A sedan that ushered in new entrants to the luxury executive sedan segment, a sedan that was way ahead of its time, and a sedan owned by a respected musician. What is that sedan? The Acura Legend. I will try to convince you as to why the Legend is so special and why it deserves the love and recognition for what it offered to the individual consumer.

Let me give you a quick rundown on the history of the Acura Legend, it came into existence in 1986 alongside its affordable sibling the Integra. It was created to tackle the American market and possess a sizable market share on the mid-size luxury sedan market, taking on Euro giants like BMW, Audi, Jaguar etc. It either came in 2-door coupe or a 4-door sedan variant. The drivetrain is front-engine, front-wheel-drive, and lastly it came in either manual or automatic transmission.

The Acura Legend had a pretty short lifespan of just 9 years (1986-1995), however the Legend nameplate was also available outside the U.S as the Honda Legend at the European, Australian and East Asian markets such as China and Japan. The Honda Legend existed for a substantial amount of time, from 1985 till the present day.

To avoid confusion I’ll be only talking about the 1st generation (1986-1995) Legend since it is the most significant model for the Acura brand.

1. First and Foremost

The Acura Legend alongside the entry level Integra were the first models that introduced the brand Acura to the U.S and Canadian car market as a luxury division for Honda in 1986. It appeared at the right time during the golden era of Japanese car manufacturers. One thing people didn’t realize is that it was the first Japanese luxury executive sedan to be exported, 3 years before the Lexus LS400 (May 1989) and Infinity Q45 (August 1989) respectively. Sure the LS400 made a much bigger impact than the Legend, but still being 1st is all that matters.

Also the Legend was the first to Honda/Acura product to have a V6 engine as well as the first Acura to have a driver side airbag (standard on all models from 1989).

2. Performance was in its DNA.

Here’s the kicker, the engine codenamed C32A1 Was used in the spectacular NA1 and NA2 Honda NSX also codenamed C30A and C32B respectively. The key differences between these 2 engines were the use of DOHC as well as VTEC on the NSX which extracted more power.

Also besides the engine, it did have other components that made it performance oriented like its more exotic sibling, double wishbone suspension on all sides and disc brakes on each wheels. It goes to show Honda’s/Acura’s level of dedication on offering the absolute driver enjoyment at the time. The end result was achieving the coveted “Motortrend Import car of the award 1987″.

3. Bulletproof reliability

It’s no secret that Acura is a luxury division from the parent company Honda, so it’s highly likely that it follows the same stringent quality control measures. This resulted on the reputation of bulletproof reliability consumers associated Honda for.

One special example we can pinpoint is one owner from a Hemmings article:

He bought the car when it had a measly mileage of 95 000 miles/152 888KM. He religiously took care of it, making sure every service is up to order, he had a lot of adventures with the car, most of it good some of it bad. He racked up a lot distance with the car to a point nearing the 500 000 miles/804672KM. To celebrate the huge milestone he communicated with other Honda owners within the community about reaching the magical number and selected the perfect date for it, word had spread out quickly. It reached the sales execs from a local Acura dealership and they took this opportunity as a form of marketing strategy. Once that special day had arrived they celebrated the owner’s achievement by gifting the owner with the new Acura ILX.

4. Star Power

A handful number of people knew that the Acura Legend was a vehicle of choice for the respected rapper Ludacris. It was his only vehicle when he was still trying to make a name for himself in the music industry, to him the car had sentimental value because it drove him to gigs which lead him to become a superstar.

I always had a strong love for this luxury sedan, so much so that I sometimes fantasize about listening to 90s R&B while driving on a long stretch of highway.

Umm before we get carried away, I want to emphasise that despite its merits, it was just a footnote on the legacy of Honda/Acura. It wasn’t revolutionary as its counterpart the LS400, also Acura/Honda didn’t invest a ton of R&D money to improve it due to the energy vested on the hallowed NSX, and thus it lacked variety and had difficulty justifying its price-tag as compared to its competitors. Does it make it less special? In my opinion no, the reasons mentioned above would convince you otherwise.