Looks like even Honda appreciates a good Chevy pickup. Which is why they've restored a vintage 1961 truck.

It's not just any truck, though, this good looking 1961 Chevy Apache is just what the company needed in the days before the Ridgeline arrived.

When American Honda Motor Co first opened in 1959, its business was motorcycles. And it needed to deliver those bikes to dealerships across Southern California. So it used a fleet of Chevrolet pickup trucks.


To help mark 50 years of American Honda, they wanted to recreate one of those trucks. Make it just like the one in a photo they found that showed the truck, with motorcycles aboard, sitting in front of the original corporate office.​

The truck needed a light restoration, Honda said. A mild mechanical going over, then paint and graphics to match the original. A white paint job with red Honda graphics to match.

It's a half-ton truck with an 8-foot bed. Under the hood is a 160 hp 283 cubic inch (4.6L) V8, backed by a three on the tree manual gearbox.


In the bed are a 1965 Honda 50 Super Cub and a 1965 CB160, one of the company's first sportbikes.​

The trio will be on display at events around the US this year, including SEMA and other classic vehicle gatherings. Then it will end up in Honda's collection hall in front of a recreation of the company's first offices.