What Was the First Acura?

If you’re like us, then there’s a good chance that you’re crazy about Acura and its lineup of top-notch luxury vehicles. True fans of this respected brand might even wonder where, when, and how the first Acura vehicle came to be! To help shed some light on the subject, Pohanka Acura is here to tell you more about the maiden vehicle that launched the company over 30 years ago.

The First Luxury Japanese Vehicle

In order to keep up with fellow automotive rivals Toyota and Nissan, who both had luxury lineups in the works, Honda created the Acura brand in 1986 to a get a head start breaking into the United States car market. At that time, despite the success that Japanese manufacturers had enjoyed, they had yet to come out with any high-performance, luxury vehicles to compete with brands like Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, and others. As Toyota and Nissan were preparing to release their premium brands—Lexus and INFINITI, respectively—Honda also got into the world of luxury cars with their own lineup, named Acura. Choosing the slogan, “Acura: Precision Crafted Automobiles” as their guiding ideal, the company released their first two vehicles: the Legend and the Integra.

The Acura Legend

Entering the North American market with Integra in 1986, the Acura Legend quickly established quite the reputation for itself. While its sedan body style came with a 2.5L V6 engine, the coupe, which appeared a year later in 1987, featured a slightly larger 2.7L system that would appear in the sedan the following year. Thanks to advanced interior features like a 4-speaker cassette tape stereo, automatic climate control, and a wool cloth interior, the Legend soon fulfilled its name, earning Motor Trend’s Import Car of the Year in 1987. Subsequent model years continued to improve on the established design, with features like body-colored side mirrors appearing in 1990.

Fate of the Legend

The Legend entered its second generation in 1991, with a larger 200-hp engine and the option to choose a manual or automatic transmission. More upgrades became available throughout the next few models, including heated leather seats, a hands-free telephone, and seatbelt pretensioners. However, by 1995, Acura was looking to change things up as sales of the model began to decline. As a result, the Legend was rebranded as the RL in 1996. Today, the RL is now the RLX, and it still continues to offer the high-end performance and upscale amenities that the Legend first bore.

So, what was the first Acura? Now you know that the Acura Legend was the vehicle that started it all back in 1986! To learn more about the latest models at your disposal, visit Pohanka Acura today.