1982 Honda TN Acty Pickup

Somehow navigating the decades to arrive here, on the other side of 37 years, is impressive. It is also an all original untouched gem of a classic Japanese workhorse.

The one and only previous owner of this 1982 Honda TN Acty didn’t ask much of their workhorse, only driving it under 40,000 kilometers (or 25,000 miles) in 37 years. Awesome.

This first generation Acty truck is powered by a 2 cylinder EH engine, a 4 stroke liquid cooled power plant. Based on one bank of cylinders from the fantastic Honda Gold Wing GL1000’s guts, you can tell everyone your truck is powered by half a Gold Wing. This engine is placed midship, just in front of the rear wheels. That’s right, this tiny classic Honda truck shares a lot with the NSX as Both are mid engine, manual transmission, rear wheel drive vehicles.

Spirited handling and incredible utility give this tiny truck wonderful practicality. Fold down every side of the bed (or remove them entirely!) to haul around large items, or put lots of things in the bed and strap them down using the various hooks along the sides and underneath. The rear shows a 350 kg weight limit, or about 770 pounds. Room for two adults up front. Top speed is 55 mph, you can push this lil’ guy further north of that but stability deteriorates the further you go.

Styling is classic Honda. Round headlights set in black trim with amber indicators. In the center is the classic HONDA name, white on black. Right side has the battery compartment and spare wheel, left side has the fuel tank, coolant overflow tank, oil filler neck and oil dipstick. The engine sits underneath a panel that be accessed from the bed, which is why the dipstick and oil fill neck are not underneath the ‘hood’, with the dipstick being accessed from the left rear wheel well. Original 10” wheels wrapped in new Yokohama tires complete the look.

Inside is a carpet-free zone. Brown vinyl bench seat faces a brown dashboard and black steering wheel. Your floor is a rubber sheet directly on the metal floor. Instruments consist of turn signal indicators, choke, oil, charge and brake warning lights with a temperature gauge, fuel gauge and speedometer. As there is no RPM gauge you instead get indicators along the speedometer indicating what gear you should be in at what speeds. A speed alarm will sound at 85 mph. Center console has HVAC controls allowing heat and outside air in various ways and at various speeds. There is a space for a radio but this was a stripper model so instead you get a piece of black plastic. There is a standard glove box in front of the passenger seat. You also get two vents that allow air from outside to come into the cabin from behind the headlights, one for the passenger and one for the driver. The previous owner had a little hat made for the gear lever, presumably making it so it wouldn’t get super hot while in the sun. Two not-retracting seat belts with hand crank windows and headrests bolted directly to the rear of the cab. Standard Japanese road flare is also included.

If you like classic Hondas then you will love this Acty. Yes it is an old truck but it doesn’t know that, it thinks it still has work to do. Press it into service with its current flaws and blemishes or restore it and have one of the most exclusive and pristine Hondas in the USA.