This car is by far one of the finest luxury cars that one could buy in 1991覧it's quite a shame that it was "discontinued" (The Acura RL is pretty much the closest thing to a Legend descendant). Now the Legend that we have was originally purchased in July of 1991 for my mother as a replacement for her previous car(her 21 year old Camero was constantly in the shop with many costly repairs). In addition to that fact, all of the luxury cars at the time were not able to adjust to driver size as well(my mother is 5'1" and had difficulty seeing out of many other cars built at the time). Plus, my father had wanted the car to last quite a while, yet he had also wanted a car that wasn't utilitarian覧I'd have to say that he made the right choice. It's 9 years old and still running like the day it was bought! The 2nd generation Legend came in 3 trim levels: L, LS, and GS(the L is what I have and it is a very luxurious base model!) It came in both 4 door sedan and 2 door coupe. I have a early model year, 1991 Legend L Sedan, and thus the review is based on it specifically.

The car's design is elegant and doesn't seem out of date覧even 9 years after its purchase. Its low-to-the-ground stance, front grill area, and simple, but elegant styling make the car seem almost cat like覧sleek and graceful. No part of the body's well sculpted design seems out of place from the whole of it. Its style is unique and thus the it stands out from the rest of the luxury sedans. Despite the unique style, its looks were not meant to be so distinctly modern that it seems dated a couple of years later, nor is it so classic that it looks dated now. In addition, there were several types of rims available: a 20 standard spoke alloy rim(very classy looking, though later models have something like 16 spoke rims as standard) that comes in one color, a sportier 8 spoke alloy rim, and a 5 spoke alloy rim that comes in 4 or 5 colors(sportier). Also, you can get a sun/moon roof visor which, "allows air to circulate even in incumbent weather". There is also an optional decorative spoiler, but I personally think that it looks better on the coupe model. There is also the option of driving/fog lamps which sit in the car's air-dam(if you don't get the lamps, they have plastic place-holders in their place).

The way car drives is a nice compliment to its looks. The ride is fairly stiff(meaning that you still need to slow to 25 MPH for speed bumps, but you will not feel like you're being slammed into the ground if you go a little fast into/out of a parking lot) for a non-European luxury car and slight to moderate body roll(only really noticeable when going around 90ｰ corners at speeds higher than 25 MPH) isn't too bad considering the size and weight of the vehicle. The Type-II Acura 24 valve SOHC(single over-head cam) V-6 delivers a nice 200 HP with fairly smooth acceleration. The engine literally purrs and is very quiet! The shifting of the 4-speed automatic transmission is a bit harsh at slow speeds(the transition from the idling gear to the 1st real driving gear), but is quite good at anything higher than 20-25 MPH. If you shove the accelerator down HARD(in order to pass another car on the expressway, freeway, or highway), the 4-speed automatic downshifts and the Legend will zip past the other car(engine goes from a barely audible purr to a gentle, yet audible roar). The steering assist adjusts with your speed, thus at higher speeds you're closer to manual steering(and thus have a better feel for the road) and at slower speeds you can make perfect U-turns on 2 lane streets(the car can turn nearly sideways)!

Though the The leather interior is just so comfortable that I've emerged from the car without feeling the need to stretch, even after 3 hours of driving people back and forth. The driver's seat has power adjustment in almost every direction imaginable(there isn't a lumbar adjustment, but the seat is built so well that you don't even miss it). In case you have 2 different people driving the car, there are 2 seat position pre-sets. The steering wheel tilts, which was quite a rare feature on cars back in 1991. The passenger's seat is manual adjustment and adjusts in almost all of the directions. Both seats can be tilted into a nearly horizontal position覧in case you feel the need to nap in the car. The rear seat can accommodate 3 and has plenty of leg room, unless you're over the mid-6' range in height.

The windows are just the right size and the roof pillars are positioned such as to allow for a nearly un-interrupted field of vision! As for safety, the car is made of steel and is designed to absorb shock when in an accident(ie. it's built to buckle at specific locations in order to disperse the force), there is a driver's side airbag(models beyond 1991 have a passenger's side airbag), and a very powerful ABS system(in addition there is good braking power through out the range of brake pedal movement覧meaning that braking starts as soon as you press the brake). I should also mention that the car has incredible traction, there are very few times that make the tires complain (the only times have been going 30 MPH down a fairly steep hill into a semi-hairpin) and I've never felt the car skidding nor have I felt the ABS kick in (usually denoted by the buzzing sensation of the brake pedal) even under hard braking situations in rainy weather.

The basic audio system is quite nice, 8 radio station pre-sets, 7 band graphical equalizer with the ability to customize pre-sets, volume & "pre-set/track skip" controls on the steering wheel. The optional trunk CD-changer is a nice addition to the audio system. The trunk CD-changer uses 6 disc CD magazines for loading it(more than enough music for the average trip).

Other such nice features include: power sun/moon roof(you can slide a cover panel back in order to use it as a "skylight" when the roof is closed), power windows(the driver's side window has an addition feature that rolls the window all the way down with a quick tap of the button), lit driver's side key hole(pull on the door handle and a ring around the hole lights up), security system, extremely large trunk(you can fit a full-sized suitcase it the trunk), and the ability to "manually" shift(moving the shifter to that position limits its speed to that gear) back and forth between "gear" 3 & 4 at any speed with the auto-shifter and up from 1 to 2 & up from 2 to 3 at low speeds.

As for reliability, the car has Honda's usual high standard. The car has been in the shop only for routine oil/brake changes and only recently a 2 minor problems attributed to rock impacts on the underbody: front axle strut "boot" and speed sensor(all that happened was that every so often the speedometer needle would suddenly drop to 0 MPH and then fly up to some improbable speed like 140 MPH, fly around a bit, and then return to normal), the speed sensor problem was one of those uncommon problems that only happens by chance. I do warn that you must follow the manual's recommended fluids; the tolerances of the engine seals are so tight that if you put in the wrong weight oil, it won't reach all areas of the engine and will thus take life off the engine. Also, use only premium gas since it's the cleanest and thus there is less dirt to collect on the tight seals inside of the engine.

What I don't like about the car is the fact that the automatic shifting is a little harsh at low speeds, a minor problem considering all of the good qualities. The gas mileage is only ok also: about 21 MPG for average city driving(though it may be the California anti-smog equipment and the lousy gas with MTBE in it since other people can get 24 MPG city in other states with less strict smog laws). The unfortunate thing about the low air-dam up-front is that when you drive into a parking lot too fast or park the car in a space with the cement "stopper blocks" and pull in too far, you tend to scrape the very bottom a bit覧it's not too noticeable unless it's an extremely high cement "stopper block" or steep lipped parking lot.

Over all, the car is a wonderful machine. It may be too sedate for some and has a few flaws, but consider the fact that it's the first model year of a new body of new genre of cars(the Japanese luxury sedan)覧there were no standards set at the time, thus they set the standard.