Performance, Style, Luxury and Value
Why the Vigor didn't rally North Americans to the midsize Acura camp is a question that is difficult to discern. It was attractive, with styling influenced heavily by Europe's Audi brand, offered desirable features and enviable luxury for its reasonable price while performing better than the majority of cars in its class for the time.
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| The 1992-1994 Vigor didn't rally a large number of consumers to the Acura camp, but a few did find their way into aspiring Honda loyalist's garages. (Photo: Honda) |
Nevertheless, very few Vigors found their way into the garages of aspiring Honda loyalists resulting in a rethink by the Japanese luxury car marque. But rather than completely overhauling the car's fundamentals, the model that followed was hardly revolutionary. What was, however, would be the company's model naming strategy.
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| In 1996 Acura replaced the Vigor with the TL, going with a more simplistic European-style naming system. The rest of the car recieved only minor interior and exterior changes. (Photo: Honda) |
Honda's top-tier marque was changing its image, mirroring itself to European brands that use simplistic numeric systems to differentiate model from model, easier for the non-car-minded to comprehend but not quite as personal.
The TL soldiered on, little more than a Vigor with upgraded sheetmetal, modified front and rear fascias and a reworked interior. Overall the new styling job was attractive, but hardly inspired. Acura had once again taken the safe route, a formula the company is still following, making sure not to offend unless, like some, blandness is the ultimate offense.