Where does the AN and AZ designations come from?

[Chuck Dean]

Hello everyone, Just curious, does anyone know where the AN designation for the sedan and the AZ designation for the Coupe come from? Do the letters stand for anything?
Since the AN cane first, should I assume the N just fell over on the Coupe?=
Durable thanks, Chuck  (mobile) Pleez x cuze enny tie ping or spelin air ores.
Our 1972 Honda 600 Coupe Our 1961 Vespa 400

[rstevens19]

The A designates the American market. This was common in the Honda motorcycle designations in the 60s and early 70s.
From:
Chuck Dean cadean329@...
[2cylinderhondas]
Sent:
Thursday, March 07, 2019 12:40 AM
To:
Honda 600 Group
Subject:
[2cylinderhondas] Where does the AN and AZ designations come from?
Hello everyone,
Just curious, does anyone know where the AN designation for the sedan and the AZ designation for the Coupe come from? Do the letters stand for anything?
Since the AN cane first, should I assume the N just fell over on the Coupe?=
Durable thanks,
Chuck  (mobile)
Pleez x cuze enny tie ping or spelin air ores.
Our 1972 Honda 600 Coupe
Our 1961 Vespa 400
Virus-free.
www.avast.com

Note: 1 image(s) originally linked in this post are no longer available (ec).

[Don B Laughton]

All of the first generation four wheeled products had an "A" in their model designation.... AK250 & AK280 were four cylinder, twin cam trucks.  AS250, 280, 285 and 800 were the sports cars... An "E" between the two letters stood for "export".  When the second generation came along, the "A" was dropped.  So, N360, LN360, N600 and N400. The "A" designation reappears with A600 and A360 for the automatic transmission cars.  As I recall, the A/T 600 in the Honda collection is an "AA600".  The model designation is carried in the ID plate banner... which I believe is "N600".  "AN" appears with the chassis number.  But, for government purpose the important tag is the compliance tag on the "B" pillar stating the vehicle complies with US standards at the time of manufacture.  Until the arrival of the Civic, there were no year models as we know them today. So, the N600 parts list calls out N600A, N600B and N600C in the introduction... But these designations do not appear on the actual pages in the parts list or on the cars!  Basically, things were rather casual until the 1973 model year... you would have to sit down with the guy in charge of the V.I.N. system, from 1965 on, for a definitive answer... I suspect it was very fluid situation.  Oh, All N600s are product code "568".... "AN" does not have a separate, distinct product code.  I know, I know, T.M.I.

On Thursday, March 7, 2019, 6:40:19 AM PST, rstevens19@... [2cylinderhondas] wrote:

The A designates the American market. This was common in the Honda motorcycle designations in the 60s and early 70s.
From:
Chuck Dean cadean329@...
[2cylinderhondas]
Sent:
Thursday, March 07, 2019 12:40 AM
To:
Honda 600 Group
Subject:
[2cylinderhondas] Where does the AN and AZ designations come from?
Hello everyone,
Just curious, does anyone know where the AN designation for the sedan and the AZ designation for the Coupe come from? Do the letters stand for anything?
Since the AN cane first, should I assume the N just fell over on the Coupe?=
Durable thanks,
Chuck  (mobile)
Pleez x cuze enny tie ping or spelin air ores.
Our 1972 Honda 600 Coupe
Our 1961 Vespa 400
Virus-free.
www.avast.com

Note: 1 image(s) originally linked in this post are no longer available (ec).

[Steve]

Don,
But since the N600 & the Z600 were sold in other countries with distinct differences from the USA sold
AN600 & AZ600 that people in the USA who call or cars N600 & Z600 might not actually have a USA
market vehicle? One car that comes to mind is a customer I had with a 1969 600 sedan that had no sway bar
but he did have disc brakes and those rods from sub frame welded to the lower arm 51351-581-300 combined
with the Hawaiian engine, he kept destroying front hubs.
Miles

[Don B Laughton]

The cars were sold in the US as N & Z600s.  So, calling the N or Z600s isn't all that incorrect.  The "A" prefix only appears on the VIN plate.  OOOH, a 1969 N600 without a sway bar, with drum brakes!  Very, very, very early!  Either an early European car or perhaps the 4th of six winter of 67-68 test cars.  What is the chassis number?
Don Laughton

On Sunday, April 21, 2019, 9:59:29 AM PDT, 'Miles Chappell' z600miles@... [2cylinderhondas] wrote:

Don,
But since the N600 & the Z600 were sold in other countries with distinct differences from the USA sold
AN600 & AZ600 that people in the USA who call or cars N600 & Z600 might not actually have a USA
market vehicle? One car that comes to mind is a customer I had with a 1969 600 sedan that had no sway bar
but he did have disc brakes and those rods from sub frame welded to the lower arm 51351-581-300 combined
with the Hawaiian engine, he kept destroying front hubs.
Miles