The first Inspire debuted in 1990 as the Accord Inspire, a sister nameplate to the Honda Vigor, then exported to the US as the Acura Vigor. They were the same car headed for different retail channels in Japan. This Vigor was a departure in itself -- whereas 1980s Vigors were badge-engineered Accords, from this generation on the Vigor moved upmarket and received its own platform, in which the engine sits longitudinally like the Generation II Acura Legend. In Japan there would be four sedans between the Civic and the Legend: the Honda Accord and Honda Ascot with 4-cylinder engines mounted transversely, and the Vigor and Inspire with 5-cylinder engines mounted longitudinallyy.

In 1995 the Inspire and Vigor were replaced. The export version was renamed the Acura TL at this point, while the Vigor nameplate was also replaced by the Vigor. The longitudinal engine layout remained, but a 3.2-liter V6 became available for the first time.

In 1999 these cars were replaced by a new TL that was based on the Accord platform, and largely designed and engineered in the US. Manufactured in the US, these were imported into Japan as the new Inspire and Saber.

In June 2003, a new Inspire was introduced in Japan. This car is however not the Acura TL that was redesigned at the same time. Since Honda sold the European market Accord (Acura TSX) in Japan, it brought the US market Accord back into Japan as the new Inspire. This Inspire marks the first time Honda will introduce a variable displacement engine in Japan.

In October 2005, a refreshed Inspire with new headlights, new tailights, refreshed interior and new colours arrived in the market. The Inspire targets the Teana from Nissan, the Mark X from Toyota and numerous other luxurious cars from Japan.

Back to Honda