Honda Celebrates 60 Years In America By Restoring … A Chevy Pickup

Honda is celebrating their 60th anniversary in America by unveiling a fully restored 1961 Chevrolet Apache 10.

Despite sounding like an odd move, it makes perfect sense as Honda “purchased a small fleet of Chevy pickups to deliver motorcycles to its fledgling dealers across Southern California” shortly after the company was launched.

One of these trucks was pictured in an “iconic” photo taken in front of the company’s original office.  As a result, the automaker decided to pay tribute to the truck which played an important role in the company’s early days.

This wasn’t an easy task as Honda wanted the truck to be an authentic recreation of the one seen in the photo. As part of this effort, Honda searched its archives for details about the truck and interviewed retired Honda associates.

Afterwards, Honda found a 1961 Chevy half-ton pickup and gave it a factory-correct white paint job as well as hand-painted graphics just like the original. The truck was also given a “mild mechanical freshening.” The company didn’t go into specifics, but said the truck has a 4.6-liter V8 engine – that produces 160 hp (119 kW / 162 PS) – which is connected to a three-speed manual transmission.

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The company didn’t stop there as they also put two vintage motorcycles in the truck’s eight foot bed. One is a 1965 Honda 50, while the other is a 1965 Honda CB160 sport bike with a 161cc engine that produces 16.5 hp (12.3 kW / 19.7 PS).

The truck is currently on display in the lobby of American Honda’s headquarters in Torrance, California. However, it will eventually make appearances at SEMA and “other events around the country.”