Honda Kokoro Video Spotlights 98-Year-Old Honda Dealer Helen Musselman
Way back in March of this year, Honda launched a new video series entitled “Honda Kokoro.” Named after the Japanese word for “heart,” the videos were hosted by Honda Brand Culture Champion Charles, and focused on “the heritage, culture, people and products that make Honda uniquely Honda.”
The first entry focused on a Honda employee and superfan named Lance, who had an impressive (and borderline obsessive) collection of Honda memorabilia.
And then… nothing. For over five months, there hasn’t been another Kokoro video—until now!
Today Honda released this new episode, which focuses on Helen Musselman, who opened one of America’s very first Honda motorcycle dealerships all the way back in 1959.
Take a look:
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Now 98 years old, Helen “Helen On Wheels” Musselman continues to work everyday at the dealership she started with her husband 57 years ago.
Apparently, it wasn’t too hard to open a Honda franchise back in those days—all you had to do was buy two Super Cubs. And if they didn’t sell, Honda was willing to buy them back!
“I ordered them, put them in the inventory, and sold them,” says Helen. “And then pretty soon, we were ordering them by the semi-full.”
Helen and her husband actually got to travel to Japan in 1961, which inspired a great moment of “east meets west,” when one of the American men shocked their Japanese hosts by popping a wheelie.
Helen’s original shop is still open in Tucson, Arizona, and also includes a miniature museum featuring all of the Honda artifacts she has collected over the years. They include some vintage racing bikes, and even some rare power equipment given to Helen by Soichiro Honda himself.
It’s a fun video that Honda fans are sure to enjoy. Hopefully, it doesn’t take five more months for us to get another one!
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