James Dodds’ 1999 Honda Accord Super Tourer is the ultimate alternative track toy. With such an enormous following, you’d be mad not to snap one up should the opportunity to do so present itself. Originally piloted by James Thompson in the 1999 BTCC season, chassis #3 has had a colourful life. After its first racing life the Honda competed in european hillclimb championships before, in 2013, it came to be in James’s quite capable hands. After a bit of testing and tinkering with suspension and gearing, car and driver got back on track in the Super Touring series.
The driving position in Honda Accord Super Tourer #3 is centralised and back into the car. James follows: ‘You’re sat basically where the A-pillar is. It’s really quite weird!’ So what’s it like to drive? ‘It’s spiky for the novice, but invariably comes good for the driver that’s taken the time to learn it,’ adds James. The 74th Members’ Meeting is serving as a shakedown session for the pair and a nice day out and any opportunity people get to see these high-tech, highly-strung weapons in motion is one that should be savoured.
James feels passionately about having them out and driving them, as that’s half the fun for the owner and a delight for everyone else to see. He was also particularly pleased about being able to run the Accord with its loudest exhaust, which was an aural treat for all. James proceeded to highlight that a Super Tourer is undeniably a special item in its own right, being compltely bespoke. ‘What I love about it is you can’t get any fakers. They were built in limited numbers and they’ve got their chassis numbers and they’re hideously expensive to build. So no one’s gonna make one!’
Photography by Pete Summers, Tom Shaxson and Drew Gibson
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