Seiko are paying tribute to the 1980s with the introduction of the new Seiko 5 Sports x Honda Motocompo Limited Edition, an 8,000 piece limited edition at £340. The late 70s and early 1980s were a wild time for design across multiple disciplines. In watchmaking Gerald Genta was revolutionising the steel sports watch while in automobiles brands like Honda were reimagining transport for the future – especially with the boom of modern city life. The Motocompo was a tiny 2.5 horsepower scooter sold in the first half of the 1980s designed to fit in the boot of the Honda City and sold exclusively as a factory add-on for Honda cars. The Motocompo therefore holds the record for being the smallest scooter Honda have ever produced and the first car + scooter combo on the market.
Getting hands-on with the watch, you can immediately feel the Japanese retro-futurist charm. The dial is presented in daisy yellow with a black stripe across its centre – a recreation of one of the three colour schemes the Motocompo was produced in. It’s co-branded both Seiko and Honda with the 6 o’clock inscription ‘Automatic’ rendered in the original Motocompo typeface, which is also seen on the fabric strap.
The strap also bears the inscription ‘Carrying Point’ on one of its keepers and ‘Insertion Point’ on the end of its tail. Both of these are based on markings that can be found on the original Motocompo, giving the owner instructions on how to load and unload the scooter from the boot of their car. Sadly, while the Honda City car was a commercial success, the Motocompo itself fell short of projections and only around 53,000 were made, which is why it has become a rare collectible today.
On the wrist, it’s quite a small watch at 36.4mm x 12.5mm. However, that’s entirely thematic to tie in with the compact proportions of the Motocompo, which in its folded-away form only measured 46.7” x 9.4” x 21.3”. The watch’s case is made from steel with a black coating that helps the yellow dial to pop nicely. It also has a 100m water resistance rating as part of the 5 Sports Field range, ensuring that it can tackle the challenges of daily life.
Turning the Seiko 5 Sports x Honda Motocompo over doesn’t immediately reveal anything because it’s fitted with a NATO strap that loops across its back. However, beneath that is a translucent red exhibition caseback adorned with a picture of the Motocompo in its folded configuration. The movement that’s visible is the 4R36, one of Seiko’s workhorse calibres with a 41-hour power reserve.
The caseback also features an inscription marking it as a limited edition out of 8,000 pieces. That might seem like a lot compared to most limited editions, but considering Seiko’s global appeal and the watch’s £340 price tag, it’s really not that many. In some regards it’s a spiritual successor to the Datsun special edition from 2025 but presented in the 5 Sports series rather than Prospex. Personally, I think that Seiko collaborations with fellow Japanese legends like Honda and Nissan will always be winners – a match made in quirky, Japanese design heaven.
Price and Specs:
More details at Seiko.
