1997 Honda J-MJ

But not only designers from Nissan know a lot about geometry. Honda specialists also received A's in this subject at school. They even came up with a memorable slogan for their small cars: Small is smart.

"Small means smart" is how this motto translates. There were plenty of small cars at the company's stand.

Probably the most "square" at the exhibition was a small four-wheel-drive car Honda J-MJ. The pinnacle of constructivism! J-MJ seems to be made of flat panels. Even the round headlights were hidden under flat windows, and the vertical false radiator grille was created as if despite the laws of aerodynamics.

Is it possible to find at least a few curved lines in the appearance of J-MJ? You can: four wheels and a steering wheel. Everything else is rectangular. Even the huge liquid crystal instrument panel seems to be drawn with a ruler: this is a rectangle with a size of 60x15 cm glowing with numbers and a map of the navigation system, under which a narrow (again rectangular!) stretched out the strip is a console with buttons and keys. Similar geometric ideas once captured the minds of designers all over the world. It was from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. Do you remember when square and rectangular clocks began to appear in our homes instead of round alarm clocks, strict straight lines began to prevail in clothes again, shoes on a high platform became fashionable, beautiful "handwritten" fonts were replaced by strict block letters in the credits of feature films, architecture was finally replaced by construction on Khrushchev's instructions, and instead of the "four hundred and seventh" Muscovite and the "twenty-first" Volga, M-408 and GAZ-24 appeared on the conveyor belt? The Japanese are experiencing about the same thing now, only at a higher stage of development.

This round makes its adjustments. Since the congested Japanese highways have long resembled rivers with fish going to spawn, cars are growing not in breadth but upwards. So, if earlier it was necessary to get into a Japanese subcompact bent over, a Japanese of average height can enter most cars only slightly bent over.

A perfect example of this is the Honda J-MJ. The length of the four-seat five-door car is 3770 mm (like a 3-door Tavria), and the "height" is 1650 mm (240 mm higher than the Ukrainian car!). The high roof facilitates entry and exit. Passengers sit as if on chairs - increased, "legs dangling." The main advantage of such a landing is good visibility and additional legroom for rear passengers (no need to "push" the legs under the front seats). However, short but tall cars are not new for Japan. For example, Honda already sells a similar S-MX car, which was recently listed in concept cars.

Source: www.hondazine.com; Газета АВТОРЕВЮ - N 21 (160) 1997 (translated from Russian)

Images Sources: Honda; www.hondazine.com