Special Kei: Kim Wong’s Ground Breaking DFW Honda Beat

When I first approached Kim Wong to write an article about his Honda Beat, I had no idea how much information, significance and fun was packed into this tiny super car. But as the saying goes, good things come in small packages. There's a lot to unpack here, but first, a bit of background.

I met Kim at a Miata meet about a year or so ago when he parked his green NB Miata next to mine. I was new to the Yata scene having just purchased my car in late 2021 and I'd always heard amazing things about the MX-5 community. So talking to this fellow MX-5 enthusiast (and others) was a real treat. We exchanged IG information and stayed in contact with one another through liking posts and the odd comment here and there. One really cool thing I noticed from his account was this really badass looking yellow kei car of his.

Having been stationed in Okinawa Japan when I was a Marine, the concept of kei cars was familiar to me. But I'd never spent much time with one. I was busy marveling at all of the other cult classic cars we couldn't get in the US like Lancers and GTRs. That said, the idea of kei cars still fascinated me.

Back to present-ish times. At the time I was checking out Kim's yellow mid engined car, Caffeine GT's primary focus was selling car related apparel. This was great and all, but it wasn't providing the certain "I don't know what" I wanted from a business/passion project. When I turned Caffeine GT into a magazine focusing on cool folks I was meeting in the DFW area and their cars, I knew this particular kei car was high on the feature list. So I reached out to Kim to see if he'd like to participate in an interview and his answer was yes. Needless to say, I was stoked. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, maybe I'll even get to drive it. But I suppressed that thought because that's not the point of my interviews.

There are so many other great car reviewers that can say how multi link suspension feels awesome to drive and how this model year Mercedes is a slight technical departure from the last one and it's a let down because of 'insert well reasoned argument here'. My car review style is a bit more "cave man." This car good. That car bad. I like the vroom vroom sound and what not. But I digress. I'm sure one day, I'll look back on my car review articles and ask myself what was up with all of the rando tangents, but that's for future me to deal with.

Let's talk about the experience of seeing this car up close for the first time. I was sitting at The Shop Club Dallas having a bit of breakfast as I waited for Kim to arrive. My eyes kept darting outside at the parking lot between bites waiting for Kim and the car to arrive and when it did, I was just as excited to see it as if I were getting ready to review a Ferrari. Maybe even more so because I'd seen way less of these cars in my life. Finally, I was getting ready to get up close and very personal with this one.

I'm going to do my best to walk you through my thoughts as I approached the car. Think stream of consciousness ... or something. First thought was, "Holy crap, I didn't know Honda had put this much craftsmanship into the Beat. Look at this suede! Oh my gosh, it's superb. It's got little Honda emblems on the door pulls. Look at this paint. It's as deep and shiny as my F-Type R." I was shaking my head in disbelief internally at just how well done this little car was. I knew there were some mods, but to my eye, it looked mostly like some really nice factory trim level. Maybe like a modern Civic Type R. Also, it seemed there wasn't a single bolt on the car that hadn't been removed, cleaned and lovingly replaced by a senior technician. How well preserved, I thought. It really was that good. Finally, I picked my jaw up off the ground and Kim and I began to talk. Before I get into that part, I will say... although the Beat looked and sounded amazing, I thought it was going to be a looker and not a cooker. At this point, I was still ok with that. It was that special just to look at up close. We'll talk more about the driving experience later. (Yes... I did get to drive it. I am blessed).

More thoughts were... So, what made this car so danged special? Why wasn't it the humdrum sporty econobox I thought I'd have seen when I got close enough? It's because Kim Wong himself, put the "Special" into this kei.

Kim changed this car for the better and this car changed Kim's life for the better in return. After a divorce rocked Kim's world, he was left with a choice. Wallow in the misery of the broken pieces ... or pick them up. Pick them up he did and he did so in phenomenal fashion. Having known about these cars previously, he decided he wanted one for himself. Something Kin wanted and needed to do for Kim. A focal point if you will. He found a standard car, had it imported (that's not easy) and immediately began to imagine what customizations he could and would do to it. I will now attempt to tell you some of the highlights. Actually, first let's talk a few stats.

The Honda Beat was introduced in 1991 along side its bigger brother, the NSX. Honda thought that just because its customers were buying something affordable, didn't mean they should be stuck driving boring. So, they made the Beat, mid engined and sporty. Little did they know, it would be a cultural phenomenon. There are tons of articles and car reviews that go deep into kei car history, so I'll keep it light and talk specifically about this one. I really just want to tell enough to paint a rudimentary technical picture.

Engine: .7L (yes that's a fraction) inline 3 cylinder

Transmission: Manual 5 Speed

Power: 64hp @ 8100 RPM & 44lb-ft @ 7000 RPM

0 to 60: 13.4 seconds (no that's not a typo or a 1/4 mile time)

Top Speed: 83 MPH

Weight: 1,676lbs

Dimensions: Significantly smaller than a Miata. SMALLER THAN A MIATA!

Those low numbers might lead you to believe this is a boring car. Not so fast. Pun mildly intended.

