Sales of sport utility vehiclers reached 900,000 units for 1992-and sales projections for the year 2000 topped the 1.5 million mark-every auto-maker knew it was time to get into the sport utility game. So, in December '92,
Honda inked a complementary product agreement with Subaru-Isuzu Automotive to develop a product that would give them a toehold in the sport utility market. (The Passport, in fact, is remarkably similar to the Isuzu Rodeo.)
The result is the 1994 Honda Passport, which employs a body-on-frame design that is typically used in trucks and that feeds suspension and drive loads directly into the frame for better shock absorption on rough terrain.
The Passport is available in four different configurations: the base 2WD DX, the mid-line LX in both 2WD and 4WD, and the high-end 4WD EX. The DX model is powered by a 2.6-liter, 120hp, in-line four-cylinder engine, while the LX and EX models pack the increased power of a 3.2-liter, 175-hp, 24-valve, aluminum alloy V6.
We tested a Passport EX with a base MSRP of $25,600, a price that seemed steep until we saw the list of standard equipment on this top-of-the-line model: ventilated front disc brakes with lockup torque converter; rear anti-lock disc brakes; part-time 4WD system with front auto-locking hubs; variable assist power steering; air conditioning; leather-wrapped steering wheel; reclining front bucket seats; electric rear-window defroster; removable tilt-up moonroof, dual heated power mirrors; rear privacy glass; AM/FM stereo with a cassette player; power windows and door locks; remote tailgate window release; cruise control; and a cargo net.
In other words, instead of playing the a la carte option game, Honda has loaded the Passport EX with luxury-line features for a single price. The only optional charge on our test model was $79 for floor mats, which, along with the destination charge, brought the total price to $26,054. next page