The explosion of the ’90s Japanese collector car market has long been fuelled by Hollywood films such as the Fast & Furious series which fantasized street racing-modified Toyota Supras, Nissan Skylines and Mazda RX7’s.
As the market for cars from the land of the rising sun continues to grow, and mint examples of such cars continue to bring top dollar, there has been a parlay to the lesser known models.
Trickle-down Economics
This is common in most markets. When a specific segment becomes saturated with interest, or money, people look elsewhere in search of a worthwhile investment; but they tend not to wander too far from the original tree in search of that golden apple.
For example, the hammer prices for pristine Acura Integras have skyrocketed over the past four years, a rare example, below, showing just how far the envelope is being pushed.
Checklist
So, what are the key components to having a valuable car from this era? Firstly, a completely stock, unmodified vehicle will bring the highest sale price – this is especially true for these types of cars due to the tidal wave of tuners and aftermarket installers who have degraded a large majority of 90’s and early 2000’s Japanese vehicles.
Secondly, the lowest mileage examples always win the battle for attention – see below:
Finally, the third key component (this is our prognosis, and in reality there are many more aspects to calculating a car’s value) is having three pedals on the floor. A manual transmission has long been the crucial option to having a car worth double to triple its original MSRP. And this leads us into our CLT Find of the Month: a crisp 1991 Honda Accord LX Coupe in Cobalt Pearl Blue; and yes, it has the five speed ready at the helm.
The Story
This story of this beauty has its beginnings at a small town tire shop just east of Des Moines, Iowa. The owners at the time, a wife and her husband, purchased the Accord brand new to use as a fun summer grocery-getter, and display vehicle to showcase their newest inventory of tires. As time passed, the marriage ended and the car remained at the tire store along with its new sole owner, the newly divorced wife. The car remained in Marshalltown until just a few years ago when Alzheimer’s set in and the car was passed down in the family. Alas, we praise the new-age, online garage-sale haven known as Facebook Marketplace which led us to this beauty just a few months ago.
The Facts
The fourth generation Accord was released on the new “CB” chassis in sedan, wagon, and coupe variants. The North American market received the redesigned, aluminum 140hp 2.2 four cylinder F-series motor. These series of Accords are known for their clean, contemporary look in a reliable package that focused on transporting people to and fro. There was no sport-oriented package available, so most memories of these “CB” chassis revolve around a first car, a family member’s daily driver, or the first time learning to drive with a manual transmission. This simple, yet effective combination led the Accord to earning America’s best selling car of 1990 (AutomobileMag).
Looking into the market data for fourth generation Honda Accords, we see an average sale price of just over $6,000 across ten sales in the last four years. The highest sale belongs to the example pictured below; a 48k mile 1991 Accord SE four door with an automatic selling for $9,600 in March 2019 (Classic.com).
Surprise!
So why have we here at CLT chosen the charming CB7 series Accord for our Find of the Month? Well, because we bought the Facebook special pictured earlier! Letting this unmolested example sit in the garage with those hideous aftermarket wheels was quite seriously a crime. Scouring the internet has yielded no comparable sales of two-door manual transmission Accords of this generation with under 50k miles. Could this be the lowest mileage example left in the United States?
Possibly, and for that reason alone we knew it had to be rescued. After the eight hour drive from Louisville, Kentucky, the car has had factory wheels reinstalled, rear window tint removed, and a meticulous detail performed. Check it out below!
What remains of the Honda currently? With the click of a button, it could be yours! But one would have to act quickly as the auction is only live for the next seven days. Featured on Cars & Bids with no reserve, CarsLessTravled is proud to offer our 1991 Honda Accord LX 5-Speed Coupe with 29,991 miles to the public. Here is the link to the auction, have a fantastic day everyone.
–Drake
P.S. Here is an appropriate commercial to get you in that early 90’s mood:
Cars Less Traveled 