1979 Honda Odyssey FL250 Christmas Edition
 

I have found a couple of references online to a 1979 Honda Odyssey FL250 Christmas Edition. Supposedly very rare/collectible/expensive, only 250 ever made. Blue front bumper and roll bar, white fenders and rims, and a black tub. Is anyone familiar with these and how to determine authenticity? Thanks!

Yes, it exists
 

I can confirm that the Odysseys did have a Christmas Edition. I worked in the factory where the Odysseys were made, and I was the one who painted the footwells of the Odysseys for the Christmas Edition. I got my hands on 22 of them before I realized I had not completely finished. I had not painted the underneath of them, leaving them yellow, because I had thought that some one else was hired to paint the underneath of the footwells. but I was supposed to paint both sides. But, I surprisingly did not get fired. I had just been hired for this very edition. So, if you have yellow underneath the footwells, it's a sure sign that it is real. My co-worker had been welding together the roll bars, and I had painted those too, but he was an amateur welder, so he had to grind down the welds a bit after, so it's normal that it doesn't look professionally welded. I ran out of primer when painting 14 roll bars so if the roll bar doesn't seem professionally painted, then that would be amazing for you to get your hands on one of them. If you do not have those two features, then, I don't know what to tell you, but I'm sure that it could be real if it had that paint job. White rims, blue roll bar, blue front bumper, black frame and footwells, and white fenders. Just as you described.

Shocked and happy
 

Wow! Thank you, you made my day! You also left me in a kind of shock. I really appreciate it! :-)

I was just telling my son last night that the roll bar was probably not original because the welds look kind of large and have been ground down, and the paint is not smooth and glossy like it is on the front bumper. The footwell on mine is painted black but there is some yellow coming through in spots where the paint has worn/chipped.

Another thing I have noticed on the roll bar is that the two bars that come up on an angle from the rear of the frame are welded to the vertical section on that same angle. The pictures I have seen of other 1979 Odyssey's show the rear bars are curved near the top so that where they join into the top of vertical section they are almost perpendicular to it. I will try to post some pics tonight after work. Does that sound like it could be original to you, or maybe not? If you can share any more info on the factory where you worked or point me to additional sources of information I would be very grateful. Thank you again!

Here is the roll bar - you can see the welds have been ground down and the paint is kinda rough compared to the front bumper paint job. It's dark, so the pictures aren't great due to the camera flash...
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...f148cb7997.jpg
You can see here what I mean about the rear bars being welded directly on an angle instead of curving at the top. Do you know anything about that? Is it legit or do you think someone altered it?
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...360f3ea3ca.jpg

Front bumper and white rims
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...90f43e41c6.jpg
Top of the foot well, some yellow shows though

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...9015fb6741.jpg
Underside of the footwell
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...d79f78bc22.jpg

More information.
 

The Honda manufacturing plant for the Odysseys used to be in Tokyo, but they had torn it down after they stopped making the Odysseys. And I forgot to mention, the roll bar was redesigned just for this edition, so the rear 2 bars are angled to connect below the top of the front 2 bars. So the front 2 bars are higher than the rear ones. Honda wanted us to create this design, so that would. Be a factor that makes them stand out, so they would not be easy to fake. If you had the regular roll bar, then it is a fake. After I was let go from the old facility, I jumped over to the 250x factory, and then eventually worked my way over to the states, where the new Honda atvs are made in Timmonsville.

Yes, that is real!
 

I am amazed, because your one has both the one of 14 roll bars, and one of 22 footwells! There was only 3 that had the 2 parts put on the same machines! Usually, the rest had one or the other, but Honda only released 3 that have both on the machine. Who knows, you might have one of two machines as maybe one of them could be gone now (wrecked, scrapped, or forgotten) You had one hell of a lucky day the day you had bought this one as it seems like you didn't buy it knowing it was a Christmas Edition. What did you pay for it? If it's less than 30k, then you have had quite the amazing deal. I sold one exactly like it after I moved from Japan, and I got the equivalent of 42k USD from it and that was many years ago! Who knows what it's worth now... Yes, I was given one of the 3 of them for a very cheap price as Honda saw it as a defect, but all it did was increase the value massively. I wish good luck in finding a buyer, if that's what you plan on doing with it. I had seen these pictures you sent after I sent my previous reply, so I can confirm the legitimacy of your model. In the condition of it, you machine seems like it could value around $35k or so. That is, assuming it runs and drives.

Wow, that is very exciting - thank you for all of the details! I'm still in amazement. My teenage son is kind of enamored with buying/trading/selling stuff. He saved up $150 and bought a go kart. Made some repairs and sold it for $200. Then bought a tote-goat mini-bike and traded it along with $125 for this Odyssey. It's runs pretty good but - I haven't driven it much or done much with it. It would die sometimes when idling like it wasn't getting gas or the idle was too low - but it would start up again no problem, I just had to get out and pull start it. :-) I had considered mounting a new gas tank high on on the roll bar for gravity feed and bypassing the fuel pump. Glad I didn't mess around with it now! I did replace a couple of the engine mounts. He almost traded it for an old motorcycle - wow, glad that fell through! I think now I'll see if I can find a buyer. I'm amazed that I am actually talking to a person who worked on this actual machine and knows all about them! My mind is blown and I'm so happy for my son - he really got lucky and I told him last night he has a good chance of getting some real college money out of this.

Dang.
 

If you want to get rid of it, try to trade it in for a new nice vehicle. Most dealers should be considered as atv dealers will find this irresistible. Take it to a local dealer to see if you can trade it in for a few quads, maybe a side by side or 2

Good to hear from someone who has actually worked in a factory. I have (Trucks and Buses) and it always gets me how "experts" assume that a vehicle that has non standard parts for that model, has been altered, so is "non-original." In my experience, it could be that the factory had run out of the "right" part, and fitted something from another model that fits, or they were using up stocks of obsolete parts, or whoever was fitting the part on the line, didn't know which part was correct.

"Experts" may deny you, but true ones won't.
 

Yeah, some people claiming to be experts may say stuff like "There is no way it could be worth more than 2500". But I feel like they probably have no comprehension of how rarity of vehicles work. It's like saying the ferrari 250GTO has no possible way of being worth 30+ million, but guess what? Only 37? Of them were made, so they are worth that much only for that reason.