One Hundred Years - happy birthday to Soichiro Honda

The Suzuka factory in 1971 - just 13 years after the first factory was built.

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Article Summary

November 17, 2006 We regularly note significant historical milestones and today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of a significant technological achiever. Soichiro Honda, the founder of the Honda Motor Company was born this day, November 17, 1906. The son of a blacksmith and a weaver, Soichiro was fascinated by machines and how they worked. One of his earliest memories was being enthralled by the first motor car he had ever seen. He later said: “As the car rolled through our small village I turned and chased after that car for all I was worth.” The young Soichiro may not have been able to catch the car, but it signalled the chasing of his dream: to build his own cars and motorcycles and win world championships with them. Without formal education, Honda forged an empire encompassing road cars, All-Terrain Vehicles, engines, generators, outboard motors, personal watercraft, water pumps, scooters, snowblowers, robots and more recently jet aircraft.

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