A Closer Look At Your Favourite Honda Concept Vehicle: The 1997 Honda J-VX

Last month we took a look at some of Honda’s most creative concept vehicles and asked you to vote for your favourite car that didn’t quite make the cut. You cast your ballots, we tallied the votes, and one concept vehicle emerged as the clear frontrunner . . .  the 1997 Honda J-VX.

The Honda J-VX concept made it’s official debut almost a quarter of a century ago in the fall of 1997 at the Tokyo Motor Show. This hybrid sports coupe featured an all-glass roof, aerodynamic design, and used lightweight materials to capture Honda’s vision of a sporty, fun to drive vehicle combined with environmentally friendly technology. The J-VX also showcased two major firsts for Honda: it was the first vehicle to use Honda’s novel hybrid power-train system, and the first vehicle to include their “Air-Belt” safety restraint system.

Let’s start with Honda’s original take on hybrid tech. Officially dubbed Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Honda’s (at the time) relatively new technology featured a parallel hybrid system that drew energy from the braking process, using an ultracapacitor for quick charging and discharging of energy, almost like an electronic turbo system. This was paired with an extremely compact electric motor used to assist the J-VX’s 1.0 litre, 3-cylinder VTEC engine, along with Honda’s newly developed direct fuel injection system to make the whole process super-efficient. 

Now we’re going to take a moment to talk about the J-VX’s “Air-Belt” restraint system. In a car with a full-glass roof and scissor doors, the seatbelts are probably the last thing you’re focused on. But this innovative safety system deserves some recognition. The “Air-Belt” consisted of a four-point safety harness with inflatable shoulder and chest straps that would softly restrain passengers while protecting them from injuries caused by traditional seatbelts, working in concert with the J-VX’s airbag system for simultaneous deployment. 

Although the Honda J-VX never reached the mass-production stage, its cutting edge technology paved the way for the Honda VV, which would eventually become the first Honda Insight, released in 1999. At a time when most auto manufacturers were focused on making everything bigger and better, the J-VX demonstrated Honda’s ability to stay ahead of the curve. It featured a downsized engine when everyone else was still focused on supersizing, and was a pioneer of the environmentally-friendly technology flooding the automotive market today.