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Gary Louise Lee
Gary & Louise Lee Gary & Louise Lee have been in business together for over 30 years. They operate Advantage Customs at 6400 N Broadway, one of the leading auto and truck accessories businesses in the Midwest. They are most knowledgeable in all areas including Truck Tops and lids, pickup bed covers, tonneau covers and just about every accessory item manufactured for your car or truck. They custom build "flatbeds" for pickups for farm and ranch uses. Gary and Louise are also heavily involved in "tractor pulls" all around the area, and have won a number of events. You can reach them at (316) 744-0454 , or email them at garanwisey@aol.co
Cars, Trucks, Vans & Automotive
2003-08-01 11:28:00
The history of Honda
ANSWER: Honda     started with a young man named Soichiro Honda.  He got his first job at a Tokyo auto repair shop in 1922 after only eight years of schooling.  As a 15-year-old boy from a small town, he was glad to see as many as 10 cars on a busy day.  He was hired as a Mechanic Assistant, but his job turned out to be a "baby-sitter" for the owner's young children.  Honda had dreams of being an expert auto mechanic, and he never got that chance.  Being frustrated, he packed his bags, quit his job, and left the big city.  When the shop needed help 6 months later, they called Honda back to assist with auto repair, finally giving him the opportunity he was looking for.  Then an earthquake flattened Tokyo, sending all the repair shop mechanics back home, except for Honda and a senior mechanic.  This proved to be an excellent opportunity to receive thorough one-on-one training.  To Honda's fortune, the owner of the auto repair shop loved auto racing, and encouraged Honda to use his free time at night to build race cars.  So he did, using an old 8.0 liter V8 fighter airplane engine to power his car.  The car had a maximum 100hp @ 1,400 rpm and wooden spoke wheels.   Honda would continue to experiment with various designs and concepts.  He would test these ideas every chance he had at the local racetrack.  These included tilting the engine for better weight distribution in oval tracks, supercharging, heat conducting metals to dissipate heat from the engine, and he was the first to add an auxiliary radiator to improve cooling.  The result was an engine that did not blow up in a race.  Remember this was still the 1920’s.  In Honda's first race in Japan in July 1936, he led with an incredible speed of 75mph only to tangle with another car near the final lap and crashed.  Honda was thrown from the car, his face crushed, left shoulder dislocated, and both wrists broken.  Although Honda did not win, he was given a trophy for setting the average speed record (75mph) in Japan.  A record unbroken until 10 years after World War II.   Next time we will talk about the first company Soichiro Honda built called Tokai Seiki Heavy Industry (TSHI).  It was a manufacturer of piston rings.
 
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