While Honda had a long history of captivating advertisements around its long standing "Power of Dreams" tagline, the company hit new heights with it in 2005 with its "Impossible Dream" television commercial that debuted in the UK in December that year.
Filmed mainly in New Zealand (with a few scenes at the Motegi Twin Rings racetrack in Japan and the spectacular Iguazu Falls that straddle the border between Argentina and Brazil), the advert starts with a vintage record player playing "Impossible Dream" by Andy Williams, while a man reaches out for a race suit and crash helmet.
The man then walks from his caravan and hops on a Honda Z50M Monkey minibike, singing along to the song as he rides off.
As he rides along past the distinctly New Zealand rugged coastline, the Monkey switches to a Super Cub scooter and then a Honda ATV. A Honda S500 convertible, Goldwing motorcycle and a 1960 2RC143 racing bike follow.
As the song builds to a crescendo the rider/driver cycles through an S2000 roadster, NSX-R and a Fireblade sport bike, before a pair of F1 cars - a 1965 RA272 and a 2005 BAR 007 - and, finally, a Honda-powered Offshore powerboat as he hurtles towards the dramatic South American waterfall.
The powerboat soars off the edge of the falls and disappears in the mist, only for a gigantic hot air balloon emblazoned with the Honda logo to drift upwards as the song culminates.
A 2010 extended version of the commercial ditches the two Fireblade, BAR F1 car and hot air balloon in favour of a VFR1200 sport bike, a HondaJet, a CR-Z hybrid, a FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car and a Scoopy SH125i scooter, before finishing with the man arriving home to an ASIMO robot firing up a Honda solar generator to power a spa pool that he relaxes in enjoying the spectacular Kiwi coastline view.