Ok. Now let's talk about Kim's mods. As a disclaimer, Kim has done so much to this car that I'm sure I missed quite a few items. In edition to the 5 standard questions I ask all interviewees, I gain a lot of information from casual conversation durning the shoot. It's just more fun that way.

• The "Midship" stickers on the side intakes were custom made by a friend of his that obtained the right by Honda to recreate them so long as they weren't exactly like the originals

• The yellow paint is OEM Honda... for the NSX. It's called Spa Yellow Pearl and it is brilliant!

• The front bumper was made to order by Halfway Racing in Japan

• The interior plastic panels were repainted during the restoration and all of the suede you see in the interior was custom fitted. Stock material would have been vinyl

• The Honda emblems on the door pulls were custom made by Kozi Lights

• The side skirts, rear valance and wing are aftermarket

• Aftermarket suspension and white Work wheels complete the stance

• The true carbon fiber center console and aftermarket head unit update the interior making it look modern and exotic

• Intake and exhaust were modified to improve sound and performance (specifically, velocity stacks, test pipe and aftermarket exhaust). Engines on this car are remarkably difficult to access, so I pulled images from honda-tech.com and autoevolution.com for reference.

What's even more amazing is that Kim's decision to purchase and show his Honda Beat didn't only change his life, it breathed life into the DFW kei car community. Previously, the community was so anemic that it was nearly non-existent. Now in the DFW area, kei cars are sought after and admired as much as any exotic. When Kim first started out, he constantly got remarks like "Whoah! What is that?" Now he gets "Nice Beat!" Here's the stunner. Kim has only had the car for roughly 2 and a half years. Talk about rapid progress. Through his involvement, the DFW kei car community has found itself the subject of admiration all of the way over in Japan. For instance, they have successfully photographed all three ABC cars (Autozam AZ-1, Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappucinno) together. To put that in perspective, that's the holy trinity of kei cars in the same way the Porsche 918, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LeFerrari were the holy trinity of supercars in the early 2010's. Photographing the ABC cars is such a rare occasion that it is even extremely difficult to achieve in Japan. That's saying something. DFW kei cars were even featured in the popular Japanese enthusiast magazine Best Car.

There is one last thing I must tackle before we move into the famous five CAFFEINE GT DFW GearHead questions ... and that is the drive. In short, driving this car was not at all what I expected. It was astounding. We've all experienced jumping into a sporty looking car only to be underwhelmed behind the wheel. Not so with this Honda Beat. The throttle was snappy and reactive. The exhaust note was deeper at idle than I expected from a 3 cylinder engine in a car with such a short wheelbase. Not only that but as you accelerate the engine climbs in RPM to a raspy (in a good way) crescendo. Audibly, my first instinct was to shift early. Once I fought that tendency, the power plant really came alive relishing in the high above 6,500 RPM powerband. The steering was precise and reminded me of a track built MX-5. The suspension was firm but surprising comfortable. It didn't make the car feel like a tin can or a toy. Above everything else I noticed, one aspect stuck out in a way I wasn't expecting. The second I started to drive the car, I forgot how small it was. It wasn't frightful or anxiety inducing. It just felt like a sports car. I'm amazed at the engineering and attention to detail that went into this car both from Honda and from Kim. While some manufacturers punish their customers for driving cars targeted toward economy, Honda made sure they were enticed. The Honda Beat holds its own in the JDM enthusiast community. Right there with the Z cars, sporty Civics, Skylines and Lancers. It's simply a bit smaller. Think MX-5. But then think smaller.

Like I mentioned before, the facts stated above came from Kim Wong. But let's take a look below at Kim's own words in the CAFFEINE GT Magazine DFW Gear Head interview:

What’s the year make and model of your car?

-1991 Honda Beat PP1

What made you chose to buy this car? Where did you buy it (if you’d like to share that)?

-I had recently gone through a divorce and needed something to cheer me up. I always thought kei cars were cool because they are’t like anything else on the road in the USA.

What’s your end goal with the car (shows, track days etc)?

-I mainly bought it for personal enjoyment. Now it is more of a conversation piece that just makes people smile at car events on the weekends and has become a rather known car in the DFW area. My end goal is to just keep making people smile when they see it.

Do you have any current mods or future mods planned?

The car went through an extensive restoration and is “done” for the most part. I do have plans to install underglow on it to fit the 90’s import tuner look. Also a custom rollbar incase I venture out on track with it next spring.

What’s your favorite thing about driving this car?

-Personally its the convertible top and the noise of the midship wide open ITB’s behind me. The other perk is that it turns heads and makes people smile more than any Ferrari or Lambo out there. Lol!

What’s a random fact about this car that you don’t think many people would know?

I have 3 awesome facts.

-The Honda Beat and the Honda NSX both debuted in 1991 and they were the only mid engine, rear wheel drive, two-seaters that Honda made. Since the Beat was only sold in Japan it became known by the Japanese as the “Mini NSX or Baby NSX”.

-The Beat was designed by Pininfarina.

-The Beat was the last vehicle to be approved by Mr. Sorichio Honda before he passed away.

There will be a behind the scenes video for this shoot. We're going to reshoot due to some technical difficulties.