Born in the USA // Honda's American-Made Acura 2.2CL Is Stylish and Affordable

The 1997 2.2CL luxury coupe from Honda's Acura division, is stylish,roomy and a whopping $17,290 cheaper than its predecessor.

That's good news at a time when many can't afford a new car.How did Acura come up with the lower price? It wasn't done withmirrors.

The new front-drive coupe, which recently went on sale, is basedon Honda's $17,890 Accord coupe. Previous Acura coupe prices startedat $39,400 because the car was derived from the costly Acura Legendsedan. Base prices of the 2.2CL (Contemporary Luxury) are $22,110with the standard five-speed manual transmission and $22,910 with aslick shifting four-speed automatic, which was in the model I tested.The quiet, …