Honda N360 және оның түрлерінің тарихы

, Honda NIII360
, Honda N400
, Honda LN400
, Honda Scamp
, Taiwan, ROC, Taipei, Sanyang
| production = 1967–1972
| successor = Honda Life, Honda Civic
| related = Honda Life, Honda TN360, Honda Vamos, Honda Z600, Honda Z360/Z600
| manufacturer = Honda
| layout = FF layout
| class = Kei car/city car
| engine = Air cooled engine, air cooled, I2, 402 cc N400E air cooled I2
, 598 cc N600E air cooled I2

| body style = Sedan (automobile), sedan, station wagon, wagon
| transmission = Four speed manual constant mesh, dog clutch engagement A larger engined variant, the N600, was marketed through 1973. All models used a straight forward two box design that complied with kei dimensional regulations — though vehicles with the 401 cc and 598 cc engines exceeded the kei engine displacement limits and were largely intended for markets outside Japan. The N360 featured front wheel drive and an air cooled, four stroke, 354 cc, two cylinder engine. While ultimately derived from Honda's motorcycle engines, the N360E engine has a 360 degree crankshaft angle ("parallel twin") unlike the 180 degree "vertical twin" setup typically used on Honda's two cylinder motorcycle engines. This same engine was used in the Honda Vamos, where it was coupled with a beam axle/leaf spring rear suspension. The simple N360 name, along with its variants, used the "N" prefix, which stood for norimono and translated from Japanese to English as vehicle (or car) — distinguishing the cars from the company's motorcycle offerings. In 2012, Honda introduced the Honda N One, an homage inspired by the 1967–1973 N sedans.

Honda marketed the N360 as a two door sedan, with a three door wagon (considered a commercial vehicle in Japan, and therefore called a "Light van") called the LN360 arriving in June of the first year. It has a horizontally divided rear gate and boxier rear bodywork for maximum load capacity. The LN360 had the same 31 PS engine as the sedan, and a top speed of After a January 1970 facelift it became the LNIII 360, with a new non reflective dash, bigger turn signals, and the same new front end as the sedan. The LNIII 360 was built until late 1971, when the Life Van took over. The N360 was an all new, clean sheet product, and did not share its chassis with the Honda Sports roadster, or the Honda L700 commercial platform. The N360 was a new market segment for Honda, providing an affordable, reliable, and easy to maintain vehicle that had broad market appeal to private car ownership. The roadsters and trucks built up to then had specific, targeted appeal. The engine's technological specifications reflected engineering efforts resulting from the development of the larger Honda 1300, which used an air cooled 1.3 litre engine. One of the primary differences between the N360 and the Honda Life that followed was the N360/600 had an air cooled engine, and the Life had a water cooled engine. The water cooled engine was better able to comply with newly enacted emission standards in Japan, and reflected an industry wide move away from air cooled as well as two stroke engines. As does the original Mini, but unlike the succeeding Life, the N360/600 had its gearbox mounted in the sump rather than bolted on as a separate unit. The N360E engine was unusual in several ways: its two cylinders sat rather far apart, with the cam chain running between them. Unlike most air cooled automobile engine, it does not use an oil cooler. The two pistons travel together, eliminating the need for a distributor but making for additional vibrations.

The larger engined N600 was developed alongside the N360 in order to target export markets like the US and Europe, where motorways demanded higher top speeds. It was also briefly sold in the domestic Japanese market, however, where it went on sale in July 1968 as the N600E. Only 1,500 examples were sold until early 1969 when the N600 was discontinued in Japan; because of its larger engine it did not qualify for any of the tax and insurance breaks given to kei cars even though it was as small as one. Just seven months after road testing the N360, Britain's Motor magazine tested a Honda N600 in November 1968. They reported that it had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0 in 19 seconds. An overall fuel consumption of was achieved. The test car was priced in the UK at £589 including taxes, at a time when the Mini 850 was retailing for £561. The testers were impressed to find 1100 cc performance from a 600 cc car, but found it 'very noisy when extended'. They found the Honda as easy to drive and park, and 'quite well equipped'. The performance figures put the car at or near the top of its class under most criteria, reflecting its favourable power to weight ratio. The car was thus faster than the achieved by rival magazine Autocar in an N360 in May 1968, and more than ten seconds quicker to which the N360 achieved in 29.3 seconds. Consistent with its slower performance, the N360 squeezed 3 extra miles out of a (UK) gallon of fuel, managing an overall It delivered surprisingly peppy performance because of its light weight (around 550 kg/1100 pounds), due to compact dimensions and some plastic parts (like the boot lid). The brakes on early models were very weak, despite having front discs and servo assistance. Rear suspension was a dead axle on leaf springs. The N600 (along with the TN360 kei truck), were the first Honda cars to be assembled outside Japan, with production in Taiwan by local joint venture Sanyang Industrial beginning in 1969. US sales stopped in 1972, as did those of the sportier Honda Z600 (or Z, depending on country), after about 25,000 sales of the N600. The first generation Honda Civic replaced the N models.

In September 1967, Honda offered their first automobile for the North American market, and they were exported to Los Angeles, California. Fifty pre production left hand drive examples were sent as "winter test vehicles" and were only intended to be driven 20000 mile (32187 km) for endurance testing, then collected and crushed at a local scrapyard across the street from the American Honda 1960s headquarters. Four of the American pre production vehicles still exist, and Serial Number N600 1000001, the first one manufactured, was discovered at a Japanese specific car show in Long Beach, California, in 2015. At the request of American Honda, the car was extensively restored and unveiled at the same car show one year later, to be added to the American Honda Museum collection. The car was made part of the Petersen Automotive Museum collection in 2018. Honda documented the restoration in a series of videos.