When you think about it, the world revolves around preconceptions and physical appearance. This can be recognised in any walk of life or situation. In sport for example, a football team from a lower division won't beat a team flying high in the Premiership - Barnsley verses Chelsea should only see the Londoners win. A model is a far better relationship option than Emily from the kebab shop because she's far prettier and a tailored suit makes you a far better employee than the man wearing a buy one get one half price offering from a supermarket. A used Honda Accord makes you a person who drives it to the post office to collect their weekly pension. 

These of course are common misconceptions which are so shallow that an ice cube would touch the bottom. Football always throws up surprises and only last season Barnsley deservedly beat Chelsea in the FA Cup. As for the model she'd more than likely be an egotistical nightmare, spending days in the bathroom, whereas Emily may work in the kebab shop but shares a passion for the music you love. As for the man in the tailored suit, if he'd spent less time posturing and more time working he'd still be employed.

Honda is one such preconception - in particular the Accord and the age issue.  It's easy to see why Honda has developed this reputation - they're their own worst enemies. By producing cars with conservative styling that drive pleasantly and crucially are reasonable to run and never go wrong, they automatically appealed to the generation that don't like anything overblown, expensive or in danger of being unreliable - the older generation. 

I remember my dad buying a Used Honda and being so excited as I sat in a brand new car for the first time. I also remember the leather seats, air conditioning and pearlescent green paint that seemed to change to unimaginable colours. My joy was short-lived however when I was being driven from the showroom to my grandparents (spot the irony). There were more grey-haired individuals on that short journey than I'd seen in my entire life and they were nearly all driving Hondas. 

It was the turn of the millennium when Honda seemed to decide that enough was enough and they'd attempt the seemingly impossible - retain their existing customer base whilst appealing to the younger generations. Before you knew it, stylish adverts were in every glossy magazine and on the TV between your favourite soap operas. Highlights included the 'change something' commercial which featured cutesy cartoon rabbits smashing a diesel spewing engine to death before embracing Honda's new environmentally friendly replacement. Another for the Jazz encouraged us to be more laid back and to allow others to jump lanes in a traffic jam, thus leaving our route clear.

The greatest visual fest however was the advert for the Used Honda Accord that made myself and the rest of the world sit up and take notice. The individual pieces of the Accord were laid out on a warehouse floor and in one take, Honda unlocked a fully-built Accord using a crazy domino rally where the dominoes were individual Accord parts that triggered another part to do something until eventually a key fob was clicked. With a cog hitting another cog, then wheels rolling to trigger a fan to turn on which then started the windscreen wipers, the result was simply fascinating. 

Of course all this visual brilliance means nothing if the car itself is rubbish. Thankfully Honda didn't let the side down with the Accord. The Accord is well built and although not as radically styled as the new Civic, has an air of elegance about its person without being too old fashioned. In a marketplace containing BMW and Mercedes Benz this is much needed. The Japanese, famous for seeing what the Europeans do and then improving upon it, built a replica of a section of the famed Nurburgring racing circuit in Germany and fine tuned the Accord's handling so it has the agility of a sporty hatchback whilst retaining the refinement of the four door saloon it is. 

The car is available with either a 2.0 litre or 2.4 litre i-VTEC engine, developing either 155bhp or 190bhp respectively. Both derivatives move the Accord easily and really aren't the be all and end all of a luxury car like this. And it is a luxury car now, with the Accord not only competing with the Germans, but also stepping up to replace the company's Legend model meaning it covers both family saloon and executive markets.