drivetofive

It’s crazy how sometimes things come full circle:  How one day you can be standing in a dealership in Nevada looking at a used car, and then after that car travels through 13 years, 51,585 miles, 6 owners, 3 U.S. states and a Canadian province, the same exact car turns up in front of your face at a show 400 miles from your house.  That’s exactly what happened with a specific car that’s been on the show circuit lately with Clarion Builds, and I’ve had some close contact with the team responsible for it.

I’m a firm believer that every vehicle out there has a story to tell.  It’s one of the reasons I’m fascinated with visiting salvage yards and poking through the relics to try and piece together the life that each one lived.  Today, I’ll share a history lesson on this one in particular.

The vehicle wearing VIN JH4KA8174RC001646 is a special car.  For one thing, it’s one of only 25 Taffeta White on Ivory Acura Legend LS coupe 6-speeds produced for the 1994 model year.  But beyond that rarity, it’s special because of its notoriety in the Legend community as one of the best-kept in existence.

On June 7, 2004, this very Legend was 10 years old and had only 6,533 miles on the odometer.  The story, as I knew it, was that the car was held for that decade as property of Honda – stashed away in a warehouse somewhere in Torrance until finally brought to light.  How the Acura dealership on Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas got ahold of it is a mystery to me, but my friend Louie who was – and still is – in Sales at that facility was happy to pull it out of the showroom for my friend Jeff and me to slobber over in the daylight.

I was 22 years old at the time, and the proud fresh owner of my own Legend – albeit far more worn in at over 100,000 miles.  I drove the 90 minutes /100 miles from St. George, Utah to Las Vegas for the preview – even though I was nowhere near being able to pay the $25,000 asking price.  Check out that odometer!

These were a few more of the photos I took at the time when Louie pulled the car out and we parked it nose-to-nose with my own coupe (and its flashy 18″ Mille Miglia chrome wheels at the time).  Remember, I was 22.

I’ve been able to piece together a rough timeline on this Legend’s lifespan from 2004-onward.

• May 27, 2004:  Sold at Desert Southwest Region Auction as manufacturer vehicle with 6,502 miles for $23,750.  For reference, this was a year after I had bought my 1994 LS coupe with 95,000 miles for $9,500.
• June 7, 2004:  For sale at Falconi’s Acura in Las Vegas, Nevada 6,533 Miles
• July 2, 2004:  Located in Mountain View, California
• July 13, 2004:  Mountain View, California at 7,622 Miles
• July 31, 2006:  Still in California at 12,708 Miles
• Jan 23, 2007:  Left California per forum member Raxmaxwell moved to Dayton, Ohio
• January 24, 2008:  Rasmaxwell listed it for sale on Acura-Legend.org with 16,000 Miles
• September 20, 2009:  Purchased by Mitch in Indiana at 19,952 Miles
• November 26, 2009:  Sold to Frank of North Reading, Massachusetts
• December 7, 2009:  Passed safety inspection in Massachusetts with 20,551 Miles
• February 7, 2012:  Still in Massachusetts with 40,666 Miles
• Unknown:  Owned by Alaeldeen in Alberta
• Unknown:  Owned by Jay in British Columbia
• December 8, 2015:  Listed online, posted on Bring a Trailer for $12,500 with 56,000 Miles
• January 26, 2016:  Back in California with 56,944 Miles
• September 23, 2017:  Shown at Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California with 58,118 Miles
• December 2, 2017:  Scheduled to be shown at Radwood, a car show in Anaheim CA focusing on 1980s-1990s cars.  I’ll be there, and I’m bound to see it again!

Today, the car shows just as well as it did the first day in 2004 when I saw it.  The build that it has undergone under Clarion’s ownership has been comprehensive but the car remains mostly stock.  Michael Farino from Clarion Public Relations shared some details about what has been involved.  Here is what he relayed to me:

• Engine and transmission fully serviced by AutoWave
• Paint and body completely reconditioned and repainted in factory white by Diamond Hills Collision
• Suspension refreshed with OE springs and KYB shocks by Niguel Motors
• Wheels replaced with refurbished OE 5-spoke wheels
• Tires provided by Michelin
• Seats reupholstered in Italian leather in OE matching Ivory color scheme by Westminster Upholstery
• Stereo system supplied by Clarion:  NX807 source unit with Clarion speakers, installed by Beach Auto Sound

To those of us in the Acura classic car collector community (Should I call that the ACCCC?), it is great to see this car getting so much love and attention.  Having a pristine Legend being shown at venues like JCCS brings light and attention to a genre of cars that is often overlooked:  the up and coming 1980s-1990s segment.  Plus it helps people learn and appreciate more about the rich history and heritage in the Acura brand now that it’s 32 years old.

Many thanks to the folks at Clarion for sharing some information about this car.  I think they deserve some recognition for the hard work and diligence in restoring, preserving, and promoting it.

Here are some other photos from the Japanese Classic Car Show last month.

And a few great photos from Larry Chen, provided to me by the Clarion team.

This entry was posted on November 24, 2017 at 11:22 am and is filed under Legend, Reader's Ride. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.