Introduced in 1981 for the Japanese, European, and North American market, the second generation of the Honda Accord was the first car in the world to offer an option for a navigation system, long before the GPS era.
The second generation of the Accord came after five years on the market for the first generation. It was a time when the Japanese carmaker tried to catch up with the rest of the carmakers and rushed new models into production. Soichiro Honda considered that facelifts were too minor for the profound changes and upgrades he wanted on its cars. It was the same with the Accord.

Designed from scratch, the second generation of the Accord still kept the basic shape and lines of its predecessor. It was still available as a three-door hatchback and four-door sedan. It was the first Accord built in Honda’s plant from Marysville, Ohio.

Inside, the carmaker considered that the dashboard had to take minimum space from the driver’s view and placed it low, flat from door to door. It provided some storage space in front of the passenger, while the driver got an instrument cluster with a large speedometer and tachometer and two small dials for the fuel level and water temperature. On the center stack, the carmaker provided as an option the Electro Gyrolocator. It was more of a roadmap printed on a thin film projected on a 6” monochrome screen. While it was not that accurate, it could still provide information about the road ahead.

For the four-door version, the carmaker extended the wheelbase and provided more legroom when compared to the first generation of the Accord. Even though there were only seven centimeters (2.8”) more, these made a difference for rear passenger comfort.