Aiming for the Stars
After the War, everything was a shambles, and the situation was not ideal for doing anything. However, despite the unforgiving conditions, Honda rose like a phoenix and, soon, rebuilt his empire. He sold the remains of the old factory to Toyota for a measly ¥450,000, a sum, which helped him start the Honda Technical Research Institute. Being a curious engineer, Honda came across a generator made for the No.6 wireless radio. He put two and two together and fitted that engine on a bicycle and began selling them. Bicycles were the main source of transportation in a war-torn Japan and Soichiro realised this at just the right time. Soon, Honda purchased 500 motors from the famed carburettor makers Mikuni Shoko to fit them on to bicycles and sell them. The engines fitted on these bicycles were modified and bettered by Honda as Soichiro did not want to stain the name of his company. Soon the business was a huge hit and people from other Japanese cities lined up to purchase these powered bicycles.
Soichiro was also a smart entrepreneur and he realised that 500 motors will not last for long. So he employed Kiyoshi Kawashima, the first engineer at the Honda Technical Research Institute to actually hold an engineering degree, to develop a new engine. Kawashima wasn’t paid much but in an economy which was recovering from the aftermath of war, getting work was paramount.
Soon Honda employed a few more engineers, and asked them to develop a new engine which would be produced by the company. The engineers initially suggested copying the old engine, but Soichiro insisted on developing a new engine. After a few failed attempts, he took matters into his own hands and designed – on the shop floor using a chalk – an engine that was way ahead of its time. Honda’s design had a peculiar protrusion on the piston and it had a unique scavenging system that made the engine more fuel-efficient. The protrusion earned the engine its nickname, the “Chimney” engine. However, all attempts to make the engine failed as the technology and materials available at the time were not advanced enough to produce it. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that Honda engineers were able to produce the engine using Soichiro’s design. It worked just as well as predicted by Soichiro back in the 1940s.
After a few failed attempts, he took matters into his own hands and designed – on the shop floor using a chalk – an engine that was way ahead of its time