This car does not have its engine in the front.
This vehicle I found in the market is a 2000 Honda Z with approximately 64,600 miles. The mileage is not especially low, but the timing belt has already been replaced, which is an important point for a car of this age.
What makes the Honda Z unusual is its layout.
The engine is located under the rear seat, positioned between the rear seat area and the rear wheels. In other words, it uses a midship-style layout, something almost nobody expects from a small Honda kei car.
That layout gives the car a very different character.
Because more weight sits toward the rear, traction is strong, and with a turbocharger, the Honda Z feels more capable than its size suggests. It is not just a small city car with unusual styling. It has a mechanical concept that makes it genuinely interesting to drive.
And the styling is just as unusual.
The Honda Z has a tall seating position, excellent visibility, and a body shape that still feels strange in a good way. It does not look like a typical kei car, and it does not follow the safe, predictable design logic that most small cars use today.
The advertising was also memorable.
At the time, Honda used ZZ Top in its commercial campaign, which gave the car an even stronger personality. The original commercial is included below, and it is worth watching if you want to understand the atmosphere around this car when it was new.
But that unusual layout and design also made the Honda Z difficult to understand at the time.
It was not a massive sales success. For many buyers, it may have been too strange, too different, or too hard to categorize. But that is exactly why it feels so fresh today.
Looking at it now, the Honda Z feels like something Honda would probably never build again.
A turbocharged kei car with a rear-mounted midship-style layout, high seating position, strange proportions, and a personality strong enough to stand apart from almost everything else on the road. That combination is unlikely to return.
And today, that makes it an interesting entry point into JDM ownership.
At current market levels, a Honda Z like this can be delivered to a home in the United States for around $10,000 in total. For someone who wants a distinctive Japanese kei car without starting with a high-value collector model, that makes it a very approachable option.
For the right buyer, the 2000 Honda Z is practical enough to use, unusual enough to stand out, and mechanically different enough to make ownership feel special.
Bringing one to the United States could be a fun way to experience Japanese car culture without choosing the obvious path.
Understand before you decide.