has the cooling air passage in the space where coolant would flow in a water-cooled engine. One fan forced cooling air through the passages, while another fan helped remove the heated air from the engine. Although an all-aluminum engine, this design did increase weight from the usual air-cooled design while benefiting from cross flow cooling. Running gear The car employed rack and pinion steering. At the front it had disc brakes, with drum brakes controlled via a dual-line hydraulic system at the rear. Suspension was independent, employing MacPherson struts at the front and an unusual combination of full-width swing axles and half-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The front suspension was substantially modified after the car's initial presentation: production cars incorporated modified front suspension geometry, a lowered steering ratio and a steering damper, intended to reduce the unusually strong self-centring propensity which was a feature of the pre-production cars originally presented to journalists. The cars as sold also incorporated an updated gear-box and final drive ratios along with re-sized wheels. Legacy The H1300 provided the shock needed to change Honda's operating structure. Under the new system, Honda introduced the water-cooled Life and Civic models as its new mini automobile and small passenger cars. The Civic, which was equipped with a CVCC engine in full compliance with the Japanese government's Air Pollution Control Act, drew the world's attention to Honda's engineering approach. Those involved in the H1300 project agreed unanimously. The pain indeed contributed much to the development of Honda's subsequent, successful future automobile models. Honda 145 In 1972, the 1300 was succeeded by the technically interesting Honda 145, again offered as a sedan or a coupé. The 145's body was little changed from the 1300, but it was powered now by a water-cooled 1,433 cc engine with fuel injection instead of carburetors, the inspiration for the car's name. The market was not impressed by the 145: only 9,736 were produced as the model quickly found itself overshadowed by Honda's new Civic, and the 145 ended production in October 1974. A coupé would not be produced again by Honda until 1978, when the Prelude was introduced. Notes References 1300 Cars introduced in 1969 Front-wheel-drive vehicles Sedans