Visit the Honda museum without travelling to Japan

The Honda Collection Hall, is the museum where the Japanese manufacturer displays genuine gems of competition and road cars.

Located near the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, owned by Honda, it opened its doors to the public in 1998, so visitors could explore the great achievements of the brand’s 65 years of history.

Now, thanks to Google, you can visit the museum without going to Japan from your computer, tablet or phone. Google’s Photo Sphere feature in Street View, which turns panoramic photos into 360° views, lets you see the tour that is originally taken when visiting in person.

At the museum entrance, the RC143, the first Honda motorcycle to win a motorcycle GP (the Spanish GP in 1961), the RA271, the first Honda F1 car, and the S500, the first car built by the brand, are three of the gems that welcome you.

The building has three floors. On the first, you can see the Daimler Reitrad, the first motorcycle in history, and the Curtiss Special, a car that Soichiro Honda built at just 18 years old.

On the second floor the theme is varied. Motorcycles, cars and various engines fill its rooms. The Prelude, Civic and NSX are examples of what you can find on this floor, as well as the evolution of the Japanese vehicle and, in particular, of keicars, mini vehicles, which have made a strong comeback in the Japanese market. The Honda NS360 is a vehicle of this kind that went on sale in 1967.

The third floor houses the sporting section. Competition motorcycles and cars, as well as F1 gems such as the legendary McLaren-Honda in which the ill-fated Ayrton Senna raced, fill every space on the top floor of the museum.

There are things such as the interactive sections, which you still cannot enjoy without going to Japan, but everything else is available.

Perhaps some people will not be satisfied with the virtual visit and would rather go to Japan, but for those who do not want to travel so far, the virtual tour is perfect.

Honda thus joins other manufacturers who have chosen to let people visit their museums through new technologies.

Source | Honda