Honda Legend 06-08

Why do cars fail? Lack of demand is sure to kill off any vehicle, and there is an extensive list of cars that were decent, but never quite hit the mark.

It's hard to believe that when I drove the last version of the Honda Legend offered in the UK in 2006, it wasn't obvious that it would disappear from price lists by the end of the following year.

We all knew it would be a niche car, but, based on the Acura TL which was reasonably popular in North America, somehow we believed that Honda's modest sales aspirations of up to 400 a year would be enough to sustain it in the UK.

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Honda had decided to target owners of small businesses, customers of its marine engines arm and existing Honda owners.

We should have noticed the signs: one engine variant was available - a 295bhp normally aspirated 3.5-litre V6. Unlike almost every other car manufacturer in the so-called E-sector, there would be no diesel version, and unlike Lexus, there would also be no hybrid.

Honda reached no where near the potential 400 units a year it was after in the UK, and a mere 18 months after order books opened the Legend was gone, although some stock would have been registered into 2008.

From this disastrous tale of failed marketing, you might expect the product wasn't really up to scratch.

Well, perhaps it looked a little bland compared to other large saloons, but it was packed with technology, was well equipped for the money and pound-for-pound was one of the most agile saloons on the road.

All versions came with a sophisticated four-wheel drive system, dubbed 'super handling all-wheel drive' by Honda, that varied the amount of torque delivered between each of the rear wheels, as well as between the front and rear axles.

Other car manufacturers, including Audi and Saab, have come up with systems that perform a similar job since the Legend was introduced.

For the driver it meant that when pressing on along twisty roads, clever electronics would work to eliminate understeer, while delivering all the enhanced traction and security of an all-wheel drive system.

Other features that you'd pay extra for on rival products included a sat-nav system that could be activated by voice command, steering wheel-mounted paddles for the auto gearbox (yes, the auto 'box was standard, too), hands-free phone system and automatic xenon headlamps. None of these would have been standard on German executive saloons in 2006.

There was a pedestrian safety system - the bonnet popped up to reduce the risk of serious head injury should anyone crossing the road be unfortunate enough to be hit by the Legend.

And there was an optional safety pack comprising adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and a collision warning/braking system. Adaptive cruise control wasn't uncommon on top end cars by 2006, but alerting the driver of a potential imminent crash and beginning to intervene to avoid the accident was.

Firstly, the Legend would tug on the driver's seatbelt three times to attract his or her attention, and if there was no sign of the driver taking action the car would apply the brakes hard.

The UK media launch took place at Rockingham Motor Speedway, where not only were we allowed to try out the new Legend on a challenging handling circuit, as well as back-to-back comparison with the previous version of the Legend. Honda had secured a 160,000-mile version of its predecessor that still felt as though it had a few good years left in it.

On the track there was no comparison. The new Legend was easily 30mph faster around many of the corners on the handling circuit, and was effortless to drive.

It proved nimble on a cross-country route from the circuit and offered exceptional refinement. Perhaps the best part about the legend was that within a year of its introduction there were used versions for the price of a top-end Accord.

Now there are Legends in the classified ads for the same money as a new Honda Jazz.

Although it might have represented a failure in terms of marketing, the Legend is perhaps one of the best ever products not to have succeeded.