Honda's SSX breaks ground

TOKYO: Honda's new BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster rival, to be known as the SSX, has broken ground in Japan. The company plans to introduce the roadster, believed to be powered by a V5 five- cylinder engine, in mid-1999.

The aluminum-bodied will be combined with some high-tech features from Honda's larger NSX. Derived from the earlier SSM concept car, the two-passenger SSX will be powered by a narrow- angle twin-cam 20-valve V5 engine, similar to the five-cylinder engine introduced recently in the Volkswagen Passat.

Visually, the car looks similar to the concept car. It has a body that mixes the flat-surfaced look of the show car with more curved front and rear ends.