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Recharge Wrap-up: Honda Legend Sport Hybrid launching in Japan; driving cross-country on chicken fat

Honda will begin sales in Japan of the Legend Sport Hybrid SH-AWD in January. The Legend is Japan's answer to the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid sold in the US. Up front, the new flagship sedan uses a 3.5-liter V6 with cylinder deactivation and a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission with integrated electric motor. In the rear, a dual electric motor unit supplies power to the wheels. The three electric motors are also used for generating electricity during deceleration. The car has three drive modes, including EV Drive, Hybrid Drive and Engine Drive. The result is a fuel economy rating of 40 mpg, according to the JC08 cycle. Read more at Green Car Congress or in Honda's press release below. While Jay Leno explains how marketing early electric cars toward women caused them to lose out to internal combustion, the same can't be said about the current era of EVs. Leno says that early EVs, like Leno's beloved Baker, appealed to women because they were quiet, clean, and didn't require cranking to start them. This led to accessorization marketed toward women, causing men - who had more buying power than women at the time - to shy away from EVs. This time around, though, EVs target a broader audience in a different culture from the early 20th century. See Leno explain the early EV culture while driving his Baker Electric in the video below and read more at Hybrid Cars. GKN's two-speed eAxle allows EVs to make the most of both acceleration and top speed. Single-speed transmissions must sacrifice top speed for acceleration, or vice versa. In addition to improving performance at all speeds and increasing range, the GKN's eAxle also performs well in terms of NVH, providing seamless shifts and low gear noise. In order to package the eAxle in the BMW i8, the unit is just 12.8 inches by 22.1 inches by 12.3 inches and weighs 60 pounds. Read more at Green Car Congress. An alternative fuels researcher at Middle Tennessee State University will drive a truck powered by chicken fat biodiesel across the country. Professor Cliff Ricketts is driving a converted 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup from Key West, FL to Seattle, WA to demonstrate the viability of chicken fat as a fuel. Ricketts admits, though, that the truck's exhaust stack is loud and smells like French fries. Read more at Domestic Fuel. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

eBay Find of the Day: Why this motorcycle's a deal at $135k

There can be no doubt that Soichiro Honda left a lasting legacy by lending his engineering talents to the company that bears his name. This can be said particularly of motorcycles, and the company outdid itself when it introduced the 1969 CB750. Widely considered the world's first superbike, it combined a then-powerful 67-horsepower, 736cc, inline four-cylinder engine and cutting edge tech for motorcycles at the time like an electric start and front disc brake. It is simply one of the most important motorcycles ever made, and now one of four handmade prototypes is up for auction on eBay Motors.
According to the seller, Honda had an idea that it had something special with the CB750 and built four preproduction models to be shown off to American media in 1968. Each one was hand-built by Honda technicians from bespoke components, and this blue/green model was photographed by magazines and for promotional material at the time. The seller believes that one of the four prototypes was destroyed, one is in Europe and one is unknown, which means this may be the only chance for collectors to get their hands on one.
The bike has prompted quite a bidding war with 97 bids registered as of this writing. With about seven hours left to go in the auction, the top big currently sits at $135,300. At this rate, things could get very exciting at the end. Although to own a prototype for the first super bike, it might be worth it.

Is the Acura Legend coming back?

Great news for fans of the Acura Legend: Honda has applied for a trademark in Europe for the word "Legend," pertaining to "Vehicles; Apparatus for locomotion by land; Apparatus for locomotion by air; Apparatus for locomotion by water; Parts and fittings for land vehicles; Parts and fittings for air and space vehicles; Parts and fittings for water vehicles." This trademark was first spotted by AutoGuide.com, and gives more credence to our speculation from a couple months ago about the possibility of the Legend nameplate returning to the Acura lineup in the States. If you were reading closely before, you'll notice that it was actually Honda that applied for the trademark, not Acura. The Legend was sold with a Honda badge on it in Europe back in the day, so this trademark filing in Europe makes perfect sense. In our previous report, we put forth the idea that Acura could bring the Legend name back with a successor to the RLX flagship sedan. Specifically, we were thinking that Acura would use the four-door coupe form previewed by the Acura Precision concept. That story also suggested a new Legend flagship could debut during Monterey Car Week. The 1986 Legend sedan was one of Acura's first two vehicles when the brand launched (the other being the Integra). It had a smooth 2.5-liter V6 that made all of 151 horsepower at the time. A sweet-looking coupe soon followed the sedan. The name Legend would be applied to a second-generation, which is arguably the one best-remembered. The coupe in particular has lived up to its name. Much of that legendary status, though, is the result of what followed: the Legend name and coupe body style dying for 1996 in favor of the RL, a four-door sedan as bland as its name. Acura's flagship has never recovered. We'll be quite pleased if Acura ultimately decides to reveal a totally new Legend to blow us away in Monterey. The return to actual names for the lineup would also be lovely. It's certainly working for Lincoln. Now if they'd only trademark "Integra" ...