The introduction of the Accord in June of 1976 – gasoline at $0.59 – a gallon – was a gamble from what was essentially a motorcycle company. The bet on a small three-door hatchback paid off big-time.

Accord was the first Honda model and first vehicle from a Japanese automaker to be manufactured in America and has been in continuous production there for almost 34 years, since the start of Honda’s U.S. automobile manufacturing at the company’s Marysville, Ohio auto plant on 1 November 1982. Now 40 years after its introduction, more U.S. car buyers selected any other car during this time with 12.7 million Accord models sold.