V

Soichiro Honda was a mechanic and a racer before he was an industrialist, and it shows. He started bolting surplus generator engines to bicycles in 1946, built the world's biggest motorcycle company within fifteen years, and only turned to cars in 1963 with the tiny S500 roadster.

What followed was a run of engineering brilliance: the Civic's clean CVCC engine, VTEC, the NSX that made Ferrari rethink its build quality, and the engines that powered Ayrton Senna and Max Verstappen to Formula 1 titles. Honda also builds more engines than anyone on Earth, from lawnmowers to jets.

In Europe, Honda now sells the Jazz, Civic, HR-V, ZR-V and CR-V with its e:HEV hybrid system, plus the electric e:Ny1 and the coming 0 Series. The Civic Type R remains the benchmark front-wheel-drive hot hatch, proof that the founder's spirit still lives in Tochigi.