The Honda Super Cub: How a 1958 Step-Through Went Global
The Honda Super Cub went on sale in August 1958 with a 49cc engine and a clutchless gearbox. Honda's own figures show how it grew into the most-produced vehicle ever.
In this article
The Honda Super Cub is a small step-through motorcycle that went on sale in Japan in August 1958 and became one of the most widely built vehicles in history. Honda's own records put its production past 60 million by April 2008, and Wikipedia reports it passed 100 million in 2017. This article follows its design, its first years and its growth, using Honda's published timeline for the dates.
Where the idea came from
According to Wikipedia, the idea dates to 1956, when Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa, who ran the sales side of the company, saw how popular mopeds were in Germany. Honda led the engineering, and Fujisawa pushed for a machine that ordinary people could use every day. The result was the C100, which Honda's newsroom says began sales in August 1958.
What made the C100 different
- Engine: 49cc, air-cooled, four-stroke, single cylinder, with overhead valves, giving 4.5 horsepower
- Gearbox: three speeds, changed with a foot lever, with a centrifugal clutch so there is no clutch lever
- Frame: a pressed-steel step-through design with a plastic leg shield and cover over the engine
- Fuel: a low compression ratio that, Wikipedia says, let it run on cheap low-octane fuel
The centrifugal clutch connects the engine to the wheel automatically as engine speed rises, so a rider needs only to twist the throttle and tap the gear pedal. The step-through frame meant riders in everyday clothes, including skirts, could get on easily. Wikipedia describes it as reportedly the first motorcycle to use a plastic fairing, and gives a top speed of roughly 69 km/h.
A slow start
Early sales were not instant. Wikipedia says they were slow at first because of a recession in Japan and that complaints about the clutch followed; Honda staff visited customers to repair affected bikes. Sources also differ on early sales numbers, so this article does not quote one.
Spreading abroad
Honda's newsroom timeline records that exports to the United States began in 1959. Production outside Japan started in Taiwan in 1961, the same year the series reached 1 million units. Later totals in the same source:
- 5 million in 1967
- 10 million in 1974
- 20 million in 1992
- 50 million in 2005
- 60 million in April 2008
Honda says the Cub series is now built at 16 plants in 15 countries and that the Super Cub has been sold in more than 160 countries, a figure based on its own data. The C65 of 1964 introduced an overhead-camshaft engine. A 1983 model reached 180 km per litre in a 30 km/h constant-speed test, according to Honda's own testing. Production at home moved to the Kumamoto factory in 1991.
The 100 million mark
Wikipedia, citing Honda, reports that cumulative production reached 100 million units in 2017, with the milestone unit built at the Ōzu plant in Kumamoto, and calls the Super Cub the most-produced motor vehicle in history. That counts the whole Cub series, not only the original C100, so it should not be read as a count of one model.
The step-through idea in practice
Most motorcycles of the 1950s asked a rider to manage a clutch lever, a gear pedal and a throttle at once, and to swing a leg over a tank or seat. The Super Cub removed those hurdles. The engine sat low and was covered, so clothes stayed clean, and the leg shield kept mud and wind off the rider. For delivery work, shops and families on narrow streets, that mattered as much as speed. These choices explain much of why the design found buyers in markets with very different roads and incomes.
Honda's later records show the design was refined rather than replaced. The 1964 C65 gained an overhead-camshaft engine, and the fuel-economy test result of 180 km per litre in 1983 shows how far the engine's efficiency was pushed over the following two decades. Both facts come from Honda's own newsroom timeline.
Why it matters
The Super Cub shows how a simple design built for daily use can scale across very different markets. Its low-cost fuel tolerance, automatic clutch and easy frame made it usable by people who had never ridden a motorcycle. Facts here were last checked on the date shown below.
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