Hello and welcome to This Day, a history show from Radiotopia. My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, it's the start of November, 1982, 8.30 a.m. on November 2nd, Honda's first American-built car rolls off the assembly line at a plant in Marysville, Ohio.

Here we have a Japanese car from a Japanese company being built in the United States for U.S. consumers.

In retrospect, this was a really massive moment, both in nuts and bolts and symbolically.

We've talked a lot about the automaker battles between the U.S. and

Japan that peaked going into the 1980s. And in many ways, those battles are at the heart of this

huge and lingering debate and questions about the state of American manufacturing. But when you

read the reports of this day, it is really interesting. As this first car rolls off the assembly

line,

it feels like everyone was kind of just like not trying to talk about it too much. There's no ribbon cutting, no local politicians there to Gladhand, not a ton of fanfare. Maybe I'm reading

into it too much, but the color of that Honda Accord was a very boring slate gray. You know,

if you really wanted to make a big deal out of it, you probably would have made that car red or

blue or something. But I think everyone was trying to keep it a little low key, which is a very

interesting dynamic. And we are going to discuss that how we got to the point where Japanese cars

were being constructed in America and the many efforts to balance free trade,

globalization, and protect American manufacturing starting in the 80s and, of course, still

resonating today.

Here, as always, Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there.

Hello, Jody.

Hi there.

Can you picture a 1982 Honda Accord? Yes. Just imagine a box. Yes, I can. On wheels. A slate gray

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